Brewers Rumors

Doug Davis Claimed By Brewers; Deal Unlikely

By Eddie Schmid | August 13, 2009 at 1:35pm CDT

1:35pm: Doug Melvin tells Haudricourt that there are no talks between the Brewers and D'Backs right now, though they did speak yesterday.

11:59am: Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that the Brewers aren't confident they can trade for Davis. Rosenthal hears that they have until 12pm CST tomorrow to strike a deal.

THURSDAY, 8:27am: Davis likes the idea of returning to Milwaukee, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. However, after talking with Brewers GM Doug Melvin, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel finds a reunion unlikely. Davis' projected Type B status is apparently driving Arizona's asking price.

At 63.4 points as of August 9th, Davis is in good shape for Type B classification. But is that potential supplemental draft pick worth more than $2.5MM in salary relief? And would the D'Backs really offer Davis arbitration, risking paying him more than $9MM in 2010? They do have the payroll room, and face question marks in the rotation next year after Dan Haren and Max Scherzer.

WEDNESDAY, 9:57pm: Nick Piecoro at the Arizona Republic also gets confirmation that the Brewers claimed Davis, and says that a deal is not likely but cannot be ruled out. He hears the claim was made because the Brewers hold real interest in Davis, not as a tactic to block other teams.

9:25pm: Heyman's sources confirm that it was the Brewers who claimed Davis. The Diamondbacks now can choose to either talk a trade, allow the Brewers to claim Davis or pull him back.

8:50pm: According to SI.com's Jon Heyman (via Twitter), Diamondbacks lefty Doug Davis has been claimed by an unknown team.

Davis has been named quite often in the recent past as a candidate to be moved. Heyman speculates that the claiming team could be the Brewers, as they've been having a "pro-active day." Tom Haudricourt at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel thinks that's a good guess, as the Brewers already made a run at Davis before the deadline. Davis made comments earlier today saying that he doubted the D'backs were planning to negotiate on an extension and called a trade to a contender a "win-win" situation for him.

Tim Dierkes also contributed to this post.

Odds And Ends: Hall, Tate, Trades

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 13, 2009 at 11:15am CDT

Odds & Ends: Draft, Moyer, Cubs

By Tim Dierkes | August 13, 2009 at 9:46am CDT

Links for Thursday…

RotoAuthority looks at the worst closers in baseball.
Indians first-round draft pick Alex White is "seeking top five money," according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Hoynes says the Indians are optimistic about signing him before Monday's deadline.
As you might expect, Chico Harlan of the Washington Post says the Stephen Strasburg talks between the Nationals and Scott Boras will go down to the wire. MLBTR will be covering the signing deadline intensely, as we did last year.
Andy Martino of the Philadelphia Inquirer has a source saying the Phillies' bullpen demotion of Jamie Moyer was "not in any way influenced by money." The team's timing of the move was impeccable, regardless.
Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times talked to Cubs GM Jim Hendry, who isn't anticipating any waiver moves for his team.
ESPN's Buster Olney (Insider link) speculates on a handful of teams that could use recently-designated third baseman Bill Hall.
Reliever Justin Speier was gracious about his release from the Angels, according to Kevin Baxter of the L.A. Times.

J.J. Hardy And Free Agency

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 12, 2009 at 2:21pm CDT

The Brewers optioned J.J. Hardy to Triple A this morning and GM Doug Melvin tells Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the move isn't intended to put off the shortstop's free agency. If Hardy had stayed in the majors through this year and next, he would have become a free agent after the 2010 season.

That's still possible for Hardy, but it depends on how long he spends in the minors. If he's down on the farm for less than 20 days, he'll still get credit for a full season of service time. If he misses more than 20 days, he won't have enough service time to become a free agent until after the 2011 season.

Brewers DFA Bill Hall

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 12, 2009 at 11:33am CDT

The Brewers continue to revamp the team after demoting J.J. Hardy and firing their pitching coach this morning, designating Bill Hall for assignment, according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy.

Hall is hitting .201/.265/.341 with six homers just three years after clubbing 35 long balls and OPSing .899. His strikeout to walk ratio has never been good, but it's degenerated this year; he's walked 19 times and struck out 72 times. To his credit, Hall continues to play above-average defense at third base. He makes $6.8MM this year, $8.4MM next year and his contract includes a $9.25MM club option for 2011.

It's a lot of money, but as GM Doug Melvin told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "it's not the last contract a team will have to absorb." A couple teams are apparently interested in Hall.

Brewers Rumors: Hardy, Escobar, Sheets

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 12, 2009 at 11:14am CDT

Lots of Brewers news this Wednesday morning. Here's the latest:

MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reports that the Brewers fired pitching coach Bill Castro and demoted J.J. Hardy to Triple A. The Alcides Escobar era begins in Milwaukee.
In a different article, McCalvy writes that the Brewers are still looking for a starter on the waiver wire, though no top arms are available.
Brewers GM Doug Melvin has not heard from Casey Close, who represents Ben Sheets and wonders if the agent's silence means Sheets won't pitch this year: "I think he would call clubs if [Sheets] were going to pitch, wouldn't he?"
Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files the team's moves under the "What Have We Got to Lose?" category.

Hardy Not Placed On Waivers

By Eddie Schmid | August 11, 2009 at 7:01pm CDT

Tom Haudricourt at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel talked to Brewers GM Doug Melvin, who dismisses rumors that J.J. Hardy might have been claimed by the Red Sox, and says in fact Hardy was not placed on waivers at all.

Buster Olney at ESPN had reported yesterday that Hardy had "not passed through waivers yet," but suggested the Sox could have interest should Hardy be put on waivers. It's unclear where rumors that Hardy had been claimed stem from. Earlier today, Melvin indicated that he might be open to exploring deals for Hardy this offseason, however.

Melvin goes on to say that he hasn't found a starter to his liking on the waiver wire. He's not interested in John Smoltz, Mark Mulder, or Vicente Padilla.

Odds And Ends: O’s, Jays, Greene, Brewers

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 11, 2009 at 3:41pm CDT

More links on the 80th anniversary of Babe Ruth's 500th career homer:

Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun says the Orioles are well-positioned in case teams start shedding high-salaried corner infielders.
MLB.com's Jordan Bastian says the Jays called up Randy Ruiz. Why didn't Travis Snider get the call? His service time probably has something to do with it.
The Padres filed a grievance after they had to pay Khalil Greene to recover from a self-inflicted hand injury when he was on their roster last year. Now, Tom Krasovic reports that the two sides have come to an agreement, so there will be no grievance hearing.
Via Twitter, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Brewers designated minor league righty Nick Green for assignment to make room for David Weathers.
Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star reports that the Royals claimed minor leaguer John Bannister from the Rangers and assigned him to AA.
Via Twitter, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says he doubts the Yankees will trade for Bronson Arroyo.

Brewers GM On Trades, Free Agents, Draft

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 11, 2009 at 1:00pm CDT

Brewers GM Doug Melvin said on 1250 WSSP in Milwaukee that he's glad he didn't go after some of the free agent arms that were available last offseason. Here's the clip and here are the details:

Melvin admits that pitchers like John Smoltz and Oliver Perez were tempting, but says he's glad he resisted.
The Brewers were interested in Jarrod Washburn at the deadline, but didn't have enough young pitching to complete a deal with the Mariners.
The Brewers were in on the Roy Halladay sweepstakes, but were reluctant to give up Alcides Escobar and Mat Gamel.
Melvin sounds hesitant to experiment with Rickie Weeks in center field.
The Brewers will have some "some flexibility" to add free agents this offseason.
Melvin expects the Red Sox to pursue free agent position players aggressively.
As of today, Melvin says he's not motivated to move J.J. Hardy, but hints that the Brewers could move him after the season to make room for Alcides Escobar.
Melvin's pleased with the progress 2009 first rounder Eric Arnett has made.

Rosenthal On Bell, Mets, Padilla, Braves

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | August 11, 2009 at 9:26am CDT

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears that the Dodgers were on the brink of acquiring Heath Bell before the July 31st trade deadline. The Padres will listen to offers for Bell and Adrian Gonzalez again after the season, but they're under less pressure to deal those players with Jake Peavy's contract off the books. Here are the rest of Rosenthal's rumors:

The Mets are not considering replacing Omar Minaya with assistant GM John Ricco right now, but we could see Ricco deal with the media more.
A pair of NL teams, possibly the Dodgers and Brewers, are "kicking the tires" on Vicente Padilla. Teams are more likely to wait for him to clear waivers than strike a deal now, however.
The Braves offered Casey Kotchman to the Pirates for Adam LaRoche before acquiring LaRoche from the Red Sox.
The Rays and Rangers have been claiming players off of waivers aggressively.
Rosenthal notes that the Rockies' revamped 'pen has pitched well so far.

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