Jim Goulart

Monday December 2nd: AUDIO via 97.3 the FAN in San Diego: Matt Pauley discusses both sides of the Brewers-Padres trade *** Tuesday December 3rd: AUDIO via WSSP 105.7 FM's Chuck & Winkler: MLB Insider Jon Heyman AUDIO via ‘The Alex Feuz Show’: Jake Faria (non-Brewer specific baseball talk) AUDIO via Drew and KB on 93.7 FM: Tom Haudricourt (3:40 minute mark) AUDIO via the Bill Michaels Show: Adam McCalvy AUDIO via the Journal-Sentinel Brewers Podcast: Tom Haudricourt AUDIO via WSSP 105.7 FM: "Hot Stove Weekly is back! Tim Allen & former Brewers reliever Paul Wagner recap everything that's happened surrounding the Brewers. Plus, we hear from Brewers bench coach Pat Murphy (27:30 minute mark) and Bruce Levine of 670 The Score join the show." *** Wednesday December 4th: AUDIO via WSSP 105.7 FM's Chuck & Winkler: Adam McCalvy

Cain, Brantley, the Mets' Seth Lugo, all former clients. Jeffress by far was Josh's longest-tenured big leaguer, not sure if he has any active MLB-level clients as of today. Can't be easy for the smaller agency operations to keep their more prominent clients as their careers begin to flourish. That being said, even maintaining a single client earning a seven-figure yearly salary will go a long way to maintaining one's practice. One reason Jeffress' departure will hurt. Just went back and reviewed the first ten or so pages of the thread (2007-2008), those were pretty cool interactions at the time.

Kyle Lobner’s Frosty Microbrew: Korry Howell works on infield, outfield skills this fall

As we try to do when these lists come out, we like to let folks know who these players were, when and how acquired, etc. It's often hard to spin the numbers in a positive light (it is a release list, after all), but do consider the vast percentage of minor leaguers will be released before even coming close to fulfilling a big league dream. So kudos to all these young men on what they did accomplish, we hope other opportunities open up soon, affiliated right away or not, and best wishes in all aspects of life moving forward. Listed in the same alphabetical order as seen above... Always a tough road for the non-drafted players, but their backstories always seem to include a heavy dose of perseverance. Briefly a Royals farmhand, followed by independent ball stints, and then time with Data-Driven Baseball Performance Training at "Driveline", 24-year-old RHP Jackson Sigman made 23 relief appearances with Rocky Mountain this summer. The numbers weren't there for the University of West Virginia product, however. *** Via BrewCrewBall, a note that Sigman found work in the independent American Association.

Tuesday November 12th: VIDEO via MLB Network's "Hot Stove": David Stearns

We learn that Graham has found a new home (and a promotion), so his departure was likely one of seeking a new opportunity: DETROIT – The Detroit Tigers have announced a series of new hires and promotions in its Baseball Operations Department. Kenny Graham joins us from the Brewers serving as Director of Player Development. Graham joins the organization after serving as the Minor League hitting coordinator for the Milwaukee Brewers over the last four seasons. Graham will focus on hitting development and strategies and establish an organization-wide hitting protocol with an emphasis on measuring data and technology to aid growth and performance. Prior to his time with the Brewers, Graham spent seven seasons in the Toronto Blue Jays system, including as the co-hitting coordinator (2015) and hitting coach at Single A Lansing (2012-13, 2015), Single A Bluefield (2011) and Single A Auburn (2010). He also managed the organization’s Gulf Coast League affiliate in 2014 and served as the hitting coach for the Independent League’s Gary RailCats for two seasons (2008-09). Prior to his coaching career, Graham attended Indiana University where he was an outfielder on the baseball team and earned a degree in Kinesiology. Link to the story *** No updates as of yet on Dewey or Diggs' future plans.

Thursday November 7th: AUDIO via WTMJ: Matt Pauley hosts "Brewers Weekly" *** Sunday November 10th: AUDIO via Matt Pauley's Brewers Extra Innings Podcast: Brad Ford of BrewCrewBall the guest AUDIO via the Milwaukee Tailgate Podcast: "Episode 115 | A Third Round Pick Isn’t Worth Anything" AUDIO via Brewers.com: Brewers on Tap - Hot Stove with Lane Grindle and Adam McCalvy

With a very-raised eyebrow, we'll give this Razzball post minor props for deflecting accuracy with sidebar entertainment.

Here are some takeaways from the Brewers' latest updated Front Office page: Perhaps the following were announced earlier (I don't think so), but congratulations to the new Vice President's (previously Director's): Vice President - Minor League Operations Tom Flanagan Vice President - Domestic Scouting Tod Johnson Vice President - Baseball Operations Matt Kleine Johnson's title moves from "Director - Amateur Scouting" to "Vice President - Domestic Scouting". His assistant, Tim McIlvaine, has similarly had the word Amateur become Domestic. This would seem to be related to more of a combined effort in professional and amateur scouting. Johnson would remain the head of the draft process, it seems. There no longer is a "Farm Director" listed officially, so Flanagan can still be considered that, it would certainly appear. *** Looks like the lone female voice on the analytics staff, "Analyst - Sports Science Baseball Research and Development" Inga Milo is no longer with the organization (Feb 2017 – Oct 2019, 2 years 9 months). Too bad, as women are woefully under-represented in the industry. *** Player Development has some notable omissions. No longer listed are: Kenny Graham - Hitting Coordinator Mark Dewey - Pitching Coordinator Tony Diggs (Assistant Director - Outfield and Baserunning Coordinator) - with the Brewers since 2004 Is it possible the posted Front Office page is in error (if so, my apologies and shame on the editor for the team). But it could be the organization is moving in a new direction on the farm after a year that didn't see many breakout performances, or that opportunities elsewhere were pursued by the three. *** Back in August, Robert Murray of the Athletic informed us: Brewers dismissed pro scouting crosschecker Ryan Thompson, regional supervisor Brian Sankey and area scout Dan Huston, sources tell The Athletic. Other changes possible. These moves were confirmed in the latest webpage update. It appears two Pro Scouting Crosscheckers in addition to Thompson are also gone, Ben McDonough and Derek Watson. In fact, the Pro Scouting staff has been reduced to this: Assistant Director - Scouting Bryan Gale Assistant Director - Scouting/International Player Development Taylor Green Pro Scouting Crosschecker Mike Berger Professional Scouts Lary Aaron Bryan Bullington Aaron, Hank Aaron's son, has long been in this role for the Brewers, and Bullington focuses on the Asian markets overseas. Two former pro scouts are now Area Scouts on the amateur side, former big league Brewer Jeff Bianchi and Pete Vuckovich, Jr. *** Other than the previously mentioned Sankey and Huston, it appears all other U.S. amateur scouts remain.

Thursday November 7th: AUDIO via SN590 the FAN in Toronto: Chase Anderson

Wednesday November 6th: AUDIO via WSSP 105.7's "Big Show": Craig Counsell *** Thursday November 7th: AUDIO via the Journal-Sentinel Podcast: Tom Haudricourt

Tuesday November 5th: AUDIO via WSSP 105.7's "Big Show": Adam McCalvy

Friday November 1st: AUDIO via WSSP 105.7's "Big Show": Mark Simon of Sports Info Solutions Sunday November 3rd: AUDIO via Matt Pauley's Brewers Extra Innings Podcast: Kyle Lobner the guest AUDIO via the Milwaukee Tailgate Podcast: Episode 114 Monday November 4th: AUDIO via "After Hours with Amy Lawrence": Brent Suter discusses the Chase Anderson and Eric Thames departures among other topics

Thursday October 31st: AUDIO via WSSP 105.7 FM: Adam McCalvy

1B Patrick Leonard RHP Justin Topa Re-signed as per the Brewers and removed from the initial post in this list.

As we try to do when these lists come out, we like to let folks know who these players were, when and how acquired, etc. It's often hard to spin the numbers in a positive light (it is a release list, after all), but do consider the vast percentage of minor leaguers will be released before even coming close to fulfilling a big league dream. So kudos to all these young men on what they did accomplish, we hope other opportunities open up soon, affiliated right away or not, and best wishes in all aspects of life moving forward. Listed in the same alphabetical order as seen above... The most established name here by far is 27-year-old IF/OF (but primarily a second baseman) Blake Allemand. The 2015 5th round pick out of Texas A&M reached AAA for the first time (and his native San Antonio) in late April, but was primarily a bench piece and Rocky Mountain roster castoff when convenient for roster crunches in 2019. The switch-hitter also had two brief DL stints this past season, unclear as to whether those were of the phantom variety or not. Thirteen of his 27 hits in 2019 were for extra-bases, but as his linked stat lines show, a breakout season never really materialized, even back in Appleton or hitter-non-friendly Brevard County. Primarily a middle infielder (some third base), 20-year-old Luis Avila was signed in the summer of 2015 out of Venezuela and began his next three seasons in the Dominican Summer League. He would come stateside shortly after that third season began, and was at Rocky Mountain for all of 2019. Listed at 5'11", 150, although accurate MiLB.com vitals can be notoriously delayed, nonetheless that may explain only 15 XBH's in 631 career AB's. We will miss the pairing in the batting order (often back-to-back) of Luis Avila and still-with-the-Brewers catcher Luis Avalo. 22-year-old (23 this January) infielder Danny Casals is a surprise on this list. Signed as an undrafted player in July out of the University of Maine (brief video report here), Casals posted a pretty sweet .333/.400/.500 line in Maryvale, finishing his season with a ten-game hit streak during which he batted .425 with four doubles and two home runs. Not sure what else Casals could have done at the plate to maintain a spot in the organization - he did commit six errors in 27 combined games at 2B/SS/3B, hardly egregious. RHP Gabe Friese only made one 2019 appearance for Carolina, back in April, facing one batter, walking him, and then leaving the game with an injury, missing the remainder of the season. We never did get official word on the nature of his injury. Friese, an undrafted signee in 2017 out of Kennesaw State, split 2017 between Maryvale and Helena, and spent all of 2018 with Wisconsin, all as a reliever outside of six Helena starts. Only 18 years old, Venezuelan catcher Eduin Lugo saw action the past two summers with the Brewers/Indians co-op Dominican Summer League team. He posted just a .525 OPS in that time, but threw out a reasonable 28% of baserunners (15 of 52). RHP Steve Pastora, a Rocky Mountain Vibe for all of 2019, had a winding road to affiliated pro ball that was well-documented as recently as last month here. Articles like that make the realities of releases even sharper. Pastora turned 25 last month, so that was stacked against him from the start, but we've seen similarly "aged" players get chances a bit more extended (but it's rare). RHP Ronnald Rojas won't even turn 18 years old until next April. Signed out of Venezuela and debuting in the Dominican Summer League, Rojas, simply put, was a mess while making 17 appearances for the co-op squad, as the linked scary numbers indicate. Rojas was a young 17-year-old, far from home, with an unknown maturity level, but those players are often brought back for a second season despite struggles. Not this time, apparently this was just a big swing and a miss from the otherwise pretty on-target Brewers' Venezuelan amateur scouting staff. LHP Wilfred Salaman's release is likely a bit of a surprise to those who followed the Timber Rattlers all season, and in particular the Rattler Radio Podcasts. The eligible-to-be-but-non-drafted Puerto Rico native only turned 22 this month, and from July 22nd on, was super-effective over his final 14 appearances, as his game logs show. Given his southpawness, a bit of a headscratcher, but not a shocking event, just puzzling. Always a tough road for the non-drafted players, but their backstories always seem to include a heavy dose of perseverance. Briefly a Royals farmhand, followed by independent ball stints, and then time with Data-Driven Baseball Performance Training at "Driveline", 24-year-old RHP Jackson Sigman made 23 relief appearances with Rocky Mountain this summer. The numbers weren't there for the University of West Virginia product, however. RHP Christian Taugner is also 24, but unlike the rookie ballers discussed earlier in this post, spent all of 2019 at Carolina (17 starts, 26 appearances). Taugner posted a reasonable career WHIP (1.36), but was not a strikeout pitcher at all (232 in 305.1 career innings). He only allowed seven HR's in 110.1 innings with the Mudcats, but it is the Carolina League's stunting environment as well at play. The 2017 37th round pick does have an Ivy League education in his back pocket (Brown), so if other baseball opportunities aren't pursued, we know he'll at minimum be earning larger paychecks elsewhere. Note to future DSL Brewers - try to avoid being placed on the co-op team. Just-turned 19-year-old C/1B Luis Valderrama, another Venezuelan native, posted a combined .533 OPS over 151 2018-19 AB's on the club shared with Cleveland farmhands. 26.3% on the CS rate (25 out of 95 base stealers thrown out). *** One final note: @BrewersPD never did make a formal announcement on the September release of 22-year-old 2019 Midwest League All-Star representative RHP Logan Gillaspie, noted by Baseball America. Gillaspie, a 2018 independent league find, was effective throughout 2019 for the Timber Rattlers. His out-of-the-blue and by-itself release unfortunately can only lead to speculation, which is totally unfair to the player in a vacuum of news/reasoning why. So we'll just leave it at that.

Bump as the original post in the thread is up-to-date. One of the smallest free agent classes we can remember.

R.J. Anderson - CBS Sports

prospect361.com

Castaneda and Fry are "Fall Stars"

EC grad Pastora getting his shot By Terry Bernal, San Mateo Daily Journal Staff

Mudcats' Cameron Castro making his mark as minor-league pitching coach By David S. Glasier, news-herald.com (Lorain, Ohio)

August 29th, but still certainly relevant -- Matt Erickson talks player development, standout performers from Timber Rattlers season Dan Wussow, Appleton Post-Crescent *** Posted September 25th -- AUDIO via the Rattler Radio Soundcloud: "Chris Mehring and Kyle Lobner begin their offseason series of podcasts by bringing in Timber Rattlers Manager Matt Erickson. The conversation is on the players of the 2019 Timber Rattlers season, what is ahead for Erickson, and a few other topics of interest."

This was such a cool thing for me to look up thanks to this brief but fantastic Twitter exchange between Tim Dillard and former big league Brewer OF Drew Anderson (currently a Regional Supervisor in the Crew's Amateur Scouting Department.) We have created Brewerfan Player Pages going back to 2001. Heck, back in 2006, we even manually keyed in career year-by-year stat lines (here's Ronald Acuna, Sr.), as the guys discuss at the tweet. Ronald Acuna, Sr. was a very young dad, only 18 years old when his son was born. Sure enough, Acuna, Sr. spent the 2006 season (and the end of his affiliated baseball pro career) as a minor league free agent signed by the Crew the prior January to fill in the AA Huntsville roster. *** You'll notice Drew Anderson and now Texas Rangers' Assistant Big League Hitting Coach Callix Crabbe mentioned here: Acuna stars for Huntsville Right fielder drives in six runs in 12-4 win at Birmingham MiLB.com *** Here's a sweet photo link. *** Ronald Acuña: Avoiding the sins of the father By reaching the major leagues, Acuña Jr. fulfills dad’s dream By César Augusto Márquez, by La Vida Baseball Well, not like bad sins, just baseball "mistakes". *** Baseball is a family affair for Braves phenom Ronald Acuña Jr. Matt Ehalt, Yahoo Sports *** I'm always enthused when a nugget of info like that has us reaching deep, deep into the Brewerfan archives. Thanks Tim! Thanks Drew!

*** Both Moreno and Rodriguez were released after the DSL season ended.