Some things to read while remembering Blue Edwards.
Today is the fifth day of the offseason, and the Milwaukee Brewers are waving goodbye to two more members of the 2014 team. First, on Thursday, they announced pitcher Alfredo Figaro had been claimed off waivers by the Rangers, ending his two-year Brewers tenure.
Figaro signed with the Brewers before the 2013 season after returning from Japan, where he had spent two seasons with the Orix Buffaloes. He made the Opening Day roster in his first season in the organization and appeared in 33 games, including five starts. He spent most of the 2014 season with Triple-A Nashville but did make six big league appearances at various times throughout the season, including three in September. He turned 30 in July and has a 5.04 ERA over portions of four MLB seasons.
The other departing Brewer is catcher Matt Pagnozzi, who was outrighted off of the 40-man roster. Pagnozzi was the third catcher for the month of September and appeared in just one game, entering as a defensive replacement and not getting a plate appearance. He appeared in 71 games for Triple-A Nashville this season and hit .215 with a .298 on-base percentage and .382 slugging. He’ll turn 32 in November and will be eligible for minor league free agency this winter.
Those transactions temporarily dropped the Brewers to 38 players on their 40-man roster, but @Mass_Haas notes that one of those open spots was immediately filled when Jeff Bianchi was activated off of the 60-day DL. Bianchi appeared in 29 games for the Brewers this season but has been on the shelf since July 12.
Another of of the 39 players remaining on the roster is Wei-Chung Wang, who remains in the organization after the Brewers successfully kept the Rule 5 pick on the active roster or disabled list for a full MLB season. Wang appeared in just 14 games, however, and left the Brewers’ roster significantly shorthanded early in the season. JP of Brew Crew Ball looks at the possibility that Wang’s presence early in the year hurt the team down the stretch. Of course, there’s also this:
HT to @howiemag for this realization: Last Wei-Chung Wang Wednesday video was released on 6/4. Brewers were 35-25 then, 46-53 since.
— Kyle Lobner (@BrewFrostyMug) September 25, 2014
Now that I’ve mentioned Figaro, Pagnozzi and Wang, I’ve already spoiled three potentially challenging answers to this quiz: JP of Brew Crew Ball challenges you to name the 40 members of the 2014 Brewers based on his clues.
It you took that quiz, hopefully you remembered Ryan Braun. His production has diminished a bit in recent years but there’s hope for the future after the 2011 NL MVP underwent a cryotherapy procedure on his sore right thumb on Thursday. Braun is the first baseball player to have the procedure, which is expected to freeze a troublesome nerve.
You probably also won’t have a problem remembering Mike Fiers, who pitched his way back to the big leagues and had a strong performance that could reinsert him into the organization’s long-term plans. Stephen Jewell of Reviewing the Brew named Fiers as the Brewers’ Comeback Player of the Year, and has Rickie Weeks as the runner-up.
Today’s most interesting statistical anecdote comes from Ryan P. Morrison of Beyond the Box Score. He notes that catcher’s interference was only called 22 times across all of baseball in 2014, but each of the Brewers’ top two backstops, Jonathan Lucroy and Martin Maldonado, were called for it once.
In the minors:
- Brad Krause of Miller Park Prospects has a recap of the 2014 season for the Nashville Sounds. The Sounds were great at home in 2014, posting a 45-26 record in the last season at Greer Stadium, but still fell short of the postseason.
- Meanwhile, the Brewers officially signed their new player development contract with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox on Thursday. Follow that link for a picture of Doug Melvin speaking at the press conference.
Closer to home, the Brewers made a special video to show on the Miller Park scoreboard during the Cubs series last weekend appreciating the fans for all of their support this season. Caitlin Moyer has it if you missed it or want to see it again.
Around baseball:
Mets: Fired hitting coaches Lamar Johnson and Luis Natera.
Rangers: Designated pitcher Wilmer Font for assignment.
Meanwhile, the Division Series round of the 2014 MLB postseason opened on Thursday with a pair of American League games. The Orioles ran away late to clinch a 12-3 win over the Tigers in the first contest, and the Royals won their second consecutive extra-inning postseason game by beating the Angels 3-2 in 11 innings in the nightcap.
One of the defensive stars of Thursday’s Royals/Angels game was former Brewer Norichika Aoki, who took several hits away from Anaheim batters. Bryan Kilpatrick of SB Nation has a gif of Aoki recovering from a poor route to make one diving catch, and a collection of Twitter reactions to the play.
Of course, Aoki isn’t the only former Brewer in the Royals’ outfield: Deadspin has a look at various Instagram videos that show Lorenzo Cain’s relationship with new teammate Salvador Perez, which mostly involve the All-Star catcher going out of his way to annoy him on video (h/t Hardball Talk).
Today is one of the busiest days of the postseason, with four games scheduled:
- At 11 a.m. the Orioles will look to take a 2-0 lead in their series with the Tigers. Wei-Yin Chen will face Justin Verlander in the matinee.
- The first NLDS series opens at 2 p.m. in Washington, where Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals will host Jake Peavy and the Giants.
- At 5:30 p.m., the action shifts out to the West Coast, where the Dodgers will open the other NLDS series against the Cardinals in a matchup of the likely first- and second-place finishers in the league’s Cy Young voting, Clayton Kershaw and Adam Wainwright.
- Then at 8:30 p.m., the Angels will look to bounce back from Thursday’s extra-inning loss when they take on the Royals. Matt Shoemaker (Angels) will face Yordano Ventura (Royals), who just pitched in relief on Tuesday.
A lot may change in the coming weeks, of course, but a couple of samplings from Wednesday suggest that Washington is a current favorite to win the World Series. Four of the seven voting contributors at Beyond the Box Score picked them to win what would be both that franchise’s first pennant and championship, and three of five voters at Big League Stew concur.
If you flipped away from the Packers game long enough to catch any of Thursday’s Orioles win over the Tigers, you might have noticed a familiar voice on the call. Brian Anderson is covering the series for TBS, and Tony Paul of The Detroit News talked to him about the assignment.
I’ve already mentioned Norichika Aoki and Lorenzo Cain, but here’s one more former Brewers note from today: Phillies blog Crashburn Alley gave Tony Gwynn Jr. a D-minus grade for his time with Philadelphia, noting that his .455 OPS (on-base plus slugging) was the lowest for a Phillie with 120 or more plate appearances in 17 years.
Today in baseball economics: The Mariners fell just short of the postseason in 2014, but the success they experienced has convinced management to keep or expand on their $107 million payroll, which was significantly more than they had originally budgeted this season.
Finally, with help from the Baseball Reference Play Index, we’d like to wish a happy birthday today to 2011 Brewer Brett Carroll, who turns 32.
Today is also the fourth anniversary of the Brewers firing manager Ken Macha after the team’s final game in 2010, the 32nd anniversary of the Brewers beating the Orioles on the season’s final day to clinch an AL East championship in 1982 and the 38th anniversary of Hank Aaron’s final major league game in 1976. Follow the links for those events’ respective entries in Today In Brewer History at Brew Crew Ball.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have something to celebrate.
Drink up.
Don’t forget to follow Kyle on Twitter @BrewFrostyMug, and check out and “like” the Mug’s Facebook page. The Frosty Mug runs mornings Monday-Friday and is brought to you by Legends of the Field, a sports memorabilia company you can trust.
