Angel's going (to the Dominican Republic this winter)

[coach32sm]

No not what you think, but he will be going to play in dominican Republic with the Toros. He will leave at the end of the week. The good thing is he will be a team mate of Alberto Castillo who is a master with young catchers, a great teacher.

dont expect angel to hit well the first few games, he has not seen live, game pitching in a loooong time but he is ready everywhere else and will hit soon enough.

Hope that helps with the pipeline for those who care.

Enjoy the winter Meetings, I sure hope the Brewers make lots of moves. Heard they wanted Maine for Hart, good for Brewers bad for Mets.

Take Care

"Coach"

[homer]

Thanks for the update, Coach. Good luck to Angel down in DR.

[TooLiveBrew]

Best of luck to him, & appreciate the heads-up on his hitting.

[dadofandrew]

Does the season go past Xmas? Maybe they have a Xmas break and then start up again?

[Jim Goulart]

Mexican Pacific League

Opening Day 10/09/2009

Regular season ends 12/30/2009

 

Dominican Winter League

Opening Day10/16/2009

DWL All Star Game12/13/2009

Regular season ends 12/21/2009

 

Venezuelan Winter League

Opening Day 10/09/2009

Regular season ends 12/23/2009

 

Puerto Rican League

Opening Day 11/12/2009

Regular season ends 01/13/2010

 

Caribbean Series

Begins 02/02/2010

Ends 02/08/2010

[CheezWizHed]

Coach, How is Angel's hand (thumb?)? Fully healed now? Hopefully he can go into ST at fully healthy and show what he can do!

[coach32sm]

He's 100% healthy. I took pictures of him but never finished taking the ones I wanted of him catching, have some lifting though and talking to young catchers here, if I knew how to post themI'd send a few. The Dominican league has 9 games left, then an 18 game round robin and if they win, 7 more games, so he should play in a bunch of games, and he should help them move on. "Coach"

[Jim Goulart]

Coach, click in the Navigation box in the upper-right corner, and then check your messages. I've instructed you on where you can email the pictures to me, thanks.

[CheezWizHed]

Good to hear. Thanks for the update

[coach32sm]

Angel is leaving on Sunday and will play on Tues (DH) it is on ESPN Deportes if you have it. "Coach"

[TheCrew07]

Coach,

Did Angel end up making the trip? He hasn't appeared in a game yet, I've been waiting... http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[coach32sm]

Yeah, he's there. He has been working with Alberto Castillo. He was going to DH but it looks like he will start behind the plate as of tomorrow. "Coach"

[HiAndTight]

Yeah, he's there. He has been working with Alberto Castillo. He was going to DH but it looks like he will start behind the plate as of tomorrow. "Coach"

So hows it going for him? Not sure exactly where to go to find a box score or anything.

[trwi7]

So hows it going for him? Not sure exactly where to go to find a box score or anything.

You can find a player's Winter League stats on minorleaguebaseball.com and just typing in a name.

 

Here's Salome's stats.

[dadofandrew]

I think we're seeing why many guys do not want to play winter ball...1 AB thus far? What a waste of a holiday season.

[coach32sm]

In the Dominican Republic they play an 18 game round robin which will start in Jan. Angel's team Toros, is guaranteed 18 games, then the top two teams play a best of 7. Expect to see Angel as the starting catcher in most of those games and when not, DHing. But yeah I see how winter ball can be a drag for a lot of players;

Happy Hollidays to all.

"Coach"

[TheCrew07]

He's still only listed for 1 AB, I guess things didn't go as planned for Angel.

[CheezWizHed]

Man, we have to change that title. I keep seeing it and my heart jumps as it sounds like he got traded...

[strawbossisevil]

Things are not going well for Angel. He needed a good offseason here to improve and enter the season strong. To get only one AB is absolutely brutal.

[yoshii8]

Things are not going well for Angel. He needed a good offseason here to improve and enter the season strong. To get only one AB is absolutely brutal.

I think that might be a bit of an overreaction. There could be several factors why he didn't get playing time in the winter league, like they didn't want to switch catchers that far into the season, or something else we dont' know about. From all the firsthand reports from Coach, it sounds like his main goal was to get healthy and improve on his speed/quickness. I just hope Angel is healthy, so we can see what he can do in a full season.

[coach32sm]

Angel's main purpose to go to DR was to work with Alberto Castillo, which he did. All reports are that things went great. He's back and BETTER THAN EVER. He is rejuvenated, psyched and cant wait to get going.

I just wish everybody from today on forgets everything in the past, good and bad, preconceived and realistic thoughts, ideas and opinions and let everything start all over as soon as Spring training begins. Angel will be going out early and I promise you he will be something like you've never seen before, he will be the complete package, guaranteed. Just be patient and after spring training is in full swing, ask around, go see him and then talk about him like he's a new kid on the block. If The Brewers didn't sign Zaun he would most like win that starting job, but who knows now? AAA, back up with little playing time in ML? Can't wait to see what happens. But believe me, he is unbelievable right now.

Next to go for GW will be Mike Antonio, looks like a first rounder SS like Hanley, his idol, a 5 tool guy. Im not a Yankee fan but it would be great to go to Yankees and replace Jeter in a few, same make up, great big heart, super kid and a world of talent, keep an eye on him throughout the season.

"Coach" 32SM

[strawbossisevil]

I'm keeping an open mind in regards to his performance, but even you have to be disappointed in his lack of game experience in the DR. After all, you were saying that we should expect him to be starting C or DH in most of the games. And yet, he did neither and sat on the pine. My question is why would they do that if he is ready to burst out with above average play this season? Wouldn't the DR team want a guy like that playing rather than sitting?

 

Like I said, I'll keep an open mind come spring training. But I do think it's fair to say that this offseason was a bit of a disappointment for Angel, especially since the guy he'll be competing with for ABs had a very solid AFL showing. I think all that is fair to say about this offseason, although it means nothing going forward and I wish Angel all the best.

[Invader3K]

I wonder if this all points to Salome not being in the Brewers' long term plans. Couldn't they have pushed them to play him more if they wanted him to get some in-game seasoning? I really don't expect him to play in Milwaukee this season based on all of this. I expect him to be traded at some point, more than likely.

[ILuvDaBush]

I actually take the opposite approach. He went there to work on his defense. He got his tutorials. No one questions his bat, and yet because of his lack of at-bats, we begin to query his prospects at catcher. To me, the difference in prospectdom between Salome and Lucroy is the difference between Peralta and Scarpetta. Obviously the organization has been more apt to praise Lucroy recently, but that doesn't diminish what Salome can do with the bat. I'm truly excited about Salome this coming year. If the McGehee Experiment v. 2.0 doesn't go as swimmingly as v. 1.0 and Gamel gets the majority of the AB's, could Salome be given a June promotion to DH?

[TooLiveBrew]

I wonder if this all points to Salome not being in the Brewers' long term plans. Couldn't they have pushed them to play him more if they wanted him to get some in-game seasoning?

 

I have to agree with ILDB -- why can't this point to the Brewers' main concern being that he work with Alberto Castillo? I think people are too quick to get down on prospects at times, since all that most of us have access to seeing is stats online. Stats are certainly one important element of player development, but so are the things you have to see in person to notice. I'm glad to hear Coach is feeling so confident in Angel's progress, and I look forward to seeing what a healthy Salome will be able to do in AAA or MLB this coming season. I think, to some extent, we as Brewers fans don't fully realize the great situation we have organizationally in terms of the catching position.