Tagged: Jason Rogers

Hot Stove Report: Trade Consummated With Pittsburgh

OFFICIAL RELEASE

The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired outfielder Keon Broxton and right-handed pitcher Trey Supak from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for first baseman Jason Rogers. Broxton has been added to the 40-man roster, which remains at 37. The announcement was made by General Manager David Stearns.

“We are pleased to add Keon Broxton and Trey Supak to the organization,” said Stearns. “Keon is a young, athletic outfielder who will have the ability to impact our Major League team as soon as this season while Trey was a highly coveted high school pitcher from the 2014 draft who adds to our growing number of pitching prospects.”

Broxton, 25, split the 2015 season between Double-A Altoona (45 games) and Triple-A Indianapolis (88 games) and batted a combined .273 with 10 HR, 68 RBI and 39 stolen bases in 133 games. His 39 steals ranked second in the Pirates organization. He also made his Major League debut in 2015, appearing in seven games off the bench. Entering the season, Broxton was rated by Baseball America as the best defensive outfielder in the Pirates system.

Originally selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the third round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, Broxton was traded to Pittsburgh on March 27, 2014. He owns a career batting average of .253 with 75 HR, 337 RBI and 150 stolen bases in 826 minor-league games. He has produced 20+ stolen bases in five of his seven professional seasons.

Supak, 19, was selected by Pittsburgh in Competitive Balance Round B of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft. He spent his first two seasons at the Rookie level (Gulf Coast League Pirates and Bristol), going 2-5 with a 5.85 ERA in 16 games, including 14 starts.

Rogers, 27, was selected by Milwaukee in the 32nd round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft. He made his Major League debut in 2014, appearing in eight games. He batted .296 with 4 HR and 16 RBI in 86 games during two stints with the Brewers in 2015. Rogers started 25 games this past season, making 22 starts at first base, two in left field and one at third base.

Gomez Hits DL, Recall Made

CarlosGomezSuspended

The Milwaukee Brewers announced this morning that Carlos Gomez was officially placed on the 15-day Disabled List as a result of the injuring of his right hamstring in the ninth inning of Wednesday evening’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals. It was reported that Gomez has a small defect or tear in this hamstring and that he received a cortisone shot.

Gomez was originally hoped to only be out a few days, but an examination by the Brewers’ team doctor in Milwaukee on Thursday revealed the tear and the decision was made to shut Gomez down for the time being.

JasonRogers

To fill Gomez’s spot on the 25-man roster, the Brewers recalled Jason Rogers from his optioned assignment to the Triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox. In six games with the Sky Sox, Rogers has slashed .360/.429/.640 (1.069 OPS) across 28 plate appearances. He has scored eight times, has collected three extra-base hits (one double, two home runs), and has put up three walks to four strikeouts.

Once a 32nd round draft pick by the Brewers back in 2010, Rogers made his Major League as a September call-up just last season. In limited work he collected just one hit (a double) in 10 trips to the plate.

Rogers has the ability to play first base, third base, and some left field defensively.

He adds a right-handed bat with a quality batting eye to the Brewers bench, something they should find useful.

Brewers On Deck 2015 – Attendees List, Pricing, Additional Details

image

BREWERS ON DECK TO INCLUDE OVER 50 PLAYERS, COACHES, BROADCASTERS & ALUMNI
Event to Feature Community Book Drive; Food Donations Accepted through Hunger Task Force

OFFICIAL RELEASE

Nearly 50 Milwaukee Brewers players plus a host of alumni, coaches, front office executives and broadcasters are scheduled to participate in Brewers On Deck, which is set to take place on Sunday, January 25 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the Wisconsin Center.

Advance tickets are $15 for adults and $9 for children 14 and under.  Tickets on the day of the event are $20 for adults and $15 for children 14 and under.  A portion of the proceeds from Brewers On Deck will benefit Brewers Community Foundation. Tickets may be purchased at the Miller Park ticket office, by calling the Brewers ticket office at 414-902-4000, or online at brewers.com/ondeck.

This year the event will feature a community book drive that will help support Next Door’s Books for Kids program. The goal of the Books for Kids campaign is to help all children in Milwaukee’s central city, regardless of their family income or education levels, have books they can call their own. Local author Marla McKenna will help host the event. Fans are encouraged to bring new or gently used children’s books to donate. In appreciation for their contribution, fans who donate a book will receive a free copy of McKenna’s newest publication, “Mom’s Big Catch,” a story based upon events that took place at Miller Park.

Once again food donations will be accepted through Hunger Task.  Donations can be dropped off at two main entrances to the Wisconsin Center, located at 4th Street and Wisconsin Avenue, and 4th Street and Wells Street.

Players, coaches and alumni scheduled to attend include (all subject to change):

PLAYERS

  • Michael Blazek
  • Ryan Braun
  • Juan Centeno
  • Matt Clark
  • Clint Coulter
  • Khris Davis
  • Mike Fiers
  • Yovani Gallardo
  • Scooter Gennett
  • David Goforth
  • Carlos Gomez
  • Hector Gomez
  • Brooks Hall
  • Jim Henderson
  • Jeremy Jeffress
  • Taylor Jungmann
  • Brandon Kintzler
  • Corey Knebel (just added)
  • Adam Lind
  • Jonathan Lucroy
  • Kyle Lohse
  • Hunter Morris
  • Jimmy Nelson
  • Gerardo Parra
  • Wily Peralta
  • Shane Peterson
  • Jason Rogers
  • Luis Sardiñas (just added)
  • Logan Schafer
  • Will Smith
  • Michael Strong
  • Tyler Thornburg
  • Rob Wooten

COACHES

  • Darnell Coles (Hitting Coach)
  • Joe Crawford (Video/Scouting)
  • Matt Erickson (Timber Rattlers Mgr.)
  • Mike Guerrero (1st Base Coach)
  • Marcus Hanel (Bullpen Catcher)
  • Rick Kranitz (Pitching Coach)
  • Jerry Narron (Bench Coach)
  • Ron Roenicke (Manager)
  • Ed Sedar (3rd Base Coach)
  • John Shelby (Outfield Coach)
  • Lee Tunnell (Bullpen Coach)

ALUMNI

  • Jerry Augustine
  • Cecil Cooper
  • Craig Counsell
  • Rob Deer
  • Jim Gantner
  • Larry Hisle

Brewers On Deck will feature a number of activities for the entire family.  Autographs and photos from Brewers players, coaches and alumni; interactive games in the Kids Area; Q&A sessions and game shows with Brewers players, coaches and broadcasters; vendor booths with baseball memorabilia; Brewers Community Foundation’s Treasure Hunt, a 50/50 raffle, live auction and many other activities will all be a part of Brewers On Deck.

Details regarding autographs include the following:  Recipients of “PREMIER” autographs (players to be announced next week) will be chosen through a random selection process. Each fan in attendance will receive one Premier Entry sheet which may be redeemed at the Random Selection area outside the Main Exhibit Hall of the Wisconsin Center District.  The Premier Entry sheet will be exchanged for a numbered coupon to be entered into the random selection process for any one of the select Brewers players.  Coupon distribution will be available at 8 a.m. the day of the event and will continue up to an hour before each designated autograph session.   There is no cost for coupons to enter the random selection process; however, those holding winning coupons must pay $10 at the respective autograph stage to collect their player signature.  There will be 250 winners for each of the autograph sessions.  The winning ticket numbers will be posted at the designated autograph stage no less than 30 minutes prior to each player’s session.

Players and staff not included in the PREMIER autograph list will not use the random selection process. Each of these players will sign 250 autographs at prices ranging from free to $10. A schedule of players, their session times, and distribution info will be posted next week.  The autograph opportunities are for signatures on photo cards provided by the team; the Brewers cannot guarantee that any player will sign other memorabilia.  For additional information, visit Brewers.com/ondeck.

Autograph proceeds benefit Brewers Community Foundation.  Please note that cash is the only acceptable form of payment for autographs. The Brewers cannot guarantee that any player will sign other memorabilia, and personalization of items is solely up to the discretion of each player.

A detailed schedule of all Brewers On Deck events will be released next week.

***UPDATE! Here is the schedule…***

Recipients of “PREMIER” autographs Ryan Braun, Carlos Gomez, Jonathan Lucroy and Bob Uecker will be chosen through a random selection process. Each fan in attendance will receive one Premier Entry card which may be redeemed at the Random Selection area outside the Main Exhibit Hall of the Wisconsin Center.  The Premier Entry card will be exchanged for a numbered coupon and entered into the random selection process for any one of the select Brewers players.  Coupon distribution will be available at 8 a.m. the day of the event and will continue up to an hour before each designated autograph session.

There is no cost for coupons to enter the random selection process; however, those holding winning coupons must pay $10 at the respective autograph stage to collect their player signature.  There will be 250 winners for each of the autograph sessions.  The winning ticket numbers will be posted at the designated autograph stage no less than 30 minutes prior to each player’s session. A schedule is listed below:

PREMIER AUTOGRAPH SCHEDULE

Player                                   Signing Time       Stage

Bob Uecker                           12:30 – 1:15         5

Ryan Braun                          1:00 – 1:45           6

Jonathan Lucroy                 2:30 – 3:15           3

Carlos Gomez                      3:00 – 3:45           1

Players and staff not included in the above autograph list will not use the random selection process. Each of those players will sign 250 autographs at prices ranging from free to $10.

The autograph opportunities are for signatures on photo cards provided by the team; the Brewers cannot guarantee that any player will sign other memorabilia, and personalization of items is solely up to the discretion of each player (BOLD ITALICS – Premier Autograph).

Autograph Schedule – MAIN STAGES

Stage 1                                                                                               

10:30 – 11:15      Scooter Gennett ($10)

12:00 – 12:45      Logan Schafer ($10)

1:30 – 2:15           Mike Fiers ($10)

3:00 – 3:45           Carlos Gomez ($10)

 

Stage 2                                                                                                

12:30 – 1:15         Jim Henderson ($10)

2:00 – 2:45           Gerardo Parra ($10)

3:30 – 4:15           Will Smith ($10)

 

Stage 3                                                                                            

11:30 – 12:15      Adam Lind ($10)

2:30 – 3:15           Jonathan Lucroy ($10)

3:45 – 4:30           Wily Peralta ($10)

 

Stage 4                                                                                                 

10:30 – 11:15     Brandon Kintzler ($10)

12:00 – 12:45      Rob Wooten ($10)

1:30 – 2:15           Khris Davis  ($10)

 

Stage 5

11:00 – 11:45 Jimmy Nelson ($10)

12:30 – 1:15   Bob Uecker  ($10)/Mark Attanasio ($0)

3:30 – 4:15   Jeremy Jeffress ($10)

 

Stage 6

11:30 – 12:15      Tyler Thornburg ($10)

1:00 – 1:45           Ryan Braun ($10)

3:45 – 4:30           Kyle Lohse ($10)

Players who are not listed above will sign free autographs on the Bonus Stage all day long.

Please note that cash is the only acceptable form of payment for autographs.

The 620 WTMJ Stage will broadcast live from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. and will include interviews with Brewers players and coaches.

New this year, fans are invited to stop by the Social Media Stage for fun and games. Fans can also post their photos from the event to Twitter and/or Instagram using the hashtag #BrewersOnDeck for a chance to win prizes such as a trip down Bernie Brewer’s slide, game tickets and more. For contest rules, visit brewers.com/onDeck.

Children are invited to visit the Farm Teams Infield for free batting and hitting clinics scheduled throughout the day.  Brewers alumni and players will be on hand for the instructional sessions.  Kids can run around the field or try a quick game of ping pong with Brewers players.

Klement’s Main Stage Schedule

10:15 a.m. – Welcome – Brewers television broadcaster Craig Coshun will welcome fans to Brewers On Deck. The winners of the seven T-Shirt Friday designs will be introduced to fans.

11:15 a.m. – Meet the Coaches – Third base coach Ed Sedar will host a Q&A session with Brewers manager Ron Roenicke and his coaching staff.

12:30 p.m. – The Brewlywed Game – Brewers players, coaches, prospects and alumni will participate in a game show to see which pair really knows each other the best.  Joe Block will host the show.

2:00 p.m. – Meet the Management and Newest Players – Brewers Chairman and Principal Owner Mark Attanasio, President of Baseball Operations – General Manager Doug Melvin, Vice President – Assistant General Manager Gord Ash will join the newest Brewers acquisitions – Corey Knebel, Adam Lind and Luis Sardinas – in a question and answer session with Brewers fans. The session will be hosted by Brian Anderson.

3:15 p.m. – Call to the Pen – Brewers players, coaches, prospects and alumni will participate in a game show, similar to Pictionary.  Joe Block will host the show.

Don’t Call It a Comeback

BBtJN Logo

My annual countdown to Opening Day will return for another season!

There has been some decent 40-man roster turnover since Spring Training. I mark the passage of time from (roughly) the turn of the calendar until Brewers Opening Day by previewing players who wear a certain uniform number on the corresponding day.

We’re 98 days away from Opening Day, so we won’t get underway on this thing quite yet, but once the countdown coincides with a jersey, you’ll see the first column go up.

I call the series “Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers” and it works a little something like this:

  • Opening Day is April 6, 2015.
  • March 29th is eight days before April 6th.
  • Ryan Braun wears number 8 on his jersey.
  • I’ll write an article reviewing Ryan Braun’s 2014 and looking ahead to his 2015 and post it on March 29, 2015.

Make sense? Here’s another example:

  • Jonathan Broxton wears number 51.
  • 51 days before April 6th is February 14th.
  • I’ll post my Broxton column on February 14th.

I do a column on every player who is on the Brewers 40-man roster along with most Spring Training non-roster invitees. I’ll update this space with a full schedule once the uniform numbers for the newest 40-man additions are announced. I’ll update it again as non-roster invitees are revealed.

Thanks for reading and sticking with me this winter. BBtJN is a very popular series and I thank you for that. Stay tuned!

Roster News Roundup

If you’re otherwise unable to keep up on news as it happens throughout the day (via social media, or however), allow me to catch you up on the all the roster news coming out of One Brewers Way over the past several days.

(I’ve tweeted all of this as it happened, but this is a quick summary so it’s all in one place.)

  • October 27th
    • 3B Luis Jiménez claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
  • October 30th
    • Five players filed for, and were granted, free agency
      • Zach Duke
      • Tom Gorzelanny
      • Lyle Overbay
      • Mark Reynolds
      • Francisco Rodriguez
    • A report came out that the 2015 contract option on Yovani Gallardo had been exercised
  • October 31st
    • Brewers confirm picking up Gallardo’s option
    • Rickie Weeks officially became a free agent when the team declined the 2015 option on his contract
    • Brewers officially exercised their half of the mutual 2015 option on the contract of Aramis Ramirez
      • Ramirez officially has three (3) days — read Monday — to decide whether he will opt in as well or decline the option to become a free agent
    • C Juan Centeno claimed off waivers from the New York Mets

Quick thoughts (because you can get a list anywhere):

Jiménez sounds like a great glove with some power who carries a higher average than Reynolds. Truly feels like Doug Melvin found a player worth replacing the veteran with.

Speaking of the free agents, the Brewers could look to bring back either Duke or Gorzelanny (though likely not both) but there’s certainly a tenable position that with Duke’s performance and Gorzelanny’s recent health concerns that they choose to let both sign contracts elsewhere. I’d lean toward them re-signing Duke of the two, though Gorzelanny could be cheaper. Overbay has said publicly that he’s leaning toward retirement. As for Reynolds, when he was simply passed over down the stretch last season, it felt like he dropped out of favor. He was streakier at the plate than I think the Brewers anticipated.

Gallardo’s option getting picked up makes all the sense in the world. I covered that move specifically here before it was confirmed Friday morning.

Rickie Weeks leaving Milwaukee is truly a notable moment. He’s been in the franchise for a long time, and was really the first of the high draft picks which ultimately led to winning seasons and playoff runs. While he never did realize the level of a #2 overall draft pick due mainly to injuries, he was the consummate professional in his time in Milwaukee. I wish him consistent success wherever his career takes him next.

Wanting to bring Ramirez back makes sense to a degree as the Brewers haven’t yet developed an internal replacement at third base. Should he decline his option to seek a multi-year deal elsewhere, the Brewers could turn to Jiménez or another internal option like Jason Rogers who played there in 2014 for the first time since college, or even, assuming he stays as has been rumored, Taylor Green? (Yes, that’s how thin the hot corner has been for the Brewers.)

Finally, as for Centeno, I haven’t had much of a chance to read up on him but I did see that he was a tremendous defensive season in 2013 in the minors though he reportedly regressed this past season. He hit pretty well in the minors in 2014 though. Without another catcher on the 40-man roster outside of the MLB level duo of Jonathan Lucroy and Martin Maldonado, it’s nice to have someone readily available who also has minor league options remaining.

—

Anyway, there’s your end of October round up of the Brewers roster moves over the past few days. Also noteworthy in roster news is that the Washington Nationals declined their option on 1B Adam LaRoche, making him a free agent. He could be a top target in free agency for Doug Melvin

Roster News: We Wish Them Well In Their Future Endeavors

Today the Brewers confirmed the call-ups of the three players I reported yesterday afternoon. In that linked piece, I mentioned that the resultant fallout to open up the necessary pair of 40-man roster spots could be interesting. Looks like I was right again.

The additions of two players who earned spots comes at the expense of two who had previously done the same.

caleb gindlDesignated For Assignment was Caleb Gindl. Should he clear waivers, it’s a virtual certainty that Gindl would choose to leave the Brewers organization. He has talent but was never afforded a consistent opportunity to showcase himself at the game’s highest level. And since his last chance, he’s been passed on the organizational depth chart by Khris Davis and bumped further down with the acquisition of Gerardo Parra who should return for 2015.

Gindl can be traded during the DFA period as well, but cannot technically refuse an outright assignment to Nashville as he has not been removed from a 40-man roster before in his professional career.

In my opinion, there’s a spot for Gindl on a Major League roster somewhere, but in Milwaukee it just came down to a matter of available space. There just wasn’t enough.

burgosThe other player lost, in his case to outright release, was right-handed pitcher Hiram Burgos. The professional story of Burgos is one to behold, as he pitched his way from High-A ball to being on alert as the “next-guy-if-we-need-someone-in-September” all in just 2012. I’ve chronicled that on the blog before, if you’re interested in reading about it.

Burgos pitched well in 2013 winter ball, but after a rough start to his season as lead dog in the Triple-A affiliate Nashville Sounds rotation, Burgos underwent a “clean up” procedure on his throwing shoulder on June 19th. His season was done, and now we know so was his tenure in the Milwaukee Brewers organization.

Bottom line: The Brewers needed two spots and guys have been removed off of 40-man Rosters for lesser reasons than “too much depth at one position” and “growing injury history”. That doesn’t make it less impactful to the lives of the men and families behind the names on a transaction page, but at the end of the day it’s a business.

To Caleb Gindl and Hiram Burgos, two players that have always been gracious where I’m concerned, I wish them the absolute best in continuing their careers outside the Brewers’ organization.

Second Round of September Call-Ups Coming

Following their first round of call-ups yesterday, I just heard from a reliable source that the Brewers will call up at least three more players following today’s game now that Nashville’s season has concluded.

Joining the Brewers in the clubhouse tomorrow will be:

  • Jason Rogers
  • Hector Gomez
  • Matt Clark

Rogers, the Brewers’ reigning MiLB Player of the Year, has been playing mostly third base this season in the minor league system. He’s been on an absolute tear of late, finishing his minor-league season on an eight-game hitting streak that included a pair of home runs.

For as hot as Rogers has been at the plate, nobody holds a candle to the lefty clubber Matt Clark. Acquired after Hunter Morris went down with a long-term injury this season (he’s been back and playing), Clark has demolished the Pacific Coast League. In 53 games with the Sounds, Clark is slashing .313/.371/.605 and has hit 16 home runs, all in just 195 at-bats. Of those 16 home runs, a cool 12 have come in the just-completed month of August.

Gomez is primarily a shortstop, and could have been a minor league free agent following this season had the Brewers not added him to the 40-man roster. He was also announced as a participant in the upcoming edition of the Arizona Fall League on behalf of the Brewers so it was widely thought that he would have to be added to the 40-man roster at some point. Gomez played in two MLB games back in 2011 as a Colorado Rockies player, but hasn’t been back since.

As for Rogers and Clark, their first games in a Brewers uniform will be their first games at the highest level of professional baseball.

Congratulations to all three players on strong seasons. They’ve earned these promotions.

Gomez and Clark will require 40-man roster moves. The Brewers could move *UPDATE* Johnny Hellweg (not Tyler Thornburg who is already there) to the 60-day DL easily enough. The other move could be simple, or a bit more interesting depending on how the Brewers choose to go.

2014 Opening Day Affiliates Rosters

Opening Day is here for the minor leagues!

What follows are the announced rosters for each of the full-season minor-league affiliates for the Milwaukee Brewers, broken down by position group.

Nashville Sounds

Class-AAA Affiliate (Twitter: @nashvillesounds)

Manager: Rick Sweet

28 Total Players

Pitchers (13)

Catchers (3)

Infielders (9)

Outfielders (3)

—

Huntsville Stars

Class-AA Affiliate (Twitter: @HuntsvilleStars)

Manager: Carlos Subero

28 Total Players

Pitchers (14)

Catchers (3)

Infielders (7)

Outfielders (4)

  • Kentrail Davis
  • Mitch Haniger (@M_Hanny19)
  • Brock Kjeldgaard
  • D’Vontrey Richardson

—

BC Manatees

Class-A Advanced Affiliate (Twitter: @BCManatees)

Manager: Joe Ayrault

26 Total Players

Pitchers (13)

Catchers (2)

Infielders (8)

Outfielders (3)

—

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

Class-A Affiliate (Twitter: @TimberRattlers)

Manager: Matt Erickson

27 Total Players

Pitchers (13)

Catchers (3)

Infielders (6)

Outfielders (5)

*Player/Coach

Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers ’14 – #61 Jason Rogers

BBtJN Logo

Today is Wednesday, January 29th and we sit 61 days away from Opening Day at Miller Park.

By now, you probably know how this works, but just in case…

In my “Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers” countdown to Opening Day I profile players who will be along the way who are either new to the organization or have a reasonable expectation to impact the 25-man roster during the upcoming season. I only preview players who will be in big league camp because I do my countdown by way of the uniform number which the player will be wearing while in big league camp.

Therefore, today we will preview another one of the newest 40-man roster protectees, and a man who had a longer baseball “season” than most in 2013…

Jason Rogers.

JasonRogers

Jason Rogers is a 6’2″, 260 lb first baseman by trade. He spent a little time in 2013 in left field and was even supposed to take a number of innings at third base during the extended part of his 2013 baseball “season”, a situation that didn’t come to pass. More on that in a bit.

Undrafted out of high school in Georgia, Rogers attended Southern Union State Community College before transferring to Columbus State University. The Brewers selected him in the 32nd round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft. He’s already a success story to a degree, given how late he was drafted. In fact, should Rogers make the big league roster at any point, he would be the second-latest Brewers draft pick ever to make the majors with Milwaukee after signing with Milwaukee. That would certainly be a testament to the scouting department as well as a little bit of good fortune. (Trivia: Who was the latest? Answer down the page.)

Throughout his minor-league career, Rogers has hit. He’s never had an OPS under .761 which was in his rookie year of 2010. He signed early in 2010 and played in 42 games before the end of Arizona Rookie League season. He technically split 2011 between rookie-level Helena, and Class-A Wisconsin but played the vast majority of games as a Wisconsin Timber Rattler (64 games) as opposed to with Helena (just seven games). He started 2012 in Wisconsin again and played 67 games there before his mid-season promotion to Class-A Advanced Brevard County. Finally in 2013, Rogers started in Class-AA Huntsville and played there the whole season.

Here are his statistical lines over his career:

  • 2010: .281/.368/.394, 185 PA, 3 HR, 20 BB, 32 K
  • 2011: .277/.337/.431, 299 PA, 7 HR, 24 BB, 53 K
  • 2012: .301/.405/.449, 588 PA, 11 HR, 11/12 SB, 79 BB, 88 K
  • 2013: .270/.346/.468, 549 PA, 22 HR, 7/9 SB, 59 BB, 86 K

Rogers hadn’t ever been viewed as much of a prospect throughout his career despite those results. A key reason? He’s been considered “old” for the levels. He’ll be 26 by Opening Day and is about to embark on his maiden voyage through the waters of Triple-A, after all. As he’s advanced up the organizational ladder, he played nearly as many games in left field as at first base up until last year when he was nearly exclusively at first. Then the off-season came.

Rogers played in both the Arizona Fall League in the Dominican winter league. He played a lot of left field in Arizona and then hit the Dominican with the idea that he’d play a lot of third base to see if it was a job he could handle, thereby increasing his positional flexibility. Instead, he played first base again for Los Toros del Este.

All told, the last couple of seasons have put Rogers on the map to the point where the Brewers felt it worthwhile to protect him on the 40-man roster. They did that after the 2013 season and as a result Rogers will attend his first big league spring training. His odds of making the 25-man this year are nil, but if he can perform in his first Triple-A campaign he could possibly earn a late call up or put himself into consideration for a bench spot in 2015.

He’s certainly worth paying attention to this spring a little bit and it’ll be useful to keep an eye on Rogers during 2014 wherever he’s playing.

Trivia answer: Tim Dillard – 2001 draft – 34th round

—

Miss anyone along the way? Catch up on the Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers profiles to this point:

Brewers Finally Announce 2014 Jersey Numbers

Earlier today, the Brewers finally announced the jersey numbers that the players coming to big league camp will be wearing whilst at Maryvale.

The majority of the players who saw time at the MLB level in 2013 have not changed numbers, though two did. One coach gave up his number for a player. And of course the newest acquisitions and non-roster invitees all need number assignments as well.

Here are all the changes. (Keep in mind that my uniform number repository only counts players wearing a specific number while on the big league roster. I’ll update those pages after camp breaks.)

New Players on 40-Man Roster:

  • #50 – Jose De La Torre
  • #63 – Brooks Hall
  • #60 – Kevin Shackelford
  • #13 – Will Smith
  • #51 – Wei-Chung Wang
  • #25 – Hunter Morris
  • #61 – Jason Rogers
  • #3 – Elian Herrera

Players on 40-Man Roster Last Year With New Numbers:

  • #30 – Tyler Thornburg (switched from #63)
  • #38 – Wily Peralta (switched from #60)
  • #58 – Ariel Pena (switched from #73)

Both New Non-Roster Invitees (Players on MiLB contracts invited to big league camp) and Repeat Invitees w/New Numbers:

  • #59 – Zach Duke
  • #77 – David Goforth
  • #70 – Dustin Molleken
  • #66 – Robinzon Diaz
  • #72 – Cameron Garfield
  • #68 – Matt Pagnozzi
  • #71 – Adam Weisenburger (switched from #91)
  • #65 – Irving Falu
  • #24 – Lyle Overbay
  • #7 – Mark Reynolds
  • #67 – Eugenio Velez
  • #73 – Kentrail Davis (switched from #93)
  • #75 – Mitch Haniger
  • #76 – Kevin Mattison