Jim Goulart

From a player development standpoint, that statement in bold in that last story may be the most depressing in the thread.

Stars' owner can't clear the air on reports team is Biloxi-bound for 2014 season (updated) By Mark McCarter, Huntsville Times As the Huntsville Stars return home Sunday for a five-game series with the Birmingham Barons, their on-field improvement -- 15-13 in May after going 9-16 in April -- will be overshadowed again by off-field issues. On Thursday, it was announced that Biloxi, Miss., is building a 7,000-seat, $36 million downtown ballpark that will be ready for play in 2014 and will house a Southern League team. Mississippi media reports indicated the Huntsville Stars are the franchise most likely to move there, though a source close to the negotiations told The Huntsville Times/al.com that the Stars were not the targeted franchise. Stars owner Miles Prentice, in an interview Friday night with The Times/al.com, was legally unable to clear the air. "I can't comment," Prentice said, referring to a Southern League directive against public comments regarding potential franchise moves. "We have strict instructions." Asked if he is selling the Stars, Prentice said, "I've talked with people from time to time." He acknowledged he has talked with potential local investors or purchasers but "nothing is developing." Prentice, an attorney in New York, reiterated what he said in a wide-ranging interview with The Times/al.com last December in Nashville. "As I told you then, the right place, anything is for sale. Nothing has changed with that," he said. Prentice said he has had no recent conversation with Huntsville city officials about a potential downtown ballpark, but said a new park would have a "significant" impact on the Stars' franchise. "For now, we're moving along and trying to make the stadium as inhabitable as can be and Buck (Rogers, general manager) is doing a good job with that," Prentice said. The Stars host the Southern League North-leading Barons at 4:03 Sunday, then continue with games Monday through Thursday beginning at 6:43. The Stars' doubleheader Saturday night in Jackson, Tenn., was postponed because of wet field conditions.

We've included multiple transactions involving the DSL and Maryvale squads in the brand new 2013 DSL team thread.

RHP Joel Dicent (entering his 4th year in the system) spent 2012 in Maryvale after two DSL seasons. However, the Brewers have re-assigned the 21-year-old (22 this August) back to the DSL to begin the 2013 season.

The Brewers have signed RHP Nelson Arguila (career stats) and assigned him to their Dominican Summer League roster. Arguila originally signed with Boston prior to the 2011 season, but that contract was voided. He landed in Tampa's organization, and as his stats indicate, he worked strictly in relief with the DSL Rays in 2011 and 2012. Listed at 6'0", 180, likely a hard thrower (35 walks in 39.1 innings). Arguila is going to be 25 (!) in September, so the arm had better be mighty big. This might be best listed as "hey, we have to fill the roster...".

Look for RHP Cody Scarpetta (he'll be 25 in August) to join the Manatees roster any day now, he's coming back from 2012 Tommy John surgery (performed by Lewis Yocum, who just passed away). The Brewers own Scarpetta's rights through 2014 -- if he shows a lot in the 2nd half, he could be a Rule 5 loss candidate. he is out of minor league options, so it'd be unlikely he'd be added back to the 40-man this fall, as the Brewers would lose roster flexibility with him next spring.

Via the Stars -- On Saturday, the Huntsville Stars series-ending doubleheader against the Jackson Generals was cancelled due to unplayable field conditions at The Ballpark at Jackson and impending inclement weather in the Jackson area. Both games will not be made up at a later date. Since the Stars took two of three games in the shortened series against the Generals, it gives them their third series victory in their last four tries. The Stars will return home to start a five-game series against the Birmingham Barons on Sunday at Joe Davis Stadium. First pitch is at 4:03 CT.

Utility INF Adrian Williams was activated from the Brevard County DL and subsequently transferred to Wisconsin. The Rattlers will need to make a corresponding move. It will probably involve infielder Jose Sermo, who exited a game this week.

Lots of info in the 2013 DSL Brewers thread that we just opened

Weather.com: Round Rock, TX Jackson, TN Daytona Beach, FL Grand Chute (Appleton) Santo Domingo, DR

Look for Nashville and Wisconsin media notes at the links just prior to their game times. New this season: Brevard County has media notes; as of now, it's a unique link each day, but look for it just prior to game time each day within the "Stats and Scores" banner here.

To see tweets as to when the Link Report has been technically "completed" with available links, as well as to know when the new day's Report has been posted, please follow @Mass_Haas on Twitter.

STANDINGS: AAA - Pacific Coast League American Northern Division AA - Southern League North Division High-A - Florida State League North Division A - Midwest League Western Division DSL - Dominican Summer League San Pedro de Macoris

Follow Saturday's action as it happens with box score / game log links: Nashville Huntsville Game One Huntsville Game Two Brevard County Wisconsin DSL Brewers New MiLB.com feature -- organizational scoreboard, Brewers

Programming note: Jackson has MiLB.TV coverage, so if you're a subscriber, you can watch this Stars' series (live and/or archived).

Saturday's Daily Menu: All times are Central Nashville: RHP Tyler Thornburg at Round Rock (Rangers), 5:45 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime Free Live Audio Link Jeff Hem is the play-by-play voice of the Sounds; follow him on Twitter @jeffhempbp; we'll link to his blog updates at On the Air…and Off MiLB.TV -- for subscribers; all Nashville games, home and away, will be available to watch via MiLB.TV's $39.99 season-long package ($9.99 to pay for a single month). The audio feed is from the home team. All MiLB.TV details available at the link. ********** Huntsville: RHP's Andy Moye and Arcenio Leon in a doubleheader at Jackson (Mariners), 3:50 PM pre-game, 4:05 gametime; each contest slated for seven innings Free Live Audio Link -- Select the Huntsville feed from the MiLB main audio page Alex Cohen is the play-by-play voice of the Stars; follow him on Twitter @alexmcohen. All games, home and away, are scheduled to be broadcast. It appears four Southern League teams air their home games on MiLB.TV, and we'll let you know when those dates pop up on the schedule ********** Brevard County: RHP Chad Pierce at Daytona (Cubs), 5:35 PM pre-game, 6:05 gametime Free Live Audio Link -- Select the link based on listed schedule Manatees audio, hooray! Dave Walkovic is the first play-by-play voice of the 'Tees since 2007, he's joined by Andy Towne; follow the Brevard broadcast booth staff on Twitter @BCManateesRadio. All home games and many road games are scheduled to be broadcast. When road games are only available via the opponents' audio feed, we'll let you know that. ********** Wisconsin: RHP Austin Blaski at home vs. Peoria (Cardinals), 6:15 PM pre-game, 6:35 gametime Free Live Audio Link - 1280 AM WNAM Chris Mehring is back to do his customary fantastic work as the Voice of the Rattlers. Follow him on Twitter @CMehring; we'll link to Chris' infamous blog often -- Rattler Radio. MiLB.TV -- for subscribers; Wisconsin is one of four Midwest League clubs that have all their home games available via MiLB.TV. So for the $39.95 season-long package, fans in Brewer Nation can watch all Sounds games, Stars' road games from four Southern League locales, and all Timber Rattlers home games and some road games. NOTE: 32 of the Rattlers' 70 home games will be broadcast on TV this season. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel has seventeen games scheduled and WACY-TV My NEW32 plans to show fifteen games. We'll let you know when, but won't be providing day-before DVR reminders, so regularly check for proper channel and time planning (scroll to the bottom of this link). ********** DSL Brewers: at home vs. the DSL Tigers, 9:30 AM, although game data won't be available until later in the day

http://www.brewerfan.net/images/store/dailylinkreport.jpg

Brad with a DSL Brewers overview / preview.

Looks as though the following 2012 DSL Brewers were removed from the MiLB.com roster page for the 2013 squad during the overnight. That means these players will debut in Maryvale / Helena (or possibly a release or two). LHP Brandol Perez RHP Milton Gomez RHP Junior Flores RHP Jorge Ortega LHP Juan Santiago - from a numbers standpoint and as a lefty, promising (also entering his age 22 season, though) C Carlos Pena 2B Alejandro Mendoza OF Francisco Castillo -- fun on the basepaths, deserving of the bump, turns 20 soon OF Elvis Rubio *** My goodness, does this mean Venezuelan RHP Gian Rizzo (who turns 20 in September) and his amazing numbers, will spend a 3rd year in the Dominican?

Brevard County audio game highlights (nearly five minutes worth, given the nature of this contest -- enjoy!) *** Manatees pre-game audio interview with LH reliever Stephen Peterson

Manatees shortstop comes up big in 10th inning win by Michael Parsons, FLORIDA TODAY Yadiel Rivera came up big when the Brevard County Manatees needed him most Friday night in a wild game against the Daytona Cubs. Game tied, two out in the ninth inning. Runners on first and third and Merritt Island’s Dustin Geiger at the plate. And it looked like the hometown boy would be the hero for the Cubs. Geiger hit a bullet between short and third, but Rivera made a diving catch on the ball as it was heading for left field, ending the Cubs threat. Then in the bottom of the 10th inning, Rivera stepped to the plate with runners on first and second. With an 0-2 count, he ripped a line drive that landed in left-center field, scoring pinch runner T.J. Mittelstaedt giving the Manatees a wild 10-9 win in 10 innings. “Yadi, down 0-2, smokes that ball, it was a great at-bat for him,” Manatees manager Joe Ayrault said. The Cubs took a 7-1 lead in the fourth inning, led by Geiger’s 3-run home run in the first inning, but the Manatees fought back to tie the game and take the lead in the eighth inning on two bases loaded walks. “That is the best offensive output of the season that I can remember ,” Ayrault said. “They kept the energy level up in the dugout, kept grinding, made big plays on defense. Everything kind of went our way the rest of the night.” Tommy Toledo could not hold the lead, blowing the save as Wes Darvill scored on Jorge Soler’s fielder’s choice to tie the game. Manatees starter Jacob Barnes could not find the strike zone, and when he did, Geiger made him pay with his sixth home run of the season — to right field. Geiger finished the game 2-for-4 with a walk. For Barnes, his first start since April 23 was a forgettable one, giving up five runs in 2 1/3 of an inning, walking six and hitting two others. Barnes had given up four earned runs in 10 1/3 innings in the bullpen to earn the start. But the Manatees battled back, scoring two runs in the sixth and another two in the seventh to cut the lead to 8-7. Ben McMahon was the leader of the slugfest, going 3-for-4 with a solo home run, a double and two walks. “(Hitting coach) Ned (Yost IV) commented on how good his batting practice was today, and sure enough he came out of the gates today and hit the opposite field homer, then the double,” Ayrault said. “He was locked in all night.” Astronaut High graduate Zeke DeVoss was 0-for-2 with three walks and an RBI in the game. The two teams meet tonight in Daytona with Drew Gagnon taking the hill for the Manatees. Game 3 of the series will be at Space Coast Stadium Sunday.

Sounds' Hellweg keeps on rolling Brewers prospect allows run, five hits over seven innings By Robert Emrich / Special to MLB.com Johnny Hellweg has kept Pacific Coast League hitters in check this season but has experienced occasional control issues. He kept them in check Friday night in a start that showed what he can do when he puts everything together. The Brewers' No. 3 prospect yielded a run on five hits over seven innings for his third straight win as Triple-A Nashville shut down Iowa, 3-1. Hellweg (4-4) struck out five batters and walked two in lowering his ERA to 3.65. He threw 62 of 101 pitches for strikes in his 11th start of the season. "[My] fastball was working pretty well off the bat, built my confidence the first couple of innings," he said. "Later in the game, I started mixing my changeup in and that got me some big outs. Basically, just stuck with the fastball, pounded the righties in and got the ground balls I needed." Hellweg has been able to get ground balls all year long, making him one of the tougher pitchers to hit in the Pacific Coast League. Opponents are batting .198 against him, the third-lowest average in the league, and that's a credit to his fastball, which was clocked between 96-98 mph in his final inning Friday. "I'm just using my fastball. I get a lot of good sink and late life on it," the 24-year-old right-hander said. "I just battle guys with it and show it to them until they show they can handle it consistently. Until they show me they can hit it consistently and keep putting it in play, there's no reason for me to change my game plan." The problem for the Michigan native has been walks. Heading into Friday's start, Hellweg issued 37 free passes over 49 2/3 innings. In his previous four outings, he issued 15 walks, including a season-high six on May 16 against Salt Lake. "It's something that I feel like needed to be addressed," Hellweg said. "Today, I focused on it a little bit more, making guys hit their way on base, and I think that got me a little bit more success tonight." Acquired last summer in the four-player trade that sent Zack Greinke to the Angels, Hellweg has yielded one earned run or fewer in three of his last four starts to shave nearly a whole run off his ERA. "I've put together some halfway decent starts and [the team has] picked me up," he said. "I threw the ball pretty well and they came through for me at the end. We've been playing a lot better as a whole and everything is starting to click for us." Josh Prince snapped a seventh-inning tie with an RBI double, then scored on a base hit by Anderson De La Rosa to give the Sounds a 3-1 lead. Rob Wooten tossed a hitless ninth for his eighth save for Nashville. Cubs starter Yoanner Negrin fell to 0-2 after allowing three runs on five hits over six innings. Johnny Hellweg ranks third in the PCL with a .198 batting average against. (Nashville Sounds) http://www.milb.com/assets/images/1/1/2/49265112/cuts/hellweg480_3r45micp_bbly0hro.jpg

You'll find out Doug has no recollection or even knows who Carlos Rodon is. That was painful to learn.

AUDIO: A link to Doug Melvin's 22 minutes on WSSP today Yeah, it's an important listen, do find the time...

Last December was when we first learned about Martinez ($50,000 reported, brief video).