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03/30/2004 3:13 PM ET
Brewers' roster taking shape
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By Adam McCalvy / MLB.com |
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| Pitchers Victor Santos (left) and Matt Wise (right) were sent to the team's minor league camp along with outfielder Chris Magruder. (Scott Paulus/Brewers)
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PHOENIX -- The Brewers made some tough cuts Tuesday morning and pulled the trigger on a trade Tuesday night, leaving behind 26 players and a clearer picture of who will board the airplane for St. Louis and Opening Day.
In a staff meeting Monday night, club officials decided to assign the following non-roster players to minor league camp: right-handers Victor Santos and Matt Wise, lefty Chris Michalak, catchers Alex Delgado and Mark Johnson, infielders Matt Erickson and Jeff Liefer, and outfielders Chris Magruder and Jon Nunnally.
Then, after the Brewers lost to the A's, 7-6, on Tuesday, general manager Doug Melvin traded left-handed starter Wayne Franklin and right-handed reliever Leo Estrella to the San Francisco Giants for a pair of minor leaguers.
What does it all mean?
Tuesday's moves left behind 26 players including pitcher Nick Neugebauer, who is coming back from shoulder surgery and is expected to open the season on the disabled list.
Franklin's departure indicated the Brewers have settled on a starting rotation of right-handers Ben Sheets, Matt Kinney and Wes Obermueller and left-handers Doug Davis and Chris Capuano.
"Unless something else happens it would seem that way," Melvin said.
With Michalak and Franklin out of the mix, the team has no left-handers for the bullpen. Melvin may seek another trade or scour other teams' cut lists for left-handed help. Or, he may simply stick with an all-right-handed relief corps.
"It has got to be a good lefty," Melvin said. "I am not going to add a lefty for the sake of adding a lefty."
The Franklin/Estrella trade left the team with four open spots on the 40-man roster and four nonroster players still in camp: pitchers Dave Burba, Adrian Hernandez and Ben Ford and utility man Trent Durrington. All Melvin would say is that "the nonroster players all have a chance to make our club" and that final decisions will be made after Cactus League play ends Saturday.
Assuming that closer Dan Kolb, set-up man Luis Vizcaino, Rule 5 Draft pick Jeff Bennett, Burba and Hernandez have locked up bullpen spots, there are two open slots. Brooks Kieschnick, one of the final cuts last spring, looks like a lock to make the club.
Durrington, a versatile, hard-nosed player, appears to have won a job as a right-handed reserve infielder and emergency catcher. He was competing with Magruder, Nunnally, Erickson and Liefer for the final spot.
If that is the case, the Brewers will have an all-right-handed bench on Opening Day of Gary Bennett, Brady Clark, Durrington, Keith Ginter and Bill Hall.
For Durrington, the morning was a stressful one. Players were summoned to a conference room and told they had been cut.
The 28-year-old Australian was not summoned. Why? Manager Ned Yost loves his versatility (he picked up catching a few years ago in the Anaheim organization), and Durrington entered Tuesday's game against the A's with a .360 batting average and six stolen bases, tied with Hall for the team high.
"Initially I started catching to be that third-string guy," Durrington said. "It would be nice that if it came down to me making the club or not, the ability to catch would get me on. Then it would have served its purpose."
Durrington would be the third player from Australia to play for the Brewers, joining left-hander Graeme Lloyd and catcher David Nilsson. Fifteen Australian-born players, including Durrington, have played in the Major Leagues.
Just because they were cut Tuesday, don't count out the others. Milwaukee dipped early and often to Triple-A Indianapolis last season to fill holes created by injuries, especially on the pitching staff. Santos (0.75 ERA in nine games), Wise (2.08 ERA in eight games) and right-hander Mike Adams (1.69 ERA in five games) were pleasantly surprising this spring and could get a call if they are needed.
Switch-hitting outfielder Magruder and Erickson, an infielder from Appleton, Wis., also batted better than .300 this spring.
"I'd love to make the team, obviously," Erickson said last week. "But if that doesn't happen or if it's not the right situation at the end of Spring Training, I don't want them to have any doubts in their minds that, when they need me, they can give me that call.
"I wanted to come on here excited about the opportunity with the Brewers. I wanted to spark some interest, basically, into the coaches and people who see me play. I think I've done that. So I'm happy about that."
Magruder may have been one of Tuesday's more difficult cuts. He showed prowess in the outfield and batted .302 and scored 10 runs, one shy of Junior Spivey's team high.
Nunnally struggled, batting .222, but he has the most big league experience of players cut Tuesday. He played 364 games for Kansas City, Cincinnati, Boston and the New York Mets from 1995-2000.
"I can do a lot of things if I get that opportunity," Nunnally said. "I just need that opportunity to get back in it."
Adam McCalvy is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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