BASEBALL / JEFF FLETCHER : Back in Class A, Milstien Makes Grade for Brewers

Dave Milstien is in Class A for the first time in seven years, and he’s glad to be there.

Milstien, a shortstop from Simi Valley High, played for the Chicago White Sox’s triple-A affiliate last year and with the Boston Red Sox’s triple-A team the previous two seasons, but the White Sox released him this spring.

Milstien’s explanation:

“I know there are 600 replacement players playing which means there are 600 non-replacement players not playing,” Milstien said, not elaborating.

Reading between the lines, Milstien’s claim is that the White Sox kept replacement players in the minor leagues after the strike ended, meaning players who didn’t cross the line were released.

“I think the strike has put a lot of people where they didn’t expect to be,” Milstien said.

Milstien can’t be too bitter with the White Sox, though, because when they released him, they suggested he give the Milwaukee Brewers a call. The Brewers signed Milstien and assigned him to Beloit, Wis., promising to promote him as soon as possible.

Milstien, 26, is the oldest player on his team, but at least he has a job.

“It’s better than sitting home and getting fat and not paying the bills,” he said.

Milstien is playing shortstop every day, and leading the younger players by example. A .238 hitter in nine minor league seasons, Milstien is batting .354.

“I’m anxious to get out of here,” he said, “but I’m thankful also for the opportunity I’ve had to play here. It’s kept me in a uniform and that’s a big deal.”

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Mike Griffin, pitching coach at triple-A Indianapolis, doesn’t know what sort of trouble Roger Salkeld had the last couple of years in the Seattle Mariner organization.

He doesn’t care, either.

All he knows is that the former Saugus High star, traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Tim Belcher last month, looks as good as he looked in 1991, before he had reconstructive shoulder surgery.

“I’ve liked what I’ve seen,” Griffin said. “He doesn’t throw as hard, but he still gets it up there, let me tell you. He’s become more of a pitcher than what I saw in ’91. He’s got better command.”

Salkeld has a record of 2-0 with a 3.31 earned-run average in his first three starts at Indianapolis. In his last two outings, he has given up only two hits in 13 1/3 innings.

The change of scenery was welcomed. Salkeld was 2-5 with a 7.17 ERA in 13 starts with the Mariners and last year was 3-7 with a 6.15 ERA in 13 triple-A starts. He came into spring training this year with a shot at the Mariners’ starting rotation, but was sent down before the season.

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Outfielder Chris Fick was batting .241 for Class-A St. Petersburg, Fla., in early May when he made the following statement: “There’s not a guy in this league I can’t hit with.”

Those might have seemed like empty words at the time--a lot of talk from a 25-year-old former free agent in his second pro season--but just as the former Newbury Park High and Cal Lutheran standout made the statement, he was becoming baseball’s hottest hitter.

Fick batted .469--30 hits in 64 at-bats--in May, giving him the highest average for the month in the minor leagues. He was selected the St. Louis Cardinals’ organizational player of the month. Through Thursday night, he had raised his season average to .361.