Eye Black

LINK: The Diamondbacks have announced that they’ve acquired starter Taijuan Walker and Ketel Marte from the Mariners for Jean Segura, Mitch Haniger and Zac Curtis.

I am going to go out on limb and say LHP Blake Lillis goes on to become the best professional pitcher taken from last year's St. Thomas Aquinas (Overland Park, KS) rotation. I just won't bet any beer money on it.

Yes, that would be correct. I forgot about the waivers step, looks like I need a Rule 5 refresher course.

Via Baseball America: In 1988, the Braves drafted a player from themselves. They neglected to protect righthander Ben Rivera on the 40-man roster, had the first pick in the draft and took him. So is he stuck on your 25 man roster then and follow all other Rule 5 guidelines? That would be embarrassing. Well I guess if he doesn't stay on the 25-man roster he likely "returns" to your organization, right? Strange scenario.

One potentially cheap option at 3B is 29-year old South Korean Jae-gyun Hwang. He worked out at the IMG baseball academy in Florida today for reportedly around 20 MLB teams (30 scouts). He hit 14 of the 24 pitches he faced over the fence. Here is the Twitter Link which includes a short video of the workout. Additionally here is a Fangraphs article on Jae-gyun Hwang and a highlight video from the linked article...

While I am very much in favor of the Brewers cashing in on Guerra's value, but I have a feeling Stearns is likely to keep him heading into the season unless a team puts forth a very solid offer. Admittedly I have no idea what type of offers Guerra is garnering, but with the asset value of prospects seemingly on the rise I am not convinced someone would give up a top 50ish prospect as a headliner for him. Here are some hypothetical prospect "headliners" I could see offered in a deal for Guerra from a few of the teams in need of starting pitching: Royals: Josh Staumont or Ryan O'Hearn Pirates: Cole Tucker Orioles: Jomar Reyes or Ryan Mountcastle Dodgers: Willie Calhoun Rangers: Yohander Mendez While some of those players as trade headliners are intriguing, Mendez is the only one I would consider a home run. If they were to entertain trade offers for Guerra it might come down to which team has the best secondary pieces in their system for the Brewers to mine.

I don't know if it is still the case, but for many years they were offseason workout partners. There was a time when I thought acquiring Plouffe could make sense for the Brewers, but I think the third base reps could be better used elsewhere at this point.

I like the claim of Adam Brett Walker based on the fact that if he is able to make contact more consistently he will become a valuable asset for the organization. He has some significant upside as a future power hitter, but the strikeout numbers are trending in the wrong direction. He has some work to do heading into his age 25 season, below are his strikeout rates (K/PA) by level thus far. Rookie - 30% Low A - 21% High A - 28% AA - 35% AAA - 38%

1. Lewis Brinson 2. Luis "Lulu" Ortiz 3. Isan Diaz 4. Josh Hader 5. Phil Bickford 6. Trent Clark 7. Corey Ray 8. Brett "Maverick" Phillips 9. Cody Ponce 10. Marcos Diplan 11. Gilbert Lara 12. Brandon Woodruff 13. Lucas Erceg 14. Jorge Lopez 15. Nathan Kirby 16. Jake Gatewood 17. Jacob Nottingham 18. Devin Williams 19. Freddy Peralta 20. Monte Harrison 21. Ryan Cordell 22. Demi Orimoloye 23. Miguel Diaz 24. Corbin Burnes 25. Michael Reed

Sports venues that don't allow food and drink to be carried in typically make exceptions for medical reasons (i.e. diabetics, food allergies) and infants.

I met and got my picture taken with Phil at a Nationals-Pirates game at PNC back in 2009. The Pirates ushers were some of the nicest people I've met, and when my buddy and I explained we were on a baseball road trip visiting several parks they introduced us to Phil. I was in awe of his age then, great to see he is still at it 7 years later!

Muddie, glad to have you in the fold. One thing I can attest to is that we have a great collection of fans on this minor league forum very passionate about following the development of the Brewers farm system. Look forward to having you contribute to the discussion, and first-hand reports from games are always much appreciated! As you will come to find Mass Haas is a wizard when it comes to covering the organizations minor league affiliates in the Link Report, and some of the rest of us chip in as much as possible. Hope you enjoy the site and look forward to having you aboard!

I assume Nathan Kirby will be in Carolina at some point next season as well. BTW, I am really looking forward to watching Nathan Kirby pitch next year.

Some great news one day after I had resigned myself to the fact Lancaster was the likely destination. Also, an added bonus is the East Coast games are much more Link Report friendly!

I will take my turn at spit-balling. Having just visited it this past Spring, I am going to guess something along the lines of a scaled down version of Busch Stadium's Ballpark Village which was built just outside the ballpark and opened in 2014. In St. Louis the project was done in conjunction with Fox Sports. Admittedly the space immediately outside the stadium as well as the stadium's geography in relation to downtown may make this type of a retail complex a bad investment. EDIT: Another example of a retail development tied into the stadium's property is Gillete Stadium's Patriot Place.

If the Brewers do end up in Lancaster it appears they will be reunited with former Huntsville and Biloxi GM Buck Rogers. Rogers who resigned as the Biloxi GM following last season (LINK) is the Senior Director of Ticket Sales & Promotions for Lancaster.

The potential of being left with two of the least desirable and most offensively skewed environments in minor league baseball is tough to swallow. With the collection of projectable talent now amassed it seems as important as ever to find suitable affiliates with which to align. I tend to believe that an investment across the board in minor leaguer welfare and development is going to be a significant trend over the next decade. Finding a ballpark that is a good fit for developing and evaluating talent is important, but there are also many additional aspects of the minor league experience that can be improved with increased financial resources invested (i.e. nutrition, lodging/housing, travel, strength and conditioning, one-on-one instruction, video, etc.). A team willing to make a significant investment in their minor league system can seemingly separate themselves from the pack. In some cases players go from college baseball where they have resources at their disposal such as nutritionists, catered meals, housing, strength & conditioning coaches, training facilities, chartered flights, etc. to professional baseball where the experience seems prone to varying greatly by organization and its affiliates.

VIDEO LINK: In yesterday's post-game press conference Joe Maddon had some nice comments about David Stearns roster construction starting at the 0:35 mark of the linked video.

“[baseball] breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall all alone. You count on it, rely on it to buffer the passage of time, to keep the memory of sunshine and high skies alive, and then just when the days are all twilight, when you need it most, it stops.” - A. Bartlett Giamatti While the end of the baseball season signals the long winter ahead, true heartbreak occurs when your team walks off the field for the final time. When I was 12 years old the Madison Muskies announced the 1993 season would be their last in Madison. They were moving to West Michigan (near Grand Rapids) for a new stadium and a fan base that had been deprived of baseball for decades. The end of the final season of Muskies baseball left a void in my 12 year old heart that was never going to be filled by Hatters, Black Wolf, Mallards, or any other baseball outfit no matter how hard they may try. The Muskies were the local team of my youth, the team that as long as I could remember were a fixture of my summer memories. The Muskies were a big part of the emergence and growth of my love for the game of baseball. The Muskies were part of the fabric of my hometown. While the players would come and go during one brief stop along their professional development paths, they would forever remain Madison Muskies in my mind. With Oakland's success in the late 80's and early 90's it was a constant source of pride to see former Muskies players make an impact at the games highest level. The Muskies leaving Madison didn't seem like it could actually happen, but soon enough it would become reality. When they finally left, a small segment of my baseball fandom dried up with them. And I hated West Michigan for it. The following years when the local newspaper would publish minor league attendance numbers and West Michigan was breaking records I despised them even more. I didn't know anything about Grand Rapids, Michigan, but for the next several years I knew them as the place and the people that stole "My Team". Years later I met a girl who had moved to Michigan in her early teens. When she learned of my love for the game of baseball she told me, "you should go to a Whitecaps game sometime, the park is really nice." I went on to learn that girl went to Whitecaps games as an important part of her own youth. The games served as part of her indoctrination into the local community to which she had moved. She went on to become my wife and as life has a tendency to do I learned a valuable lesson. There is beauty in the heartbreak baseball can cause. The game never just ends, baseball's impact is eternal even as the players, parks, and municipalities change. Madison's loss was certainly West Michigan's gain. Still the magic of the game of baseball didn't end in Warner Park, it transferred to another community that reaped the benefits. While it doesn't make it sting any less to lose your team there is at least some small comfort in knowing the game will continue on, always. Good luck to the Brevard County franchise as they move on to their new community in Kissimmee, FL.

Final: Daytona 6, Brevard County 4 End of an Era: Manatees Lose Final Game By Donald Rieber, Jr., 27 Outs Baseball Final Salute to the Fans in Brevard County - Photo Credit: Brevard County Manatees - Tim Holle *** Check out the game story for not only the game recap, but also quotes and details on the final Manatees game including a post-game acknowledgement of the team. Brevard County Box Score For Bubba Derby the 2016 campaign hasn't always been a smooth ride. His final effort of the season was the third time he has given up double-digit hits in an outing. While he threw 132.0 innings with Brevard County, he ended with a 1.61 WHIP which was the highest in the Florida State league among qualified pitchers. Derby also gave up his 17th home run of the season which is the second highest total in the FSL this year. Att: 1,573. The final crowd to ever watch the Manatees take the field. Brevard County Game Log The Manatees did manage to get the leadoff batter on in the 9th bringing the tying run to the plate in three straight plate appearances. Unfortunately the Manatees went down on strikes in three straight at-bats. It was a final reminder of a season that will be remembered for its struggles. Brevard County Bottom of the 9th Wendell Rijo walks. Dustin Houle strikes out swinging. Jose Cuas called out on strikes. Brandon Diaz strikes out swinging.

Final: Brevard County 5, Daytona 3 Bickford’s Outing Leads Manatees to Victory By Donald Rieber, Jr., 27 Outs Baseball *** Brevard County Box Score After giving up a long ball in the 1st inning, Phil Bickford pitched well the rest of the way (6.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 SO). Since being acquired at the trade deadline Bickford pitched 27.0 innings in Brevard County racking up 30 strike outs and issuing 15 walks. Most notable hitting performance was Trey York who was 2-for-3 with a triple and a walk. Brevard County Game Log Over 2,500 fans showed up in what was the Manatees second to last game of existence. The organizational finale takes place Sunday.

Final: Daytona 10, Brevard County 0 Daytona's two-out scoring seals victory By Donald Rieber, Jr., 27 Outs Baseball *** Brevard County Box Score Their isn't a 10-run rule in professional baseball, but the game was delayed and called (due to rain) in the bottom of the 7th after Daytona had already put 4 runs on the board in the inning (10 for the game) and were still pounding away. Not to belabor the point, but this snippet from the game story make it sink in how bad things have been lately: "It was the 20th loss in 21 games for the Manatees and they fell to 6-40 in the FSL North Division in the second half." Despite only 6 hits, the Manatees had a pair of multi-hit efforts. Corey Ray was 2-for-3 and Trey York was 2-for-3 with a double. Wendell Rijo also contributed a double and moved his average since joining Brevard County north of the Mendoza line. Cody Ponce threw strikes on 59 of 80 pitches over 5.0 innings, but gave up 9 hits and 6 runs including a home run. On the bright side he did strike out 8 while allowing just 1 walk. Brevard County Game Log

If Mother Nature hadn't obliged, the Manatees may have had to employ the techniques of Crash Davis in order to manufacture a rainout before Sunday. Speaking of Bull Durham, Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh's words are apropos on a night like this: A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains."

From Sunday's Link Report... Well the Sea Cows haven't won a game since this was posted, but tonight's game was CANCELLED and will not be made up! And with that the Manatees avoid losing 100 games in their final season in Brevard County.

Final (Suspended Game): Clearwater 2, Brevard County 1 Final (Scheduled Game): Clearwater 3, Brevard County 2 Threshers Sweep Doubleheader in Viera By Donald Rieber, Jr., 27 Outs Baseball *** Brevard County Completion of Suspended Game Box Score Brevard County Completion of Suspended Game Log We covered starter Phil Bickford's 2.0 inning outing in Monday's Link Report, Marcos Diplan pitched all 7.0 innings once the suspended game resumed Tuesday afternoon. Diplan gave up 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk and struck out 9 batters. Brevard County only managed 4 hits, but 1 of them was a Corey Ray solo home run, his 5th HR of the season. According to the game story he also made some nice running catches in the field. Brevard County Regularly Scheduled Game Box Score Brevard County Regularly Scheduled Game Log The long rain delay between the makeup game and the regularly scheduled game meant that the Manatees were still playing baseball past midnight. For the second straight game the Manatees were held to 4 hits. Both Malik Collymore and Jose Cuas had doubles. For Collymore it was only his second extra base hit since June 25th. On the mound Bubba Derby and Jon Olczak combined to cover the 7 inning contest. Included in the game story are some good action photos including what appears to be an incredible diving catch by Elvis Rubio.