djoctagone

aaron brooks waiver claim is official. he has been optioned to colorado springs and will enter 2018 spring training with no minor league options remaining. to make room on the 40-man roster, paolo espino was designated for assignment. the club has seven days to trade, release or try to outright him to the minor leagues. if espino is claimed by another club, he can be optioned by the claiming club and would enter 2018 spring training with two minor league options. the 40-man remains full.

rhp aaron brooks claimed by the brewers from the cubs. he has been optioned to colorado springs during his final option year. paolo espino designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man.

correct . . . which puts the texas rangers at a disadvantage for the next few years. presumably, in order to be able to collect insurance on prince fielder's contract, they cannot release him. thus, they have to carry fielder on their 40-man (instead of a prospect) during the offseason. during the season, they can place fielder on the 60-day disabled list to open up a spot on their 40-man.

the mayor of ding dong city has certainly exceeded the expectations stated in this thread.

But by not doing so they burn an option, correct? players burn an option if they stay optioned to the minor leagues for more than 20 days in a season. since houser and brinson were both optioned in spring training, they both burned their 2017 options in april. they also earn the minor league salary of their split contract (major league salary and minor league salary).

a nod to this thread, the 2017 brewers have thus far avoided using the 60-day disabled list. as we all know, putting a player on the 60-day disabled list removes him from the 40-man roster. when he's activated, he has to be added back to the 40-man or outrighted. the 40-man is currently full, so there's an advantage in putting a player on the 60-day disabled list to open up another spot. jett bandy, andrew susac and brent suter are all currently on the 10-day disabled list. bandy and suter are expected to be activated in september. the extent of susac's injury is unknown at this point. it's possible that he could be deemed lost for the rest of the season and transferred to the 60-day disabled list. lewis brinson could be recalled not to report and placed on the 60-day disabled list, but then he'd not play another game this season. the brewers hadn't ruled out a mid to late september return for brinson. adrian houser has started a minor league rehab assignment with the azl brewers. had he not started that assignment, he could have been a candidate to be recalled (not to report) and put on the 60-day disabled list. he would've accrued major league pay and service time for that duration. of course, another player on the 25-man could go down with a season-ending injury to necessitate a 60-day disabled list move.

suter is expecting to throw a bullpen tomorrow.

knowing that a player will be out of options may prompt the brewers to cut him ahead of the rule 5 draft deadline to open up more spots. of the current 40-man, these are the players that will enter 2018 spring training with no minor league options remaining: jesus aguilar jett bandy aaron brooks oliver drake junior guerra jared hughes jeremy jeffress taylor jungmann hernan perez manny pina yadiel rivera anthony swarzak (will be eligible for free agency) eric thames (by nature of his contract) carlos torres jonathan villar stephen vogt

yesterday, corey knebel set a franchise record for number of strikeouts in a single season for a reliever. he eclipsed julio machado's record of 98 set in 1991, and currently has 99.

suter has resumed throwing and is expected back when rosters expand next month.

webb has burned his first option. wang was optioned 3 august, so his 20 days limit is approaching.

well, guerra may still be recalled, but it will be after the expense of burning his final option. he's pitching today in colorado springs and has exceeded 20 days optioned to the minor leagues.

unless recalled for an injured player, woodruff will burn his first option, having accumulated more than 20 days optioned.

chance of jett bandy returning in september. still waiting to hear on the severity of andrew susac's injury.

shouldn't this thread be called "commissioner what you don't want"?

if you've been paying attention, it's more cedar crest ice cream stocked in the mini freezer.

good point, but woodruff is scheduled for friday. junior guerra was optioned 30 july. i'm not sure if one counts that day or not when calculating 20 days optioned, so guerra could be in line to be recalled after the game on 18 august, and possibly still have his final option preserved.

advantage to the brewers dfa-ing someone like carlos torres: another off day this week, and an off day each of the following two weeks, and then september rolls around. again, the brewers were pretty obvious with their intention of preserving keon broxton's final option by recalling him so soon. any player has more value with an option remaining. one has to think they'll have the same approach with junior guerra.

let's take stock of this: michael blazek is no longer on the 40-man. keon broxton has been recalled, and as long as he isn't optioned again, will not burn his final option. wei-chung wang only has a few more days left before he burns his second option. tyler webb has already burned his first option. if brandon woodruff is optioned again and spends even close to the minimum 10-day required stay, he burns his first option. junior guerra is about to burn his final option if he isn't recalled. i'm going to assume that the brewers are considering preserving the option for junior guerra, and possibly wei-chung wang. also going to assume that the club will accept burning brandon woodruff's first option by sending him down after his friday start to make room for an activated chase anderson. (advantage to the brewers: the sky sox will be at home while the brewers play the rockies, so it'd be easy to shuttle another player in for saturday's game and then option him back to colorado springs to activate anderson.) again, if a player spends less than 20 days optioned, he doesn't burn that option. there are less than 20 days before september roster expansion, so it'd be easy to recall a player optioned in the coming days and not burn his option. candidates for optioning that would not burn an option if sent down and recalled in september: orlando arcia jacob barnes zach davies corey knebel jimmy nelson domingo santana travis shaw eric sogard of these, the only players that the brewers should even consider optioning are jacob barnes and eric sogard. candidates who could be optioned, having already burned their 2017 option: josh hader andrew susac (should only consider optioning when stephen vogt is activated) and of course, room could be made for guerra and/or wang by removing someone the 25-man roster via the disabled list, a trade, or designating him for assignment (which would also conveniently open up the 40-man roster for a minor league prospect in september). we've already seen the brewers exercise this option-preserving strategy with keon broxton. knowing that september roster expansion is so close, will they do the same for junior guerra and/or wei-chung wang at the expense of removing someone else from the 25-man (either short term or permanently)?

well, the injury to lewis brinson has pretty much determined the answer to this thread. seeing that the brewers are still quite thin with quality center fielders, you'd think that come 1 september, brett phillips is recalled. that means no phillips for a probable sky sox postseason, but mlb wins are a priority now.

guerra had his best start since being optioned. 4.0 innings of a 7 inning doubleheader, two earned runs. an abbreviated 48 pitches, but this time, 33 for strikes. only one walk with three strikeouts. i'm sensing a recall to be moved to the bullpen before he spends 20 days optioned and burns his final option.

chase anderson named sunday's starting pitcher. assume that friday and saturday will be covered by matt garza and brandon woodruff, with woodruff optioned to make room for anderson.

sogard has one option remaining. susac could be optioned, but the remaining catchers on the 40-man are on the disabled list. blazek was removed from the 40-man roster sunday, and the 40-man is currently full. of the other players mentioned set to burn their 2017 option if not recalled soon, only guerra would be burning his final option.

interesting use of jonathan villar in the position player group today as the starting center fielder . . . he's been swinging the bat well, and craig counsell wants to find a way to get him in the lineup along with neil walker and travis shaw. as mentioned elsewhere, walker is able to cover second, third and first, and villar is (hopefully) improving his versatility to the team.

the brewers have spent a big chunk of the season without a true backup center fielder.