Harry Lyerly and the Denver Brewers of the WPK

[BirdWatcher]

And thus it begins.
If rumors are to be believed it should be a busy off-season for the Denver Brewers.
It started with the shocking news that ace and future HOF starting pitcher decided to opt out of the final season of his contract with the Brewers and test the free agency waters. While it is still possible the Brewers will bring him back by signing him as a free agent (or that he might take us up on our offer of arbitration), this could make the dominant starting rotation from 1975 a bit less dominant in '76.
Then it was announced that the Brewers had bought out the option they had on their other future HOF player, Ryan Rodgers, contract. Rodgers becomes a free agent and surely will not be in Brewers purple next season.

And today it was announced that long-time Brewer shortstop, Chad Brown, was packaged in a deal with first base prospect Brad McManus, second base prospect David Bennett, and non-prospect starting pitcher Andy Casillas that sent them all to Columbus in exchange for young fireballing reliever Walter Hackler and a pair of moderate outfield prospects.





And this is likely only the beginning of the wheeling and dealing.

[BirdWatcher]

Okay, I might have to apologize for this one a bit.
I almost didn't do it, because it might be considered cheating. I mean, I mentioned recently just what a dominant hitter this guy is. On the other hand, he really has no defensive skills at all. He can play first base, just barely, and mostly because he has the bat to carry his game. And in fairness, the OSA is not quite as high on him as the Brewers scouting staff so maybe the Boston scouts were less high on him as well.

But also, I just lost two future HOF'ers. And this is a game. So I'm gonna give myself this one.

Decent back up outfielder Zach Cook and reliever Jordan Stephens for potential MVP slugger Mike Lovett. It's done now and I'm just going to have to learn to live with it.

[BirdWatcher]

This is mostly a housekeeping exercise.
Kaeding isn't a bad player but whether he will have a future in the Brewers outfield is in doubt. But he could provide some 4th or 5th outfielder value at some point in the next few years. Or be used as trade bait.

[BirdWatcher]

One of the Brewers top position player prospects is 20 year old third baseman Jose Figueroa.
Currently Figueroa is getting some extra experience as a member of the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League and he is impressing everyone with his great bat skills.



Also on the Surprise team is the Brewers expected starting shortstop next season, Rich White. Among other Brewers on the squad are outfield prospects Matt Merrrill and Justin Hoerner, shortstops Casey Sage and Jeff Davey, and 17-year old starting pitcher out of Venezuela, Donatello Finocciaro, who has been roughed up thus far.

[Palaaemon]

Originally Posted by BirdWatcher

Ok, I did not see this coming.

Attachment 667576

SP Cheol-han Lee 98-38 (.721) record (from 1970-1975 only - all the info I had at hand).

The question is, WHY did he opt out? Was it because of money? No. He only had one more year left on his contract. He wanted to capitalize on yet another great year and sign a contract to get him to the end of his career or close to it. You really can't blame the guy. It makes sense. He probably will even make additional money as well. What he has done for the Denver Brewers, he deserves it.

Just how important is he to the organization of now and the near future while he is still playing and where does he stand in regards to "retiring as a Brewer" before he is most assuredly voted into the Hall of Fame? If I remember correctly you had mentioned that you wanted him to retire a Brewer, am I right? He is 34 now, (how far from 35 I don't know) how long before he begins to break down? Does that make any difference if he IS destined to retire in the purple? Does the price to sign him back matter at all? I think that I know the answer to all of these questions, and if I am correct he will be back in a Brewer uniform when pitchers and catchers report in February (assuming he doesn't decide to sign with another team). Which I think he won't.

Get a meeting with him asap, gauge his interest, if you feel he is a wiggling worm hook him right then and there. Give him your best offer with incentives to sweeten the deal (this time with no opt outs or options, either player or team. You want him to retire a Brewer right?). Then close the deal with your first Hall of Famer SP Cheol-han Lee. Then it's time to go celebrate!

Have a Great night my man!

Palaaemon

[Palaaemon]

The winds of change have started blowing through Denver Colorado. The Brewers baseball club is in a position that they have never been in before. Sure they have traded players, let them go to free agency even flat out cut them, but not in the numbers that are being seen since during the season to now and continuing. Wholesale changes are happening here. Some due to contracts coming due, others with players abilities degrading and losing effectiveness, some where the organization has lost faith in them after being patient with them to develop, and with others it came down to simply a numbers game or being a "clubhouse cancer". There may be other reasons (each player can have a unique situation).

Once the wind dies down this team will certainly not look like it did previously. Of course parts will be familiar here and there but so many familiar names and faces will have departed for other pastures. For so long you could count on the beginning of each year the team remaining basically the same with perhaps 2-3 player changes for opening day. This next season you will need a program to know the team. Changing so many players at one time is unusual and can have a detrimental effect on team and individual player chemistry and morale. It certainly is not the ideal way to go about roster turnover. Usually it is more of a gradual process rather than a massive resource reallocation, trade or dump.

Among those players moving on have been (and will be) minor league players, minor league prospects of variable levels, major league role players, (bench, utility, platoon, etc.) major league starters, even major league stars (or former stars).

Some of these players have been here since the beginning of the league, others were drafted by the team, some were traded for or procured through waivers and others came by way of free agency, either domestic or foreign. I will not name any players here partly out of respect and also because not all transactions have occurred yet. I will allow the Brewers team officials to announce all transactions as they become official.

It will be interesting to see what this team will look like after everything is all said and done. I look forward to it. The off season has started, the Hot Stove is heating up and the winds of uncertainty are blowing hard!

Palaaemon

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by Palaaemon

SP Cheol-han Lee 98-38 (.721) record (from 1970-1975 only - all the info I had at hand).

The question is, WHY did he opt out? Was it because of money? No. He only had one more year left on his contract. He wanted to capitalize on yet another great year and sign a contract to get him to the end of his career or close to it. You really can't blame the guy. It makes sense. He probably will even make additional money as well. What he has done for the Denver Brewers, he deserves it.

Just how important is he to the organization of now and the near future while he is still playing and where does he stand in regards to "retiring as a Brewer" before he is most assuredly voted into the Hall of Fame? If I remember correctly you had mentioned that you wanted him to retire a Brewer, am I right? He is 34 now, (how far from 35 I don't know) how long before he begins to break down? Does that make any difference if he IS destined to retire in the purple? Does the price to sign him back matter at all? I think that I know the answer to all of these questions, and if I am correct he will be back in a Brewer uniform when pitchers and catchers report in February (assuming he doesn't decide to sign with another team). Which I think he won't.

Get a meeting with him asap, gauge his interest, if you feel he is a wiggling worm hook him right then and there. Give him your best offer with incentives to sweeten the deal (this time with no opt outs or options, either player or team. You want him to retire a Brewer right?). Then close the deal with your first Hall of Famer SP Cheol-han Lee. Then it's time to go celebrate!

Have a Great night my man!

Palaaemon

Well, this is a question I knew I would have to answer pretty soon (not the question from you, necessarily, but the over-arching question of whether to extend Cheol-han or not), I just thought it would be at the end of next season at the earliest. I do have to wonder a bit also if our 103 win season had actually resulted in a KCS appearance and possibly another WPK championship, whether Cheol's calculus would have been a bit different.
Approaching 35 years old, Cheol-han was still very good this year, of course. And his nearly 37 year old left-handed counterpart, Jake Harris (spoiler alert!) just won his 4th SJL Pitcher of the Year award, while Cheol-han was in the running for the MGL honor. (We all know who got that, though full reporting will follow tonight.) His stuff is merely average at this point and many of the pitches in his arsenal are not what they used to be, but he retains elite movement and control and these keep him near the top of the pile.
I see no reason why he wouldn't have another good season in 1976 and maybe even a few more after that. But while I have appreciated all of the quality Lee has brought to the team, I am not absolutely committed to trying to keep him in a Brewer uniform up to his retirement, unless that makes sense and can be worked out in a reasonable way. The reality is that we have plenty of money. That isn't an issue. The Brewers welcomed
well over 3 million fans into Centennial Stadium this season, breaking their own WPK record. We have always turned a nice profit for our owner and though he does tend towards frugality, he has slowly raised our budget to be among the league's highest. We could invest in 3 or 4 superstars this off-season and still be under budget a bit, especially given the buy-out of Ryan Rodgers contract, the trade of several others, and the likely non-tender to arbitration eligible Harry Lyerly. (No reasonable trade has yet been identified for Lyerly.)

So, first things first, he might accept our offer of arbitration and not file for free agency. We aren't quite there yet so for now we wait to see what his decision is on that front. Failing that, it is certainly possible that we will explore signing him and bringing him back as a free agent. The real question will be how many years he wants, not how many dollars. We can do the dollars, but it might not make sense to do the years depending on his expectations in that regard. And again, free agent filings haven't happened yet so it's impossible to know exactly who will be out there available, but indications are that Mike Stagner, a similar pitcher to Cheol-han, but a few years younger, should be the top pitcher on the market, outside of Lee. So if we are to sign a pitcher to take Cheol's place, that would likely be the one we would target.

The most recent indications are that Sekien Hamasaki is coming along quite well and could be a middle of the rotation arm. We did sign international free agent Sadahige Kawasaki last off-season partly as a hedge against Cheol-han's inevitable decline and/or absence from the team. Of course, there are always injuries to account for and Matt Helm, who profiles as fragile, likely can't avoid a serious injury forever. But with young John Weaver also showing signs of being big league ready (at least as a back-end of the rotation arm or swing man), and minor leaguer Jim Atwell looking good and maybe only a few seasons away, we might be okay standing pat, even without Cheol-han. This is the tough decision that will have to be made this off-season. But likely it will come down to how negotiations go with Cheol-han and Stagner.

Almost surely though, when Cheol-han does eventually head to the Hall, it will be as a Brewer. Even if his career in Denver has come to an end.

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by Palaaemon

The winds of change have started blowing through Denver Colorado. The Brewers baseball club is in a position that they have never been in before. Sure they have traded players, let them go to free agency even flat out cut them, but not in the numbers that are being seen since during the season to now and continuing. Wholesale changes are happening here. Some due to contracts coming due, others with players abilities degrading and losing effectiveness, some where the organization has lost faith in them after being patient with them to develop, and with others it came down to simply a numbers game or being a "clubhouse cancer". There may be other reasons (each player can have a unique situation).

Once the wind dies down this team will certainly not look like it did previously. Of course parts will be familiar here and there but so many familiar names and faces will have departed for other pastures. For so long you could count on the beginning of each year the team remaining basically the same with perhaps 2-3 player changes for opening day. This next season you will need a program to know the team. Changing so many players at one time is unusual and can have a detrimental effect on team and individual player chemistry and morale. It certainly is not the ideal way to go about roster turnover. Usually it is more of a gradual process rather than a massive resource reallocation, trade or dump.

Among those players moving on have been (and will be) minor league players, minor league prospects of variable levels, major league role players, (bench, utility, platoon, etc.) major league starters, even major league stars (or former stars).

Some of these players have been here since the beginning of the league, others were drafted by the team, some were traded for or procured through waivers and others came by way of free agency, either domestic or foreign. I will not name any players here partly out of respect and also because not all transactions have occurred yet. I will allow the Brewers team officials to announce all transactions as they become official.

It will be interesting to see what this team will look like after everything is all said and done. I look forward to it. The off season has started, the Hot Stove is heating up and the winds of uncertainty are blowing hard!

Palaaemon

So, I was planning on doing a bit of an overview of changes thus far and what they might mean (and what might still be coming) and this gives me a nice opportunity to do just that.

First things first, the elephant in the room. Or some kind of large, powerful creature anyway. I notice you have not responded yet to the Brewers acquisition of top prospect Mike Lovett. But this guy could change everything.
To begin with, the Lovett trade means it is almost inevitable that Bobby Erbakan will be asked to perfect his craft at second base this coming Spring Training. And if he proves capable in this regard, he will be the starting second baseman in 1976. Likely this will mean that Brett Taranto will take over primarily at first (with Andrew Kennedy playing quite a bit there also), at least for the first half of the season or so.
Mike Lovett dominated with the bat in single A ball this past season. Granted, it was his second year in a row at that level. To be fair, he was pretty dominant the first year there too. He will start the season in Nashville, with the Brewers AA club. If our scouting staff is right about this kid, he will dominate there too. And if that happens don't be surprised to see him join the Brewers mid-season or at the very least on September 1st.

According to inside sources Brewer management is salivating at the thought of the following batting order going forward for at least the next several years:
1- Josh Schaeffer, RF
2- Rodrigo Rodriguez, 3b
3- Joe McPhillips, CF
4- Mike Lovett, 1b
5- Bobby Erbakan, 2b
6- Jorge Gonzalez, LF
7- Rich White, SS
8- Zacarias Martell/Kirk Patnode, C

Lovett looks like a batter who could consistently hit .325-.335 each year, with 20-25 doubles, 35-50 HR's, while putting up an OBP over .400. With good hitting, very good OBP and fast runner Josh Schaeffer setting the table, batting champ RodRod hitting second with his good speed and great gap power (doubles machine), Joe McPhillips contact/speed/power/on-base combination in the three hole, Lovett cleaning up, Erbakan with great contact and good power hitting 5th, the excellent contact hitting and speed of Gonzalez (also with some power) 6th, and then Rich White with decent pop and good OBP skills followed by one of our fine catchers (who admittedly have probably over-achieved with the bats thus far), well, a team that already is the best in the WPK in runs scored and batting average, could just become all that more dangerous.


The major changes in the roster for next season have probably all happened now. There are still some questions in the bullpen, but the reality is that it doesn't look like there will be a good crop of relievers to choose from in free agency, so we might just go with what we have now, having unloaded Francis, Walker, and Stephens. We have the two left-handers in Gottula and Marino and two righties in Shore and Flynn. Perhaps Walter Hackler will be ready this spring or he might start the season at AAA. But it is certainly possible that starters John Weaver and Damian Hahn could be in the 'pen as long relievers/swing men on Opening Day.

Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see how Jose Figueroa continues to develop as our future third baseman and what that will mean for RodRod. Figueroa profiles as a similar hitter to RodRod and a much better fielder. (We also have a great hitting third base prospect in Andy Oleson, who is a level ahead of Figueroa in the system, but he is even more suspect defensively than RodRod, doesn't have great makeup, and likely might be trade bait before too long.) We have a few young outfielders to keep an eye on, especially in case the not great work ethics of Jorge Gonzalez or Josh Schaeffer start to lead to lesser output. Jon Williams, in particular (IIRC) could be a fine defensive and power hitting option for right field. Reliever Adrian Darby still profiles as a future plus arm in the bullpen. He is also maybe our best power hitter in the system (well, until we acquired Lovett) and has been a two-way player thus far. And starting pitching prospect Jim Atwell, with his great stuff, is moving along nicely and has scouts pretty excited.

The future looks bright for the Brewer organization, even if a little unsettled.

[BirdWatcher]

It's Awards season again. Let's begin by looking at the Gold Glove award winners.
Starting with the SJL:





For Curtis Horah this is his 8th GG. It is the 6th for Erik Buonopane. Juan Mendoza has now taken the award 3 times in a row. It is Josh Jenkins 3rd as well, though the last time was in 1966. It is the second time winning the award for Jose Mendoza and Mike Silviera. All the rest win for the first time.

And the MGL:




Veteran starting pitcher Jose Santos gets his 4th GG award. His battery mate Greg Foster gets his 3rd as does their teammate Pat Davis. The light hitting Jimmy Dewing also gets his 3rd GG. Greg Alwardt gets the award for the 2nd time and all the others are first-timer winners.

For the first time in several years, the Brewers are without a Gold Glove award. After having won six times in a row at first base, Bobby Erbakan loses to L.A.'s Edwin Ayala this year. If truth be told, Ayala may well have deserved it last year as well.

[BirdWatcher]

Hey, surprise, surprise: Jamel McNeil is named Reliever of the Year for the 7th time in his HOF career. This is the 4th time he has won it as a member of the SJL.

[BirdWatcher]

Shouta Hori, the 24-year old anchor of the L.A. bullpen, helped not only in making the Spinners bullpen the best in the league but also in doing so had a big impact on their pennant winning season.

This will likely not be his last Reliever of the Year award.

[BirdWatcher]

Starting with the SJL:




Nate Bennett, the greatest home run hitter in the WPK thus far, has now won 10 Silver Slugger awards. Another sure HOF'er, Jesus Casiano, gets number 7 of his illustrious career. For 27-year old outfielder Eric Taylor it is the third such award and for his fellow 27-year old star, Justin Vargas, it is his second. All others are first time winners.

In the MGL:




L.A.'s Travis Johnson is another sure HOF'er and he wins his 8th Silver Slugger award. Phoenix' slugging right fielder Ju-ao Ju wins his 7th. And Portland's Chris Tobin captures his 5th. It is the second time for both Randy Keisel and Greg Foster. The others are all first time winners, including the Brewers own Rodrigo "RodRod" Rodriguez.

[BirdWatcher]

To the surprise of not a soul, Philadelphia's Xiao-mei Mah unanimously wins the SJL Rookie of the Year award.

[BirdWatcher]

RodRod is the ROY! For the first time in the history of the franchise the Brewers have a Rookie of the Year. And the only other player in the MGL to get some first place votes for this award was another Brewer, starting pitcher Sadahige Kawasaki, who finished third in points in the voting.

All hail RodRod!

[BirdWatcher]

Okay, I wouldn't normally bother reporting on this. Two teams go to the post-season in the WPK. Naturally the managers of those two teams always win the Manager of the Year award.
But I wanted to share this mostly to show you Harry Rabalais. I think he might be my favorite manager in the WPK.

[BirdWatcher]

Just another step along the road to first ballot immortality for the great lefty, Jake Harris.

[BirdWatcher]

And just another unanimous Pitcher of the Year award for the current best pitcher in baseball.

The Brewers Sadahige Kawasaki finished a respectable third and Cheol-han Lee finished sixth.

[BirdWatcher]

Boston's 27-year old right fielder Justin Vargas, considered one of the smartest players in the game, is also one of the most talented and takes home his second league MVP award (his first came in 1971.) Vargas led the league this season in runs scored, triples, home runs, slugging percentage, OPS, and WAR.

And the durable, five-tools player should have plenty more where that came from. (Although Vargas was the only player to receive any first place votes, the SJL ROY Xiao-mei Mah had a strong showing with the second most points total in the voting.)

[BirdWatcher]

The Phoenix Speed Devils slugging right fielder Ju-ao Ju has won his first league MVP award at the age of 33. Ju led the league in runs scored, in homers (for the 4th time in his career), RBI (for the 3rd time), and slugging percentage (3rd time.)

But consider the plight of the Brewers Joe McPhillips, last year's MGL MVP. McPhillips missed a month of the season with a knee sprain and then came back so strong in the final two months of the season that he finished in second in the voting this year. He was at his best as the season was ending and one can imagine that if he had a bit more time he might have been able to get that illusive back-to-back MVP.

And what about L.A.'s Greg Foster? He was the only player other than Ju to get more than a single 1st place vote for this award, and still finished a fairly distant 7th in total points.

The Brewers Bobby Erbakan, who also missed a good deal of time early in the season, finished in 10th, while ROY RodRod got a single point to finish just at the bottom of the pile. But to be anywhere in this pile is an honor.

[BirdWatcher]

Nick Haran is relatively unheralded, having been an All-Star just twice in his career and having won a single Silver Slugger award. But he has been a consistently good power hitter who also possesses good speed, is a strong defensive right fielder and has a cannon for an arm. In his eleven year career he has accounted for 53.1 WAR.

Apparently his team for the past four seasons, the San Antonio Keys, appreciates the consistency and quiet maturity he brings to the team, and they have signed him to a 4-year extension to keep him in a Keys uniform through the 1979 season and avoid losing him in free agency this off-season. Although there are some questions about Haran's durability, for a team that has clubhouse troubles and often under-achieves, keeping Haran seems like a smart move.