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For the moment, Huntsville is one short of filling their 24-man allowed roster, and West Virginia is thin, playing with 23 (25 allowed). It's not as if Helena can spare position players to send to Charleston right now.

Infielder Steve Braun's Player Profile Page from the preseason at the University of Maryland site

Jay Gibbons signing is official -- in fact, he debuted with Huntsville Tuesday night, grounding out as a pinch-hitter.

Jay Gibbons Career Statistics

Link, text follows:


ST. LOUIS -- Veteran outfielder Jay Gibbons passed a physical in Huntsville, Ala., on Tuesday afternoon and cleared the final obstacle on his long road back to organized baseball.

The Brewers inked a Minor League contract with Gibbons, a left-handed hitter who belted 121 home runs for the Orioles from 2001-07. He was released in March and had been playing in an independent league.

Gibbons, 31, will spend at least the next 10-14 days with Double-A Huntsville as a replacement for outfielder Michael Brantley, who aggravated an ankle injury and was to be placed on the disabled list when Gibbons is activated. When Brantley returns, Gibbons is expected to get a promotion to Triple-A Nashville.

"He's a little rusty, self-admittedly rusty," Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash said. "The idea is to get him some Minor League at-bats and then evaluate as we go along."

Gibbons appeared in Huntsville's 3-2 loss Tuesday night to the host Carolina Mudcats. He made his first appearance as a pinch-hitter in the seventh and grounded out to short in his only at-bat

Gibbons was one of the players mentioned in former Sen. George Mitchell's report on performance-enhancing drugs that was released in December. He later admitted to using human growth hormone to speed his recovery from a wrist injury. In a move to find work after Baltimore released him, Gibbons was forthright about his past indiscretions in a letter sent to the Brewers and 28 other teams.

Gibbons was in New York during the All-Star break and met with Ash and Brewers amateur scouting director Jack Zduriencik. The Brewers subsequently dispatched a scout to see Gibbons play for the Independent Long Island Ducks, where one of his teammates was former Brewer Alex Sanchez, another former Major Leaguer linked to performance-enhancing drugs.

"He was very straightforward about his situation off the field," said Ash, who was the Blue Jays' GM when that team drafted Gibbons in the 14th round in 1998. The Orioles snatched him away in the 2000 Rule 5 Draft.

"They sat down and basically interviewed him," Brewers GM Doug Melvin said. "Gord is familiar with him from Toronto, and [Gibbons] wants to get back and playing. I don't know exactly what his [off-the-field] issues were, but they were not enough to not give a guy a second chance. He's always been a good guy with a good work ethic."

The Orioles are paying Gibbons nearly $12 million this season and next. Unless someone is traded before the July 31 nonwaiver deadline, Gibbons would join a slew of other left-handed outfield bats at Nashville with Major League experience, a list that already includes Tony Gwynn Jr., Laynce Nix and Hernan Iribarren.

Melvin said that Gibbons has a good chance for a September callup to Milwaukee.

Tyler Stover, Brevard's Media Director:

Milwaukee purchases LHP Derrick Ellison from the Atlantic League and assigns him to Brevard County. RHP Travis Wendte is placed on the DL retro to July 21. Manatees roster is at 25.

This will be Wendte's third stint on the DL this season. With reports out of Brevard scarce, and affiliates instructed to be mum (for the most part) on minor league injuries (HIPPA issues), we really don't know about the nature of Travis' injuries.

It would be interesting to know why minor leaguers are so protected by HIPPA injury privacy rules, yet we know every single detail of major leaguer's playing situations. My initial thought was that, incredibly, sports books demand details, and that major leaguers must sign some sort of waiver in these situations.

I'm afraid if someone wishes to continue the Lenny Dykstra discussion, they'll need to start a new thread in the Major League Forum, link to it here if you wish, as we'll keep this thread focused on Transactions.

I will say, though, that Lenny will never live down his 30-pound documented off-season weight gain, showing up at spring training with literally no neck, and explaining that he had taken those "really good vitamins". Just google 'Lenny Dykstra vitamins' for various accounts.

RHP Ben Howard goes on the Nashville DL, retroactive to the 21st, with an undisclosed "injury". This makes room for LHP Mitch Stetter.

Nashville Media Notes:

KATIN, CRABBE PLACED ON D.L.: Outfielder Brendan Katin and infielder Callix Crabbe have been placed on the Sounds' disabled list. Katin suffered a left hamstring strain while racing to field a Will Venable double in the first inning last night. Crabbe, who was placed on the D.L. retroactive to Friday, has been diagnosed with the chicken pox.

GIBBONS JOINS SOUNDS: Veteran outfielder Jay Gibbons has been promoted to Nashville from Double-A Huntsville to fill Katin's roster spot. Gibbons, who hit .273 (3-for-11) with two RBIs in five games for the Stars, had his contract purchased by the Brewers from the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League on July 22nd. He batted .280 (30-for-107) with nine doubles, five home runs, and 19 RBIs in 27 contests for Long Island after signing with that club in mid-June. Gibbons had spent the previous seven seasons with the Baltimore Orioles before being released at the conclusion of 2008 spring training. He made his big league debut with Baltimore in 2001, hitting 15 home runs while appearing in 73 games. His best season came in 2003, when he batted .277 with 23 homers and 100 RBIs. Gibbons played in a career-high 160 games that year and also clubbed 39 doubles. The Michigan native was originally selected by Toronto in the 14th round of the 1998 draft.

HOPF REJOINS SOUNDS: Catcher J.R. Hopf rejoins the Nashville roster to fill Crabbe's spot. The 25-year-old has spent the past three weeks with Double-A Huntsville, where he batted .182 (8-for-44) with three RBIs in 15 contests since joining the Stars on July 4th. Hopf batted .324 (11-for-34) with one home run and three RBIs in 15 games for the Sounds earlier this season.

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Also, nice bonus -- Huntsville's Chris Errecart is off the DL, as the bone in his hand has healed sufficiently.

Finally, Michael Garciaparra has landed on the Huntsville DL, and Yohannis Perez has been brought up from Brevard County to fill that spot. No word on a corresponding Brevard move.