Jay Powell was called up with Bernero optioned to AAA Richmond. (You think someone will claim him? Ha!) Bernero remains on the 40-man roster, with Thomson going to the 60-day DL.
Amongst other things, this probably means that whoever gets demoted from the rotation will be sent down, rather than into the bullpen.
Can he be claimed? If he’s optioned, doesn’t that mean he has options left? This is all so confusing. I do think he will be claimed if he can be. With all the crap that’s been swapping hands lately, I wouldn’t be surprised.
I found this in an online baseball glossary”. I have no idea how accurate this is… nor do I know exactly how Bernero’s specific situation fits.
“Options: A player who is still on the 40-man roster but not on the 25-man roster or the disabled list is on an optional assignment to the minor leagues. One of the more complicated matters in baseball, options can be simply explained. A player has three years after he is added to the 40-man roster in which he can be sent to the minors without being removed from the roster, these are option years. An option is used every year such a player is sent down unless the player remains in the minors for less than 10 days in each stint. A player “out-of-options” has exhausted his option years. There are many exceptions to this rule however. If a player has not been on the major-league roster during the season during his career, then he can have a fourth option year. Players with at least five years of major-league experience who haven’t been optioned to the minors three times may be optioned to the minors and still remain on the 40-man roster, but must give their permission. A player with three full years of major league service time must pass through waivers in order to be optioned down.”
I think that at minimum he has to give his permission.
The confusing part to me is that he appears to have been optioned 3 times already. He has certainly spent at least portions of 3 years in the minors since the first year he was called up. Based on the number of games pitched, all of the stints were almost certainly in excess of 10 days. So unless some of the time was on official rehab, he doesn’t mean any of the criteria in that definition. He also has likely accumlated 3 full years of service time at this point, although I can’t find anything certain on that. Oh well, I should probably stop trying to understand it on my own. Sure would be nice if someone who does understand could explain it to me, though 🙂
Finally, 3 down and one (Kolb) to go. Good move but will the front office make a big enough move to have a good enough chance. I may be alone but I wish the Braves would resign Furcal and trade Betemit get rid of Kolb and add a proven reliever.
The offense may be good enough with good fielding and strong pitching, after CJ returns
We still absolutely have to get a closer. We simply can’t rely on Reitsma in that key of a role. I am telling you, a great closer is like a great kicker…how many Super Bowls have been won & lost by guys like Adam Vinatieri & Scott Norwood RATHER then Tom Brady & Jim Kelly?
That’s what a closer is…you bring him in to close the deal. Reitsma is the equivalent to a mediocre kicker like Bill Grammatica or Doug Brien…no one would win a Super Bowl counting on guys like that, who are wildly inconsistent. You need a Rivera/Vinatieri.
That aside, I don’t care if my Grandmother got called up as long as Bernero is off the team. Good riddance to a piece of garbage of a pitcher.
Also, I don’t want to see Colon in the bullpen so if they refuse to keep him a starter, then I would rather him be in Richmond then ever grace the Atlanta pen ever again…he simply cannot be trusted in THAT role.
Saw on Baseball America that we signed an Australian, Steve Kent, for a $280k bonus. He’s a pitcher on the Australian Junior National team.
Whee, the pitching Glenn Williams!
Here’s a page I found about him:
Link
Or worse, the pitching Paul Hogan.
And here’s the BA link:
Braves Sign Aussie to Six-Figure Bonus
Looks like he turns sixteen next month. Goodness. I didn’t think teams were allowed to sign players under 16?
And here’s the original article from the Canberra newspaper.
Here is what Chipper did last night…
http://minorleaguebaseball.com/app/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050715&content_id=15828&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp
The Australian article is hilarious. We learn from it that Kent is a “left-armer” who just turned 16 (the other page that lists his birthday as 8/5/1989 probably uses weird backwards dates, so he really turned 16 on May 8th… damn Aussies), throws “140 km/h”, and would most like to meet Hilary Duff on a cross-oceanic flight. Ballplayers… they don’t make ’em like they used to.
Alex, if we can get Colon to throw strikes I think he would be a great closer.
Except that he gives up way too many home runs. I agree that at times, he looks unstoppable, but he’s a long way away.
Powell has looked great rehabing
Powell has looked great rehabing
He’s thrown a total of 14 innings in AA this year. He’s pitched three unspectacular years in Texas prior to his injury (TJ surgery, I believe).
I still say Reitsma has great stuff and we should keep him as closer. I like his confidence which he didn’t show last year.
I am all for sending Davies down to Richmond. Spending the rest of the year with the R-braves will do his future a world of goods.
I have mixed feeling about Furcal. I would love to keep him, but the Jimmy Rollins contract (4 yrs $40) pretty much kills all hope as the two are essentially the same player. This is why I don’t think we can trade Betemit even though I don’t think there is anyone in the Braves organization has a clue about how good/bad Betemit will be.
I also like the idea of sending Horacio to the bullpen, left-handed hitters do not hit Horacio well.
I agree with keeping Sosa in the rotation. He walks too many guys to be in the bullpen.
I would like to see Colon spending the rest of the year at Richmond as well. He is still rather inconsistent in either starting or relieve role. Sosa has been more consistent and more predictable in the starting role.
* extra news,,
ex-braves Seth Greisgner(W,1-0)
5IP, 62pitches, 1H, 7K, 0R, 0ER, 0.00ERA
Congratulations Seth!!!
hey handsome~~I will be seeing you sooner or later in the ballpark. HaHa.. good luck.
I wonder if Reitsma’s going on the DL tonight. Maybe he isn’t responding as well as they’d hoped – it would explain bringing Powell up right now.
So nobody can explain how Berenero was able to be optioned? This is really starting to bug me, even though I know understanding it would have no practical application for me. If the game were on TBS, I could send in one of those stupid Home Depot questions. I’m sure Joe has had plenty of experience with sort of thing and may know the answer 🙂
Bernero. Sounds like Berman’s home run call durring the derby. You know the ones he did in Spanish for some reason.
“Pudge! Back,Back,Back,Back,Back…GONE! BERNE-NE-NE-NE-NE-NE-ERO!!!!!!!!!!!”
I can hear how that conversation would end.
“Adam’s a great guy, and I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”
“You’re right, Joe. Even if the Braves can’t use him, there are lots of other teams that could give him a chance.”
I have a feeling that would actually be the most informative part of the conversation. Good ole, Joe… mostly useles, but I like him for some reason.
Tjen it would be
Joe-“Well when I was winning my two MVP’s there were some great guys on my team. Of all my team mates the only one I ever had a problem with was Jim Bouton in Houston. Billy Bean should think about things like that when he is writting his Money Ball Books.”
Chris-“Ok, Pudge’s last shot was 408….”
Then not Tjen
Joe Simpson for the HOF!
I still want Sosa to get a shot at the closers job. He is the guy in the pen with the stuff that would enable him to come in and dominate an inning.
Al Leiter looks to be done. I wonder if FOX will fire McCarver? Maybe we can get rid of CHip and bring in Leiter.
I still want Sosa to get a shot at the closers job. He is the guy in the pen with the stuff that would enable him to come in and dominate an inning.
Stats: K9/BB9/HR9
Adam Bernero: 7.12/2.51/1.05
Jorge Sosa: 6.39/5.19/1.00
They’re “stuff” seems to not all that different.
Who do we get to vote on today?
Those lines make Bernero seem like a better pitcher, but I think of two things when looking at them.
1) Bernero’s stats are lopsided. He had a steller month early, and his recent months have been poor. A decline in quality says, to me, that he has potential, he just needs some time to regain his form. In Richmond.
2) Sosa spent a lot of time starting this year, meaning over four consecutive innings of work. Bernero was rarely used for more than one inning at a time, and I don’t think he was ever used for more than two.
For the record, I don’t think Sosa would be a better closer than Reitsma. I just happen to think that, at this moment, Sosa is a better pitcher than Bernero and would be a better fit on the team.
And I say “For the record”, because I know there exists an official Braves Journal record, but it only includes statements prefaces with “For the record”.
Thomason please do some kind of poll to see who we chose to be our closer…It will be interesting
Thomason? Why so formal?
Lots of articles out today about a “fire” sale in Philly….I hope they ( JS & Whoever ) take a look at Wagner, and if the deal is right, Thome, who they are apparently shopping too
Kolb for Thome and Wagner. It sounds stupid, but hey it is the Phillies!
Where did you get this info, Mac? I can’t find it anywhere.
It’s in the notes column on the official site, for one.
There is now a brief article on Yahoo about Thome.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=rotowire-imhomentheradinglock&prov=rotowire&type=lgns
The question on Bernero’s options – the definition of using an option is being on the 40 man roster but not on the active roster. You don’t use an option if you spend the entire season on the active roster or DL, only when you are sent to the minors for at least 10 days.
The permission thing comes into play if (a) the player has appeared in the majors for 5 years and (b) has been optioned less than 3 times. Bernero doesn’t meet condition (a) yet, he’s in his 5th year of major league time this year.
However, from looking at his career numbers, this year probably has to be his last option year. In 2000, he was called up in August and spent the rest of the season with Detroit. So that year would not have used an option (didn’t go back to minors, and probably wasn’t on 40-man until he was called up). In 2001, he was a September callup, and would only have used an option year if he was on the 40-man the whole year – couldn’t find that info in brief check. 2002 was called up in May and spent rest of season in Detroit, again would have used an option only if he was on 40-man at beginning of year. 2003 did not use an option, he was on a big-league roster the whole season. 2004 definitely spent an option, he was moving back and forth from Colorado roster & AAA team in the latter part of the season.
So, assuming one of either 2001 & 2002 he wasn’t on the 40-man roster before callup, he has at least one option left, and might even have 2 left.
Thanks, John. I hadn’t thought about him possibly not being on the 40-man until the time of the callup in 2001. I just noticed that he had minor league time. That makes a lot of sense, especially if they either hadn’t previously been worried about a rule 5 pickup… or he hadn’t qualified the previous year.