Notes: Former first-rounder Victor Roache is traded
ST. LOUIS - The Brewers’ 2012 draft took another hit Thursday when the Brewers traded outfielder Victor Roache, one of their two first-rounders that year, to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a player to be named or cash.
The Brewers selected catcher Clint Coulter with the 27th pick in 2012 and Roache with the 28th pick. They had an extra first-round pick because free agent Prince Fielder signed with Detroit.
Oddly enough, with the 29th pick, Texas selected outfielder Lewis Brinson, now the Brewers’ top prospect after being acquired in the Jonathan Lucroy trade last year. Brinson is part of the influx of highly-regarded outfielders into the Brewers’ system that pushed Roache out of Top 30 status.
Roache, 25, a power hitter drafted out of Georgia Southern despite suffering a bad wrist injury that year, has not lived up to his offensive potential. He was batting .176 in 22 games at Class AA Biloxi with no homers, eight RBI and 26 strikeouts in 74 at-bats. In 444 minor-league games, he has batted .240 with 62 homers, 222 RBI and 500 strikeouts in 1,576 at-bats.
“You come to a point where sometimes a change of scenery is the best thing for a player,” general manager David Stearns said. “We’ve got a lot of outfielders in our system, obviously. Victor fell down the depth chart a little bit.”
Coulter, now an outfielder, also has not produced offensively as the Brewers expected, with the exception of a 28-game stint last year with Biloxi (.337, 2 homers, 12 RBI, .824 OPS). In 20 games this season with Biloxi, he is batting .212 with four home runs, 22 RBI and .631 OPS.
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Only three players from the ’12 draft have played for the Brewers – right-hander Tyler Wagner (fourth round), right-hander Damien Magnifico (fifth) and left-hander Brent Suter (31st). Wagner was traded to Arizona in the Jean Segura deal and Magnifico recently was dealt to Baltimore.
Outfielder Mitch Haniger, a compensation pick after the first round, was traded in July 2014 to Arizona with lefty Anthony Banda, a 10th rounder in 2012, for outfielder Gerardo Parra.
Stearns said the teams have six months to decide on a player in return for Roache or decide to make it a cash deal. There is still a player to be named or cash to come from Boston in the Tyler Thornburg/Travis Shaw trade at the winter meetings, leaving about a month to figure that out.
The Associated Press reported the amount agreed upon was $100 in that deal because Stearns and Boston’s Dave Dombrowski were so sure they’d be able to agree on a player, they just picked a meager dollar amount.
Bickford injured: Pitching prospect Phil Bickford, already on a 50-game suspension for a drug of abuse, suffered two broken bones in his pitching hand while throwing a live batting practice session in extended spring training in Phoenix. Bickford underwent surgery performed Wednesday by Phoenix specialist Don Sheridan to repair fractures in his fourth and fifth metacarpals.
Brewers farm director Tom Flanagan said Bickford is expected to be sidelined eight to 12 weeks.
Bickford, 21, was acquired from San Francisco on Aug. 1 of last season with catcher Andrew Susac in a trade for reliever Will Smith. In December, it was announced Bickford was suspended for the first 50 games of 2017 for a second positive test for a drug of abuse, believed to be marijuana.
Flanagan said Bickford’s suspension would end once advanced Class A Carolina plays 50 games (he is on that roster). Bickford then would go on that club’s disabled list until he is able to pitch.
No hard feelings: When the Brewers summoned reliever Rob Scahill from Class AAA Colorado Springs on Monday instead of Tyler Cravy, some folks wondered again if Cravy’s harsh criticism of the Brewers upon being sent down again worked against him. Stearns assured that was not the case, saying Scahill was the best choice at the time.
“We are not mad at Tyler Cravy,” Stearns said. “My expectations are that Tyler is going to pitch up this year. We’re a month into the season. At this point, we didn’t feel the right opportunity presented itself.
“Tyler is doing a really good job. There are a lot of guys in that bullpen that are pitching well. We like having that depth. Tyler is certainly in that group.”