Brewers Sign Two Pre-Arb Players
According to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, the Brewers have finalized one-year contracts with reliever Carlos Villanueva and catcher Mike Rivera.
Yovani Gallardo is the club’s last unsigned pre-arbitration player. As we’ve mentioned before, these are guys with zero to three years of MLB service time. Most pre-arb players receive contracts in the $450K-$550K range.
Brewers Rumors: Hart, Weeks, Gallardo
Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has the latest on the Brewers…
- Corey Hart hopes to avoid an arbitration hearing; he and the Brewers are $1.1MM apart on his ’09 salary. It’s a decent gap, but many players are fighting over a similar difference. Hart turned down a long-term extension last year but remains open to the idea. Assistant GM Gord Ash recently said, "We’re not on the same page with regard to his value. And that goes back to last year."
- The Brewers face an $800K gap with Rickie Weeks. Weeks also hopes to get a deal done. The Brewers are open to a multiyear deal with Weeks. Doug Melvin has never gone to an arbitration hearing as Brewers GM.
- Owner Mark Attanasio mentioned that the team will revisit all young players in Spring Training and consider extensions. Attanasio mentioned Yovani Gallardo by name. Gallardo, 23 in February, isn’t arb-eligible until after the 2010 season.
Odds and Ends: Resop, Myers, Gallardo, Fuentes
Today’s link collection:
- Joel Sherman says the Mets would be willing to eat some money on a contract to reduce the prospect price for a corner outfielder. He suggests names like Xavier Nady, Raul Ibanez, Randy Winn, and Adam Dunn. The salary-eating strategy would probably only help with Winn.
- The Hanshin Tigers purchased reliever Chris Resop‘s contract from the Braves.
- Ricky Bottalico says Brett Myers wants to be traded, but Myers and the Phillies denied it.
- It would be cool to see Yovani Gallardo return this year, if only to see him line up with CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets for a brief period of time. That’s three aces.
- The Yankees are still interested in Rockies closer Brian Fuentes; the Rox might be interested in Mark Melancon.
- More rumblings that the Dodger front office is confusing other teams.
- SI.com’s Jon Heyman ranks the most impactful potentially available players, raising the question of whether impactful is a word. Heyman also includes odds of each player being dealt.
Odds And Ends: Neshek, Gallardo, Casanova, Henn, Haynes
Couple of injuries, couple of designations, and a waiver claim.
- Twins reliever Pat Neshek has an acute partial tear of the UCL. Yes, that’s the Tommy John ligament. He won’t throw for at least three months, so his season is essentially over. There’s no word on whether he’ll undergo surgery. I remember hearing over the winter that Neshek was having elbow problems.
- Not that we didn’t pretty much know this already, but Yovani Gallardo has confirmed that he’ll have surgery on his torn ACL. My fantasy team weeps.
- With Ramon Castro coming off the DL, the Mets have DFA Raul Casanova. The best bet is that he’ll clear waivers and head to AAA.
- The Padres have claimed LHP Sean Henn off waivers. He was DFA by the Yankees last week. He was once a highly touted prospect, reportedly hitting 100 on the gun (though I think those reports were exaggerated).
- With the return of Cliff Floyd from the DL, the Rays have no room for OF Nathan Haynes, and have designated him for assignment.
Posted by Joe Pawlikowski.
Odds and Ends: Gallardo, NPB, Braves
Today’s link collection…
- Check out the latest MLB Roundup video. The crew hands out April awards, assesses Billy Beane’s gameplan, and looks at Jeff Ma’s third-place Tout Wars team.
- RotoAuthority helps Yovani Gallardo owners pick up the pieces and find a replacement (he has a torn ACL). The Brewers have guys they can plug in but Gallardo seemed primed for a stellar season. They’ll keep an eye on the trade market.
- Mike Hampton could retire, but it’s highly unlikely that he’ll abandon the rest of his ’08 salary.
- Nippon Professional Baseball might shorten the tenure needed for free agency, except for those looking to go overseas. Players hoping to jump from Japan to MLB would still have to serve nine years or be posted.
- In the sidebar of this article, Ken Rosenthal suggests that Frank Wren will explore the trade market for starting pitching but won’t overpay for mediocrity. Tracy Ringolsby wonders whether the Braves will consider re-acquiring Kevin Millwood.
Gallardo Injury May Change Brewers’ Plans
When the Brewers’ rotation was eight-deep, trading one starter before Opening Day seemed like a given. MLBTR readers believed Chris Capuano to be the most likely to go. However, young ace Yovani Gallardo tore cartilage in his knee and is set to miss four weeks. This may stop Brewers GM Doug Melvin from making a preseason move. The old adage holds true; you can never have too much pitching.
Gallardo, 21, pitched 110 innings with a 3.67 ERA as a rookie. His ERA goes down to 2.84 if you take out an 11 earned run thrashing at Coors Field in August. Fortunately it’s a knee injury rather than an elbow tweak or something.
Gallardo Injury May Change Brewers’ Plans
When the Brewers’ rotation was eight-deep, trading one starter before Opening Day seemed like a given. MLBTR readers believed Chris Capuano to be the most likely to go. However, young ace Yovani Gallardo tore cartilage in his knee and is set to miss four weeks. This may stop Brewers GM Doug Melvin from making a preseason move. The old adage holds true; you can never have too much pitching.
Gallardo, 21, pitched 110 innings with a 3.67 ERA as a rookie. His ERA goes down to 2.84 if you take out an 11 earned run thrashing at Coors Field in August. Fortunately it’s a knee injury rather than an elbow tweak or something.