The Brewers, a few days ago, executed a trade with the Los Angeles Spinners which sent L.A. starting pitcher Jose Corpeno and catcher Joe Sandwell.
While the Brewers received a capable and WPK-ready second baseman in
Danny Lopez, who joins the AAA Chester Big Stick club, and a gifted glove man and speedy runner with no bat in
Nate Thomas, who is now with the single A Bainbridge Brawlers, the bigger picture was that this move freed up some roster space to bring up starting pitcher
Bernie Lopez to the big league club and promote starting pitching prospect
Mike Warner from AA to AAA.
Sandwell, who for a big chunk of the 1985 season was the primary catcher for the Brewers while Willie Ortega was on the IL, recently came off the IL himself after having suffered an oblique strain which kept him out of action for nearly 2 months. In his absence,
Omari Williams, the best hitting catcher in the organization, proved finally that he was ready to be at the major league level, and with concerns about Sandwell's durability (now fragile) and some evidence of declining skills, and only a few days left on his rehab assignment, the decision was made to move on. In addition, the Brewers have another WPK-ready backstop in AAA in the form of
Rich Fugate, who is nearly
Williams equal with the bat and has better defensive skills. (
Williams is defensively above average, but no more than that.)
Corpeno should strengthen the Spinners rotation and deserves a chance to play a larger role on a big league club, but with the emergence of
Stephen Brooks and
Eric Fehrenbacher as legit big league starters and
Lopez ready and
Warner not far behind, Corpeno just wasn't going to get that opportunity in Brewers purple and gold.
Editor's Note: And I see that L.A. actually has Corpeno in a setup role in their bullpen. But with aging and fragile Cody D'Onofrio in their rotation, it wouldn't be surprising if Corpeno got a chance to move into the rotation before long.