Ro Mueller

We deserve a Winkeresque bounce back. Though we often don’t get what we deserve…

Another nail-biter, another Save for RHP Justin Yeager (1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K), as Indios take Game 4 by a score of 2-1 over Senadores. They’re up 4 games to 0 in the Best-of-9 Championship Series in Puerto Rico. C Ramon Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with a walk for Senadores. Meanwhile, C Jorge Alfaro pinch hit for Tigres del Licey down 3-2 with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, but struck out as Leones del Escogido evened the Dominican Republic Championship Series at one game apiece.

Javik (AA Biloxi) has his eye on Mr. Sandberg:

Indios de Mayaguez have won 7 playoff games, with RHP Justin Yeager earning 5 Saves and 2 Wins in those games (1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 Ks, Save last night). They now lead the Puerto Rican Championship Series 3-0. C Ramon Rodriguez went 1-for-4 again for Senadores in defeat.

Recently-signed C Jorge Alfaro and Tigres del Licey will face Leones del Escogido in the Dominican Republic Championship Series, with Game 1 tonight. Alfaro produced an .816 OPS in 33 ABs in LIDOM's regular season, then a .536 OPS in 29 ABs during the round robin phase, totalling 2 HRs alongside a frightening 2 BB / 21 K ratio as he ramps up baseball activity after sitting out the 2024 season. INF Eduardo Garcia did not play in Game 1 of Venezuela's Championship Series as his Cardenales de Lara squad fell 4-2 to Bravos de Margarita. Garcia had a 1.215 OPS in 27 ABs in LVBP's regular season, then an .881 OPS in 42 ABs in the round robin phase. RHP Sam McWilliams had two more appearances for Aguilas Cibaenas in the Dominican Republic this week, ending his Winter League campaign (as Aguilas did not reach the championship series) with the following combined line: 5.1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks.

Indios de Mayaguez has captured the first 2 games of the Puerto Rican Championship Series, winning 5-3 in Game 1, then benefitting from a walk-off error to grab Game 2 by a score of 2-1. RHP Justin Yeager pitched the 9th inning in both games, though hasn’t been his lights-off self, allowing a harmless run in Game 1 (though still got the Save) and registering his first blown save in Game 2 (though still got the Win). C Ramon Rodriguez is 2-for-8 in the two defeats for Senadores de San Juan.

27 of the 29 signings have been added to the MILB transaction log, with RHP Luis Aguayo and LHP Daniel Garcia remaining. UPDATE: Aguayo and Garcia have been added to the MILB transaction log, so all 29 signing are now accounted for.

By my records, we signed 35 international free agents on the main signing date in January 2024, then added 8 more signings (all pitchers) throughout the year (M. Mercedes, C. Carra, J. Lugo, F. Reyes, R. Saldana, E. Urena, J. Ramirez, J. Arias). As we only announced 29 signings this time, I guess we should expect 8-14 more international free agent signings over the rest of the year.

18 hitters, 11 pitchers in the initial signing class. Only 3 players from outside of Venezuela or the Dominican Republic.

Justin Yeager grabbed his 3rd save (along with a win) of the series for Indios de Mayaguez, who advance to the Puerto Rican Championship Series.

Thank you for the update, ARobsBrewCrew

Yeah, we're over a year away from the main competition, but I'd imagine that guys like Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick and Tyler Black will be interested. Here's a reminder of some current and former Brewers who participated in 2023: Francisco Mejia, Gary Sanchez, Willy Adames, Jean Segura - Dominican Republic Hernan Perez, Eduardo Escobar, Omar Narvaez, Elieser Hernandez, Jhoulys Chacin - Venezuela Martin Maldonado, Jorge Lopez, Alex Claudio - Puerto Rico Carlos F. Rodriguez - Nicaragua Robert Stock - Israel Chavez Young, Jack Seppings, Michael Peterson - Great Britain Abraham Toro, Rob Zastryzny, John Axford - Canada Jorge Alfaro, Julio Teheran - Colombia Luis Urias, Rowdy Tellez, Victor Castaneda - Mexico Devin Williams - USA Eric Sogard - Czech Republic Alex Hall - Australia Christian Bethancourt, Andy Otero, Matt Hardy, Javy Guerra - Panama Jonathan Schoop - Netherlands Sal Frelick, Brett Sullivan, Michele Vassalotti, Vinny Nittoli - Italy Wei-Chung Wang - Chinese Taipei

INF Freddy Zamora is part of the Nicaraguan squad attempting to qualify for WBC 2026 as one of 2 teams from a group that includes South Africa, Spain and Chinese Taipei.

The next World Baseball Classic is scheduled to take place from March 5-17, 2026 in Miami, Houston, San Juan and Tokyo. 20 countries will participate, with 16 pre-qualified based on their 2023 WBC performance. Japan is the defending champ. 4 additional countries will qualify from contests scheduled from February 21 - March 6, 2025, with these games played in Taipei and Tucson.

Looks like Jorge Alfaro may be our experienced catching depth addition:

Pivotal Game 5 of Indios de Mayaguez’s Best-of-7 semifinal against Caguas saw RHP Justin Yeager give up a rare run as they fell behind 4-2 in the top of the 9th inning. However, they plated 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th and another in the bottom of the 10th to snatch a 5-4 victory and 3-2 series lead. Yeager allowed 3 hits and 3 walks over 2 innings, but still played hero by notching the 2-inning Win. C Ramon Rodiguez’s Senadores de San Juan squad has already qualified for the Puerto Rican final by winning their series 4-1 over Santurce. Over in Venezuela, INF Eduardo Garcia’s Cardenales’ squad notched 3 victories to drop their Magic Number to 1 game (with 4 games remaining) to qualify for the Championship. Unavailable-thus-far Jackson Chourio’s Aguilas team and old friend OF Carlos D. Rodriguez’s Magallanes squad both trail Bravos by 2 games for the second spot in the final Here are the latest Winter Season stats for Brewers’ players still active: Puerto Rico: RHP Justin Yeager - Indios de Mayaguez - 2.25 ERA in 4.0 playoff IP, with 5 H, 4 BB, 2 Ks, 2 Saves, 1 Win; after posting a 1.90 ERA, 23.2 IP, 16 H, 10 BB, 27 K, 11 Saves in the regular season C Ramon Rodriguez - Senadores de San Juan - .650 OPS in 20 playoff PAs with 1 HR and 3 RBIs; after posting a .776 OPS in 77 PAs, 3 RBIs and 1 SB in the regular season C Victor Torres - Senadores de San Juan - .000 OPS in 6 PAs, 1 RBI in the regular season Venezuela: INF Eduardo Garcia - Cardenales de Lara - .909 OPS in 36 PAs with a 2 HRs, 6 RBIs and 2 SBs in 12 Round Robin games; after a 1.215 OPS in 30 PAs in the league’s regular season Dominican League: RHP Sam McWilliams (3 games) - Aguilas Cibaenas - 4.0 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 Ks RHP Deivi Garcia (1 game) - Tigres del Licey - 0.2 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 0 K

This isn’t a ranking, but maybe winning Winter League Reliever of the Year in Puerto Rico merits a note for Justin Yeager here:

We have Wes Clarke's Minor League rights for 3 more seasons and he had one of the highest xwOBAs on our AAA roster last year, yet he feels somewhat forgotten. Any thoughts? Can his defense improve now that's he's a full-time first baseman? Can he blast 30 homers in MLB some day?

Sounds like it worked out perfectly for Rea. He’d have gotten $5.5m if the Brewers had kept him. Instead, he’ll get $1.0m from the Brewers and $5.0m from the Cubs.