The Rays claimed Brooks Conrad off of waivers from Milwaukee, the Brewers announced. The Brewers, who removed Conrad from their 40-man roster two days, ago, announced that they're recalling right-hander Mike McClendon.
Conrad, 32, has appeared in 25 games for the Brewers this year, playing all four infield positions. He has just three hits and three walks in 44 plate appearances, however. His career numbers — a .212/.287/.406 line in five seasons with the A's, Braves and Brewers — are much better. Conrad joins a Rays infield mix that includes Elliot Johnson, Carlos Pena, Will Rhymes, Sean Rodriguez, Drew Sutton and the injured Jeff Keppinger and Evan Longoria.
Rays claim every bad hitter and the Yanks/Blue Jays claim every bad pitcher. Good times.
If they’re claiming Conrad, they could use Youkilis. I’d be happy with any majors-ready pitcher at this point.
How about Joel Peralta?
Conrad isn’t a bad hitter, he’s a bad fielder.
Conrad IS a bad hitter and a bad fielder, but the guy is one of the most clutch hitters I have seen in some time…
brooks conrad goes on to hit 6 homeruns in the first round as the rays sweep the rangers
As long as we’re taking a stab at the future – I predict he’ll hit a grand slam as a pinch hitter, inexplicably be left in as a position player at second, and bobble the ball multiple times for back-to-back inside the park homeruns.
The Rays will retire the number “E4” in his honor and infamy.
Congrats to Conrad, good pickup by the Rays. I really enjoyed watching Conrad in Atlanta. I expect him to do well with the Rays. I was surprised he slumped so badly with the Brewers though.
I agree. Stand up guy. I wish him well.
Completely agreed. Before the awful end to the season, he had so many incredible pinch hits for us. Braves wouldn’t have made the playoffs without him.
Not much of a glove, but a solid bench guy that can fill in 2B or 3B in a pinch and provide some power.
Why we are collecting so many bad infielders it is beyond me.
Im really not a fan of this move to be quite honest. I feel like people who are saying “Oh good move Rays!” are doing so just to play it safe. Here’s the reality of the matter… The Rays have a lot of light hitting middle infielders who just do not cut it at the Major League level. Guys like Elliot Johnson, Reid Brignac, Drew Sutton, Sean Rodriguez, Jeff Keppinger, Will Rhymes, and Brooks Conrad are a dime a dozen. When you have so many guys who fit into the same mold, claiming someone like Conrad is just redundant. There was a period of time this offseason when Rafael Furcal was there for the taking because the Cardinals wanted to go with Greene as their SS. The Cardinals eventually realized that resigning Furcal was the right move, but the Rays did have a window to get him, just like they had an opportunity for Barmes and Carroll. They passed up the opportunity and now have to live with defensive miscues from Elliot Johnson. Eventually when you throw enough crap to the wall, some of it will stick… but the Rays are over doing it in my opinion.
I like the depth and I like the versatility. I just don’t get why they need so many of the same type of player.
It sucks that they are hamstrung by the Longoria injury. I’m sure if he were healthy this wouldn’t be considered. Hope he gets better quickly.
I doubt this will be more than an experiment, sort of like what they did with Brandon Allen. They’ll do what they always do: throw stuff at the wall and see if it sticks. If it doesn’t work out, they’ll either DFA or release him. Not high risk at all, so I don’t see why not.
You mean they had an opportunity to get Clint Barmes or Jamey Carroll??? That would’ve solved their problem of having too many infielders who can’t hit for sure.
Thank goodness the Braves didn’t claim him. They already have enough poor hitting bench players.
Why is Jack Wilson still on the roster? I understood him being on with Pastornicky to provide late inning defense, but now we have one of the best defenders in the NL. Get rid of Wilson and add a utility IF that can actually hit.
Who plays SS if Simmons gets run over by Heyward and Simmons starts thinking he’s Nate McLouth?
My thoughts exactly, “Thank God.” Wren has made alot of dumb signings as a GM but he’d have to be three sheets to the wind to pick up Conrad for a reunion tour. I’m sure all he’ll do is DH from time to time for the Rays anway, hope the they weren’t stupid enough to pick him up to play in the field.
My thoughts exactly, “Thank God.” Wren would have to be three sheets to the wind to bring him back. It may work out for Tampa since he’ll just DH from time to time and may possibly turn his hitting around. I sure hope they didn’t bring him there to play the field considering the only way he’s ever going to field a ball cleanly is if its the size of a small meteor.
He’s getting closer to Atlanta though…
i know we have had a lot of injuries this year, but we can’t be that desperate. our defense has been bad enough as it is, this just makes it worse.
And your MLB stats are?
Besides, .212/.287/.406/.693 IS significantly better than his small sample size numbers from this season .075/.163/.226/.361. No one’s stating he’s an All-Star or even an everyday player, but he’s been useful in the past as a utility player and pinch-hitter (a rather clutch one at that as someone else alluded to).
Your attempt at making humor at his expense is juvenile and ill-founded considering the facts and what the author wrote . . . his career stats [ARE] “much better” than his 2012 season batting line.
In fact, a simple stats search on MLB’s website shows that Conrad’s career OPS is higher than the 2012 OPSs of Jimmy Rollins, Howie Kendrick, Delmon Young, Dustin Ackley, James Loney, Gordon Beckham, Drew Stubbs, Neil Walker, Yonder Alonso, Placido Polanco, Ichiro Suzuki, J.P. Arencibia, Daniel Murhphy, Eric Hosmer, Michael Young, Justin Smoak, Jamey Carroll, Brennan Boesch, Casey Kotchman, Yunel Escobar, Jemile Weeks, Jordan Schafer, Jose Tabata, Brandon Crawford, Ryan Zimmerman, Rickie Weeks, Eric Aybar, Robert Andino, Ike Davis, Cameron Maybin, Sean Rodriguez, Cliff Pennington, Orlando Hudson, Aramis Ramirez Dee Gordon, & Kurt Suzuki. Most of these players would like to improve their offensive contribution to the average Brooks Conrad year.
I’m not even a fan of his, but you’re statement just adds nothing to the conversation and shows your ignorance. So do as your mother should have taught you . . . “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”
Sorry for the “soapbox” . . . just really struck a nerve for some reason today.