Scarpetta at Camp

Adam McCalvy, the Brewer beat writer for MLB.com, has the story on possible future Timber Rattler Cody Scarpetta.

The broad-shouldered, 20-year-old right-hander is in his first big league camp about four years ahead of schedule because of a rules technicality. Scarpetta debuted in a "B" game on a back field at the Dodgers' sprawling new Spring Training facility in Glendale, Ariz., on Monday. The appearance started Scarpetta on a fast track that he hopes will lead to the Major Leagues.

He's not there quite yet. Scarpetta couldn't locate his curveball, left a handful of 89-91-mph fastballs up in the strike zone and was knocked around by a Dodgers lineup that included big leaguers Juan Pierre and Andre Ethier. Scarpetta was charged with a run on three hits, one walk and two wild pitches in a 4-3 Brewers win in front of a few dozen fans -- including his dad, Dan, a left-hander who was Milwaukee's third-round Draft pick in 1982.

Here's where the story gets more interesting for the 2008 11th round pick:

Typically, a high-school pick -- Scarpetta came out of Guilford High School in Rockford, Ill. -- can spend five years in the Minor Leagues before he must be protected on the 40-man roster. Players who go unprotected after that time are exposed to the Rule 5 Draft, and can be snatched away by another team.

After a player is on the 40-man roster, he still has three or four Minor League options, according to a formula that is confusing even to some front office officials. In order to put a player from the 40-man roster in the Minors, a club must use one option per season, and then it can send that player back and forth all year without using another.

So, a typical high schooler can be drafted at 18, spend five seasons in the Minors and then three more seasons on the 40-man roster before he is out of options and must be exposed to waivers. At that point, he would be 26 or 27 years old.

The Brewers will not have control of Scarpetta for nearly that long because an unexpected injury prompted the team to void the prospect's original contract. When Milwaukee re-signed Scarpetta, the rules made the team place him on the 40-man roster following his first season instead of his fifth. That, in turn, meant his "option clock" started ticking four years early.

What about the near future?

Scarpetta was not sure about the date of his next appearance. He hopes it falls before Saturday, when the fan club that includes his grandparents, his parents and his cousin heads back to the snowy Midwest. Scarpetta will probably begin the 2009 season at Class A Wisconsin, less than 200 miles from his northern Illinois home.

"I've gone through all the scenarios of, 'How am I going to make it up there with three more options?'" Scarpetta said. "But all I can control is what I do on the mound. I still have a lot to learn about how to play the big league game, and I'm here in camp talking to everybody I can talk to. I'm soaking it all up."