MLB Trades (Updated Daily)

Trades are happening left and right in the MLB.  In case you have missed one here is a list of MLB trades that have recently happened.  Each player has a link to his Baseball Reference page

Wednesday July 25
Los Angeles Dodgers have received 3B/SS Hanley Ramirez and LHP Randy Choate from the Miami Marlins for RHP Nathan Eovaldi and RHP Scott McGough
Philadelphia Phillies have signed LHP Cole Hammels to a 6 year $144 Million contract

Tuesday July 24
Houston Astros send RHP Wandy Rodriguez  and cash to the Pittsburgh Pirates for OF Robbie Grossman, LHP Colton Cain, and LHP Rudy Owens

Monday July 23
Detroit Tigers send RHP Jacob Turner, C Rob Brantly, and LHP Brian Flynn to the Miami Marlins for RHP Anibel Sanchez and IF Omar Infante.  Teams also swapped competitive balance lottery pick.
New York Yankees receive OF Ichiro Suzuki and cash from the Seattle Mariners for RHP DJ Mitchell and RHP Danny Farquhar

Saturday July 21
Chicago White Sox acquired Brett Meyers and cash from Houston Astros for RHP Matt Heidenreich , LHP Blair Walters and a player to be named

Friday July 20
Houston Astros acquire RHP Francisco Cordero, OF Ben Francisco, RHP Joe Musgrove, RHP Asher Wojciechowski, LHP David Rollins, C Carlos Perez, and a player to be named later. Toronto Blue Jays receive RHP Brandon Lyon, LHP J.A. Happ, and RHP David Carpenter
Colorado Rockies send RHP Jeremy Guthrie to Kansas City Royals for RHP Jonathan Sanchez (previously DFA’d)

Milwaukee Brewers Awarded Extra 2013 Draft Pick

In the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, ratified at the end of last season, the owners and MLBPA agreed to establish a competitive balance lottery.  This is one of the many steps that the MLB is taking towards limiting big markets from dominating the sport and controlling free agency.

Every mid July, there will be a lottery similar to the NBA.  This lottery is used to give teams with the worst records and teams in the smallest markets extra draft picks.  What happens is that the top ten teams in each category will be thrown into a lottery.  One thing to note is that teams can only have one entry, so a team on both lists will not have two entries.

After the teams are established, they are ranked based on the previous season’s record and their probability of getting a pick is weighted accordingly.  This year there were 13 teams for 12 picks and the Brewers were ranked 13 because they had the best regular season of all the teams in the lottery.  Theoretically, they were favored to not have a pick.  The Milwaukee Brewers ended up drawing the 11th pick.

The picks are as follows: teams who finish 1-6 are given picks at the end of the supplemental first round (around picks 40-45).  Teams who finish 7-12 will be given picks 31-36 of the second round.

Another interesting fact of these picks is that unlike every other MLB draft pick, these picks are trade-able.  This can also benefit teams who are looking to trade a player for prospects, they can now throw in this draft pick.  There are two factors that surround trading these picks.  First, these picks can only be traded during the season. The second is that only the team receiving that pick can trade it.

Baseball still has to figure out more ways to establish a better competitive balance such of the NFL, but this is making progress.  Hopefully over the next couple years we can see more changes like this.

A Man On A Mission: Ben Rouse

If you go to Miller Park you see forty thousand fans.  The man sitting in section 221 row 6 looks just like the rest of them.  However the guy sitting there is more than your average fan.  Meet Ben Rouse.  He has already gone through more as a 25 year old than most people ever will.  Back in 2007 Ben was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia.  He went through more treatments than I could ever imagine.  You can read all about how he got to where he is today on his About Me section.

Let’s fastforward to early 2012.  Ben came up with mission and a goal.  He had decided to not take life for granted and do something he truly enjoyed.  Ben decided that he would attend all 162 Milwaukee Brewers games for the 2012 season.  Yes that includes every single game both home and away.  If that’s not a hell of a summer, I don’t know what is.  Ben decided that he would write a blog post about each game.  Luckily I heard about Ben’s mission before the season and have read every post.  If you haven’t checked out his blog yet I suggest reading his website.  His posts are great each day and they all feature phenomenal pictures, a summary of the game, and plenty of stats.  I say its a must read for any Brewers fan, and any fan of baseball for that matter.

Occasionally Ben doesn’t have someone to attend the game with so he will try to find a companion on Twitter.  I saw him do this and wanted to go to a game with him, but the first four games he needed someone I was already on my way to Mliler Park.  Finally I had no previous commitment and Ben needed someone for the June 18th game vs. the Blue Jays.  I contacted him on Twitter letting him know I would like to go and next thing I know I was sitting in section 221 with him.  Here you can read Ben’s blog post about the game we went to.

Ben takes a picture similar to this at each game.  At home games he circles around from section to section and on the road he usually takes it at a unique spot at the ballpark.

This is the picture of me and Ben in the middle of the eighth inning.

We had a great time together, especially because we saw a wild game and a Brewers win.  I have trouble finding people who love the Brewers as much as I do but Ben does.  It was fun just talking baseball  with him for the whole game.  One of the coolest facts I learned about Ben is that his college house and my current college house pretty much share a backyard, he was at 530 West Washington and I’m at 531 W Mifflin.  By the end of the game I felt like I had known Ben for years and he was one of my good friends.

So if you haven’t read his blog, I suggest start.  One of the big things about his journey is that he is raising money for the Be The Match registry which helps Leukemia patiants find a match for bone marrow doners.     I would suggest registering and even donating a couple dollars because they have been great help to Ben.  I hope I am able to celebrate a couple more Brewers wins with Ben this year.  As the Brewers have just under 100 games I am excited to see how the rest of Ben Rouse’s journey turns out.  I am glad that I was able to be a part of this amazing journey and will be just as happy as anyone once Ben holds up a card that reads 162.  Keep of the great work Ben Rouse!

Brewers Missed Opportunities

Every year hundreds of MLB draftees go unsigned.  That happens for many different reasons.  Unlike other sports, in a given draft, very few players will ever see the playing field.  For example, in 200 The Milwaukee Brewers drafted 49 players.  46 of those players never stepped on a big league field, 2 did but had minimal impact (Jon Coutlangus and Dave Krynzel), and only 1 has made a career (Corey Hart).  This article I will examine players who the Brewers failed to sign and have had major league impact since the 2000 draft.

2000

As I mentioned before, the Brewers didn’t fail to sign anyone of significance.  One big mistake that the Brewers did make though was drafting Dave Krynzel with the 11th overall pick.  They could have taken Chase Utley who went just 4 picks later to the Phillies.

2001

Like the 2000 draft, the Brewers didnt fail to sign anyone of significance.  The highlight of this draft was JJ Hardy in the second round.  Other notable Brewers include Manny Parra and Tim Dillard.  Again the Brewers had a dud in the first round in Mike Jones, he never put on a big league uniform.  Outiside of the top 5, there weren’t any significant players until David Wright at 38.

2002

The Prince Fielder year.  The drafting of Prince alone made this a successful draft.  However the Brewers could have done even more damage in 2002.  In the 40th round with the 1189th pick, the Milwaukee Brewers selected Hunter Pence OF out of Arlington HS.  Yes that Hunter Pence.  The Brewers could have formed a hell of a team by adding Pence to their core of 2007-2011.  Can’t really blame the Crew for letting a 40th rounder get away but this one hurts.

2003

Perhaps one of the biggest moves by the Brewers was to hire Doug Melvin as GM before the 2003 season.  The Brewers drafts significantly improved once Doug Melvin came to town.  The Brewers didn’t miss out on much.  They took Rickie Weeks who has been a cornerstone to this franchise over the past 6 years.

2004

This year the Brewers selected Mark Rogers (5th overall) and Yovani Gallardo (46) with their first two picks.  Mark Rogers has been a bust to say the least.  The Mark Rogers pick hurts because later in the round Jarred Weaver and Gio Gonzalez were selected.  A rotation of Greinke Weaver Gallardo and Marcum would be World Series caliber.  Another key late pick was Lorenzo Cain who was dealt to Kansas City to help acquire Zack Greinke

2005

2005 was both a great draft for the Brewers and for the MLB as a whole.  The first round of 2005 was loaded with All Stars.  The Brewers were also able to acquire a handful of players that are important to the team.  That group is led by MVP Ryan Braun, Mat Gamel, Michael Brantley(no longer a Brewer but a key piece to the CC Sabathia trade), Zach Braddock, and Taylor Green.  That group could have been even better though.  The Brewers failed to sign Jemile Weeks (8th round), 2009 AL ROY Andrew Bailey (16th), and up and coming Orioles pitcher Jake Arrieta (26).  The Brewers bullpen is one of the main components that held them back from ’08-10 and Andrew Bailey really could have boosted that.

It’s still too early to tell if the Brewers let anyone significant go unsigned.  Many people do not realize how unlike the other major sports in America, a player is not automatically tied down to a team.  Due to the amount of players in the draft and the fact that many of the players are virtually unknown, these hidden gems are hard to spot but you really feel the pain if they get away.  The point of this piece is to show just what players the Brewers let slip away.  I just wish that Doug Melvin and Crew would have had a crystal ball and ponied up the extra couple dollars to sign these future all stars.

The Brewers 80′s Themed Road Trip

Baseball is a long season filled with lots of long road trips which can be hard on a team.  To counteract that, teams enjoy doing themed road trips to boost team morale or start a winning streak.  Last year the Brewers did a cowboy themed road trip when they went down to Houston.  This year they decided to do an 80′s theme.  Here are the assortment of pictures that the players have posted on Twitter.

Carlos Gomez (via @C_Gomez27)

The whole squad (@C_Gomez27

Ryan Braun

Carlos Gomez, Stan Kyles, Rickie Weeks, Manny Parra, Nyjer Morgan (@C_Gomez27)

Nyjer Morgan and Brewers writer John Steinmiller (@Jstein19)

John Axford (@JohnAxford)

George Kottaras, Marco Estrada, John Axford, and Kameron Loe (@JohnAxford)

Kameron Loe

Manny Parra

I will add more as the players and team post them.  Hopefully this will get the Brewers on their winning was as they head to Kansas City and Minnesota

2012 MLB Draft: Milwaukee Brewers Picks

Round	Pick	First	Last	School	Position	B/T
1	27	Clint	Coulter	Union HS (WA)	C	R/R
1	28	Victor	Roache	Georgia Southern University	OF	R/R
1*	38	Mitch	Haniger	Cal Poly State University	OF	R/R
2	92	Tyrone	Taylor	Torrance HS (CA)	CF	R/R
3	122	Zach	Quintana	Arbor View HS (NV)	RHP	R/R
4	155	Tyler	Wagner	University of Utah	RHP	R/R
5	185	Damien	Magnifico	Oklahoma University	RHP	R/R
6	215	Angel	Ortega	Colegio Hector Urdaneta (PR)	SS	R/R
7	245	David	Otterman	University of British Columbia	LHP	R/L
8	275	Edgardo	Rivera	Inzarry de Puig HS (PR)	OF	L/R
9	305	Alejandro	Lavandero	Belen Jesuit Prep School (FL)	RHP	R/R
10	335	Anthony	Banda	San Jacinto CC (TX)	LHP	L/L
11	365	James	Gainey	US Naval Academy	RHP	R/R
12	395	Eric	Semmelhack	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee	RHP	R/R
13	425	Alan	Sharkey	Coral Springs HS (FL)	1B	L/L
14	455	Ryan	Gibbard	Lynn University	RHP	R/R
15	485	Buck	Farmer	Georgia Tech	RHP	L/R
16	515	Adam	Giacalone	Neosho County CC (KS)	1B	L/R
17	545	Alfredo	Rodriguez	Maryland University	SS	R/R
18	575	Hunter	Adkins	Middle Tennessee St. University	RHP	R/R
19	605	Carlos	Garmendia	Monsignor Edward Pace HS (FL)	3B	R/R
20	635	Michael	Garza	Georgetown University	SS	R/R
21	665	Austin	Blaski	Marietta College	RHP	R/R
22	695	Douglas	Wall	Rice University	LHP	L/L
23	725	Paul	Eshleman	Cal St San Bernadino	C	R/R
24	755	Michael	Turay	Palomar College (CA)	C	R/R
25	785	Lance	Roenicke	UC Santa Barbara	LF	R/R
26	815	Mark	McCoy	Barnegat HS (NJ)	LHP	L/L
27	845	Tyler	Duffie	TCU	RHP	R/R
28	875	Martin	Viramontes	USC	RHP	R/R
29	905	Bryan	Saucedo	Malvern Collegiate Institute	1B	R/R
30	935	Jonathan	Arnold	Flagler Col (FL)	RHP	R/R
31	965	Brent	Suter	Harvard	LHP	L/L
32	995	Nick	Anderson	Mayville St U (ND)	RHP	R/R
33	1025	Austin	Hall	BYU	RHP	R/R
34	1055	Tommy	Burns	Don Bosco Prep HS (NJ)	RHP	R/R
35	1085	Jose	Sermo	Bethany Col	SS	S/R
36	1115	Alex	Mangano	SW Miami HS (FL)	C	R/R
37	1145	Taylor	Smith-Brennan	Edmonds CC (WA)	SS	R/R
38	1175	Christopher	Shaw	Holy Trinity Academy	C	R/R
39	1205	Derek	Jones	St Marguerite D’Youville SS	CF	R/R
40	1235	Charles	Vazquez	American Senior HS (FL)	C	R/R

2012 MLB Draft:Milwaukee Brewers First Round

On Monday night, the first round and supplemental first round of the 2012 MLB Draft occurred.  On Tuesday rounds 2-15 will take place with rounds 16-40 happening Wednesday.  Last night the Brewers had 2 picks in the first round (27 and 28) and 1 in the supplemental (38).  Pick 28 was the natural pick that the Brewers received for finishing with the 4th best record.  Picks 27 and 38 were acquired by the departure of 1B Prince Fielder.  Since Prince was a Type A free-agent, the Brewers were entitled to the Detroit Tigers First Round Pick along with a pick in the supplemental round.  Meet the 3 newest members of the Milwaukee Brewers

Last year we saw the Brewers take two prep power arms in Taylor Jungman and Jed Bradley.  Both are seen as good picks thus far and the Brewers are hoping that they will be part of the future.  This year Doug Melvin and company has taken different route.  They used their first three picks on Power Hitters.  The three newest members of the Brewers are Clint Coulter, Victor Roache, and Mitch Haniger.

27. Clint Coulter- C Union HS (Camas, WA).  Twitter: @ccoulter1 

H/W: 6’3″ 220 lbs Bats/Throws: R/R DoB: 7/30/93

Clint Coulter is regarded as a beast.  As a sophmore in HS he won the 189 lbs Washington State wrestling title with a 39-1 record.  However he then gave up wrestling to pursue baseball.  Coulter has a great bat with lots of power for such a young player.  He has drawn comparisons to Mike Napoli as a catcher with a great bat and above-average defense.  However, Coulter has given inclination that he would not be opposed to a position change in the Big Leagues, the Brewers even had him make throws from the OF.  Clint is currently committed to Arizona St but he has basically said that he will skip college and sign with whatever team drafts him.  His signability allowed him to be drafted in this position.  I would look for Coulter to move to RF or 1B and contend for a spot on the Brewers around 2016.

28. Victor Roache- OF Georgia Southern University.  Twitter: @_Heavy28Hitter_

H/W: 6’2″ 225 lbs Bats/Throws: R/R DoB: 9/17/91

Victor Roache drew mixed reviews.  ESPN’s Keith Law had him rated at the 88th best player while Baseball America had him ranked 22nd.  I think that Victor Roache was a steal for the Brewers.  He is a very pull heavy hitter but I think if he develops the discipline as he travels throughout the minors he could be a Big League Hitter.  The reason he fell is that he missed most of the 2012 season with a broken wrist.        In 2011 Roache broke out with 30 Home Runs.  Roache has said that his wrist will heal fine and he should be able to resume playing in 4-6 weeks.  I could see Victor Roache being a September Call-Up 2014 and contend for a spot on the Milwaukee Brewers in 2015

38. Mitch Haniger- OF Cal Poly State University.  Twitter: @M_Hanny19

H/W: 6’2″ 215 lbs Bats/Throws: R/R DoB: 12/23/90

Mitch Haniger has put up some pretty good numbers for the Cal Poly Mustangs.  Over the past month he has gained a lot of draft stock which allowed him to move up to the 38th pick.  Haniger has shown that he has been able to hit to all parts of the field, it doesn’t look like he will be a 30 home run a year type of guy as he is more of a line drive hitter but this guy could become a pure double machine.  Mitch currently play CF, but as he progresses to the pros I could see him progressing to RF.  His arm is one of his strengths that could allow him to move to Right.  Like Roache, I could see him being a September Call-Up 2014 and contend for a spot on the Milwaukee Brewers in 2015

I liked each of the Brewers first three picks as the organization is lacking minor league bats.  That being said I would like them to focus on pitchers on Day 2 of the draft.  Whatever happens, I trust Doug Melvin.