colbyjack

From the Vero Beach Dodgers site: Tuesday Aug 30, 2005 Storm, Manatees Rain on Dodgers Parade 08/30/05 - Two separate three-run home runs from the Brevard County preceeded a rainstorm that washed out Tuesday night's game with the Manatees leading the Dodgers 7-0 in the top of the 2nd inning. The game will be completed Wednesday in its entirety beginning at 4:00 PM. The regularly scheduled game will take place afterwards and will be shortened to 7 innings. The Dodgers entered the night one game behind division-leading Palm Beach, while the Manatees are 2 1/2 games back. According to the box score, Drew Anderson hit a grand slam, not a 3-run HR, in the top of the 2nd. Jeff Eure hit a 3-run blast in the first.

Final: Arizona Brewers 9, Arizona Angels 10 Arizona Box Score Lorenzo Cain continues to hit the ball well, going 2-2 with 2 walks while swiping his 12th base of the season. Four hitters with three hits, including Lenny LeClercq, who has been very quiet this summer. www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_angrok_1 Arizona Game Log The bullpen blows this one, giving up 5 runs in the final two frames. www.minorleaguebaseball.c...k_angrok_1

Thanks for re-posting that Mass. I was thinking of that while following the game. He really, really needs to find his way onto BA's hot sheet. Remember Jason Neighborgall? He followed Missoula's Greg Smith in the same game, pitching 1 inning, facing 7 batters, allowing 2 hits, 2 runs (both earned), 2 walks, he struck out 2 and he threw 2 wild pitches.

Inman is pitching for the H-Brewers tonight, so tune in... Brevard County in extra innings and it looks like Nashville and Huntsville have also been rained out. EDIT: Steve Moss with a solo shot in the top of the 10th to win it for the Manatees.

The quick list of potential "the ones that got away," to my best knowledge so far (Weeks is the only one that is confirmed): 8. Jemile Weeks (Miami-attended classes) 11. Brent Allar (TCU-classes started last week) 16. Andrew Bailey (Wagner College-classes started today) 26. Jake Arrietta (TCU-classes started last week) 46. Alex Lowrey (Louisville-classes started last week) 47. Matthew Broughton (Ball State, classes started last week) 49. Cory Large (Texas Tech, classes started today) 50. Garrett Regan (Notre Dame-hockey-classes started 8/23) I hope to have confirmations on all of the unsigned 2005 draft picks when I release my draft recap feature at some point in mid-to-late September. By then hopefully C Ryan Babineau will be signed, sealed & delivered, otherwise add him to the list (UCLA).

We rallied for Rogers to have a good start last time out, and he responded with one of his better outings of the year, even if he did walk more batters than we would like to see. So I offer my support for Rogers again today. Here's to another positive outing as the 2005 season nears the end.

Nice job as always by Mark McCarter. I always enjoy hearing/reading direct comments from Reid or any of our higher ups on our prospects. Nichols has high hopes for Ty Taubenheim and Carlos Villanueva, who are now with the Stars after solid seasons in Class A, and the efficient Tim Dillard, who has averaged only 13 1/2 pitches per inning and has five complete games. Have we seen this stat before? Averaging 13.5 pitches/inning sounds incredibly impressive. We all knew he worked efficiently given the amount of innings he's piled up, but it's always nice to have a stat back up a strong presumption.

Congrats to both Sarfate and Brantley. Well-deserved promotions. Sarfate's should have come much sooner as I think most to all agree, but better late than never I guess. Now we can all admire Brantley's crazy walk numbers in a more timely fashion at Helena, for a week or two.

I voted no on Rice, and I'm voting no on Dawson as well. Dawson brought the stolen base and defensive aspect to it, but that still doesn't make up for not reaching some bigger milestones. Both were very good players, but not HOF worthy. I agree that Perez shouldn't have made it in either.

Baseball America has listed the top prospects for all of the other summer college leagues. I will note a few of interest below. FLORIDA COLLEGIATE SUMMER LEAGUE 1. Ty Pryor, rhp, Winter Park (Tennessee) Pryor earned the league?s most valuable pitcher award after going 4-0, 0.66 with 50 strikeouts in 41 innings. That?s a nice improvement after he went 5-4, 7.28 as a freshman at South Florida, and enough of one that he?ll be transferring to Tennessee for 2006. Pryor?s fastball reaches 95 mph, and he mixes in a solid curveball and changeup. He?s not related to Mark Prior, as their names obviously are spelled differently, but Pryor?s father Jeff played minor league ball with the Angels and his uncle Greg Pryor spent 10 major league seasons as an infielder. Pryor was drafted by the Brewers in the 27th round of the 2004 draft. Like early day 2 picks Drew Bowmann and Sean Morgan, Pryor was always considered a tough sign. He's not draft eligible until 2007, and is joining LHP James Adkins, a fellow sophomore who had a phenomenal freshman season, on the Volunteers' squad. CLARK GRIFFIN LEAGUE 7. Stephen Barnes, rhp, Vienna (Lake City, Fla., CC) Unfortunately, no scouting report on Barnes for the summer, who the Brewers will follow as a DFE candidate for the 2nd year in a row after re-drafting him this past June in the 36th round. TEXAS COLLEGIATE LEAGUE 7. Jake Arrietta, rhp, McKinney Marshals (Weatherford, Texas, JC) The 6-foot-3 Arrietta flashed all the attributes that led the Brewers to draft him in the 26th-round draft in June and enabled him to compile a 4-3, 1.88 record with 54 strikeouts in 63 innings. He had command of three pitches, including a 92-93 mph fastball, smooth mechanics and a good mound presence. As I noted on another thread, Arrietta reportedly has transferred to TCU, whose classes began yesterday, 8/24. With no news of Arrietta signing, it would seem as though both he and Brent Allar have escaped the Brewers' grasp. EDIT: Not top summer prospect ranking involved, but reviewing a few rosters I have noticed that Brookfield Central 1B Ryan Schweikert has transferred to UIC after spending a year at Spartanburg Methodist College. Schweikert sat out all of last year after having surgery on his elbow, and is joining Madison native Ryan Zink, the Brewers 47th round pick in 2003, on the Flames roster. 2003 Aflac All-American and former Waukesha South 1B Tyler Beranek has transferred to Lake City CC, joining another former Brookfield Central star, catcher/DH Brandon Hall and Brewers' DFE candidate Stephen Barnes. Beranek played at UNLV last year, but may have the draft in mind. Big draft note in relation to Lake City CC: Lake City Community College, for the second time in three years, had more players drafted than any other Junior College in the nation: 9. Only one 4-year school, Cal State Fullerton, had more players (14) selected than Lake City. Long Beach State, Baylor and Miami were the only other Schools with 9. That is an impressive fun-fact, and an incredible tribute to the job Lake City Head Coach Tom Clark.

Has Wahpepah pitched in a while? I don't remember seeing his name in the link report recently. It would seem that both he and Roberts are being handled with care as the season winds down. Roberts pitched nearly 90 innings with the Houston Cougars before being drafted by the Brewers. A tip of the cap to Sarfate for such a fine performance coming off of the DL. Might he be one of the TBA player's for the AFL? I'm sure his proud pop would love to watch him close to home. Wooley with another solid outing, but the Mustangs' pitchers are dealing. Travis Wood, a lefty that was fave of mine for this past year's draft is now in. Let's rough him up http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif . Actually, both he and Jay Bruce, another Brewerfan.net draft favorite, are currently playing for the Billings Mustangs. Is the Jimmy Anderson that's shutting down the Sounds the same Jimmy Anderson that pitched for the Pirates a few years ago? IIRC, he used to do that to the Brewers as well (then again, who didn't).

I thought I'd add this nice picture of J.J. Hardy on BA's homepage in regards to the AFL before it gets removed: http://www.baseballamerica.com/images2005/jjhardy450325lg.jpg And with Ian Stewart on the same roster as the rest of these guys, at this point in time I would guess that Corey Hart isn't going to see as much time at 3B as originally speculated.

Wow. I just sent that today. Thanks Jim(s)!

Mark Rogers deserves some props for pitching a solid game despite walking 4 batters over 5.1 innings of work. He allows only 3 hits while striking out 7, putting up a Nick Neugebauer type of line that got us very excited several years ago now. Of course, Neugebauer is the reason we are especially cautious to throw our arms around our new fire-balling youngster, but the ability to miss bats should never be overlooked. Unfortunately, the one game Rogers goes deep enough to quality for a win he doesn't get any run support. He can only lose this one. EDIT: I forgot to mention his 7 to 2 groundout to flyout ratio, a popular stat to be shared around these parts. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Bummer. I thought it would happen eventually. Something must have happened since draft day, as I don't think the Brewers would take a shot at him in the 8th round if they didn't feel they had a really good chance in signing him. Who knows, maybe they determined an 8th round pick was worth the risk, but they have done such a great job signing early picks, not including 2002, and there really wasn't any big signing (like Parra) that would have handcuffed them from signing lil' Weeks. At least they have some time to set their sights on Babineau should they choose to pursue that route. Brent Allar and Jake Arietta were scheduled to attend classes at TCU today, so they may have gotten away as well. I don't mean to diminish the importance of a college education, so best wishes to Jemile. And if he has a college career as good as his brother's and the Brewers are in a position to draft him in 2008, that means the team had a pretty crappy 2007 http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif . Linkage proof: hurricanesports.collegesp...05aab.html First-year Major League Draft picks, who usually compose part of Miami's recruiting classes, have the option of signing with the team that selected them prior to attending class. Luckily, for the Hurricanes, three picks in the 2005 MLB Draft were at classes Wednesday. Jemile Weeks, an eighth round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers, turned down a chance to play in the same organization as his brother, starting second baseman Rickie Weeks. "He turned down a lot of money to come to school," head coach Jim Morris said. "His brother went to college and was a number one pick. That was a good influence for him to come to school. I think that was the best decision for him and I think he has a chance to be a very good player." Of course he thought is was the best decision for him.

Almonte is the subject of some bad advice and guidance, and as noted there are reports that he has some character issues. There is one highly respected member over on Perfect Game's message board that has responded in great length to the feature that was on ESPN last night, particularly tearing the coaches of the Florida Bombers a new one for not keeping their players better informed on practice & game times. It sounds as though (I didn't see the interview) the coach of the Bombers (the same team that Jemile Weeks played for this summer) posts updated practice and game times on the team's website, and apparently Almonte doesn't have a computer, or doesn't use one very much. That doesn't mean he's not to blame, but again, given what already happened to the young man, anything he does is going to be under the microscope. No doubt, he has a live left arm, with a very good fastball/slider combo. I'm sure he's going to be everyone's favorite player to draft in the 10th round or so to take a flyer on from now until next June. Given what is surrounding the young man, I wouldn't touch him unless he can put the issues that are suffocating him right now behind him. He's going to have to step up and put his destiny is his own hand. I'm sure Gammons is hearing that he's a late-round pick because of similar concerns. On talent alone, there is now way a lefty with good heat and a wicked breaking ball slides past the 5th round or so.

Catching up on our draftees from this past June, I stumbled across Lake City CC's site, which noted that Cameron Maybin was heading to campus, and may try to make the Tigers sweat by attending the JC. That of course would make him a DFE candidate, a path Justin Upton is also pursuing (although I don't remember which CC Justin had enrolled, there is a story somewhere on Baseball America's site). Gordon supposedly was on Nebraska's campus, but did not attend classes. He is supposed to visit the Royals this weekend, but the sides are still far apart. The Royals reportedly are offering about a $3.8 million dollar signing bonus, while Gordon wants a deal comparable to what Drew got (a $4 million dollar signing bonus and a MLB deal worth about $5.5 million total). The Royals do not want to give him a MLB contact. I haven't heard anything about Pelfrey.

William Pennington is listed as Spencer Pennington on Alabama's site. I guess I spaced out when I saw University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. The University of Alabama is in Tuscaloosa, so it's not that hard digging up info on Pennington: Alabama Player Profile Only 36 ABs for Spencer last year, who red-shirted in 2004 after playing football his first two years for the Crimson Tide. If he was injured at all last year, he may have a medical red-shirt which would make him eligible as a DFE candidate.

And I know I've mentioned this previously, but shortly after the 2004 draft I had the opportunity to discuss Angel Salome with another organization's area scout, and the comment was simply that Salome "couldn't catch the ball". You would think that could be an easily correctable skill, but we're seeing some proof that it's otherwise. I remember you bringing this up before Mass, and it is a cause for concern. I know there have been several threads talking about Salome's defensive prowess and what he's capable of, but not being able to catch the ball is a problem. As you mention, you would think it is easily correctable, but this is one of those things when talking about "how he handles pitchers" and how "soft" a catcher's hands are. I have seen this with catchers before, usually younger catchers that simply cannot handle a pitching staff with the kind of stuff players in professional baseball have. I have no clue if it has to do with repetitions, instincts, reactions or maybe eyesight, but I guess I'm curious to get an answer from those that have seen him if a lot of balls end up on the ground after they're pitched, even if they're not passed balls.

Short and sweet, thank you SoCal. I hope others read this, allow it to soak in, and move forward. We're all on the same team here.

splitterpfj may not be introducing anything new, but he has gone on record stating that he is going to unveil new players to be debated in days to come: p092.ezboard.com/fbrewers...9315.topic It's obvious he has put a lot of thought and hard work into these threads, and it has generated some interesting discussion, so for someone else to come along and just start their own, using the same title, idea, etc., is kind of a slap in the face IMO. I'm not speaking as a moderator, because I don't believe this thread is a lockable offense since I certainly don't want to regulate what people talk about when, but I do think it shows some poor taste on clancy's part.

Sorry Mass, I completely missed your question until this evening. I emailed as many coaches as I could the days after the draft, including Allar's at Weatherford. I received no reply, hoping to get info on both Allar & Arietta. As I pointed out in the current Weeks' thread, I suspect that Allar may be injured, and both he and Arietta are supposed to transfer to TCU. Arietta had a big year in the Texas Collegiate League. Anyway, I found some info on Timothy Smith, who likely will be a DFE, on PG's site. Here's a scouting report on him from the 2003 Northeast Top Prospect Showcase, as he received a 9.5 rating on a 10 point scale. Smith is an "04" OF/1B from Ontario with big league tools. At 6'2/200 he looks athletic strong. He runs very well and has a big league arm from the outfield (89) mph in Wareham. His arm action is smooth, his throws showed excellent carry and accuracy. Almost makes you think he should be a LHP. He's also a good outfielder and a smooth 1B. Now the best part, this kid is one outstanding hitting prospect. His LH bat features a good approach, nice balance, a beautiful swing, MLB bat speed with just a bit of loft and a strong finish. He has serious long ball power potential. He has straight away power and though we haven't seen it, we are sure he has hit some monster shots with that swing. Tim should be scouted heavily right up to the June draft.

...awesome pitching, clean defense (including Angel Salome behind the dish, although Carlos Corporan took over in the eighth), nice way to break the losing skid... I don't want to nitpick, since it is very nice to see the Power snap that skid, but Salome did have two passed balls on the evening. Another great outing by Yo. Let's send some love Mark Rogers way for that start we've all been looking for.

Well, we'll probably know for sure tomorrow. It's hard to get a read on what exactly is slot value in the 8th round. Austin Jackson signed for $800k, with Koby Clemens making $380k & Andrew Lopez signing for $300k. The lowest bonus in the round went for $12,500, but the seemingly normal bonuses seemed to be in the $75,000-$90,000 range. With his big brother sitting on a monster bonus and overall contract, in which I'm sure he helped out his family to give Jemile financial stability, he can afford to go to college. The negotiations sounded close, so I'm guessing the Brewers were offering a pretty good chunk of change. Tough to turn down, but I never can get down on a young man for attending college. (BTW-I noticed the Mets took Sean McCraw, one of the Brewers DFEs from this past year, in the 8th round and gave him a $150,000 signing bonus...pretty hefty, and from what I know, the Brewers never seriously considered signing him as a DFE). The Brewers could lose two more of their '05 draftees tomorrow, Weatherford College teammates Brent Allar and Jake Arrieta. Both played for the McKinney Marshals in the Texas Collegiate League, and both are signed up to play for TCU this year. TCU's classes open tomorrow as well. Allar didn't pitch after Bill's report under his draft profile in early July, and his name also didn't appear on the Marshals' final roster. Arrieta did, and he pitched very well this summer with a 1.87 ERA over 62.2 innings of work, striking out 54 and allowing only 38 hits. Arrieta's a big fella at 6'4", 225. I have an email in to the Marshals to see if Allar was injured this summer, which would be my guess. Ryan Babineau, who is committed to UCLA, I believe is the only other day 1 pick that can truly get away after Weeks & Allar. Andrew Bailey is expected to return to Wagner College (NY) after having TJ surgery, while Timothy Smith is expected to return to Midland College (TX). Zack Braddock, who had TJ surgery last year, is expected to attend Chipola JC (FL).

Actually homer, my response wasn't made directly to your post. I was just speaking in general terms about the flurry of moves. I do agree with you, there does seem to be more activity this year, and I'm sure a lot of that has to do with the fact that we're starting to see those big transactions affect the big-league club.