Jim Goulart

We need a birthday. Happy 80th, Mary!

Dominican team Toros del Este did not qualify for the postseason, this was the last game for each of their Brewers: RHP Paolo Espino - November 20th RHP Jhan Marinez - November 11th OF Ryan Cordell - November 16th IF Wendell Rijo - December 6th *** Dominican box: 2B Jonathan Villar 1-for-3, sacrifice, two K's in a 7-4 win

Venezuela box: In a 10-1 win, Manny Pina was 2-for-5 with a triple, two RBI, two K's *** Venezuela box: SS Orlando Arcia 0-for-3, one K, as Arcia's team lost 7-0 to Hernan Perez' team. Perez continued his super-sized winter, 2-for-4, walk, R, RBI, 7th SB in 8 attempts

Wednesday's games -- Puerto Rico box: Young LF Jay Feliciano 0-for-3, sacrifice fly, two K's, outfield assist Wilfredo Rodriguez flies into a double play, left fielder Jay Feliciano to catcher Gian Paul Gonzalez. Jorge Jimenez out at home. *** Puerto Rico box: Walkoff 1-0 win for SS Ivan DeJesus, Jr.'s team. Dejesus was 1-for-4, double, K. On the other squad, Yadiel Rivera played third base, 1-for-3. RHP Hiram Burgos continued his wonderful winter - 5.1 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K, GB:FO 4:3 On Twitter I linked to these team ERA's in the Puerto Rico League, not to take away from Burgos, Jorge Lopez, or Andrew Barbosa, just adding some perspective. No perfect innings here, but scoreless is scoreless... Santurce Bottom of the 1st Drew Ferguson called out on strikes. Jose Lozada walks. Ivan De Jesus Jr. grounds into a double play, shortstop Benji Gonzalez to second baseman Jesmuel Valentin to first baseman Kennys Vargas. Jose Lozada out at 2nd. Santurce Bottom of the 2nd Neftali Soto flies out to center fielder Eddie Rosario. Juan Silva pops out to second baseman Jesmuel Valentin. A. J. Jimenez triples (2) on a fly ball to right fielder Henry Ramos. Christian Vazquez flies out to center fielder Eddie Rosario. Santurce Bottom of the 3rd Robert Andino singles on a ground ball to left fielder Danny Ortiz. Ismael Salgado out on a sacrifice bunt, pitcher Hiram Burgos to second baseman Jesmuel Valentin. Robert Andino to 2nd. Drew Ferguson called out on strikes. Jose Lozada called out on strikes. Santurce Bottom of the 4th Ivan De Jesus Jr. doubles (3) on a fly ball to center fielder Eddie Rosario. Neftali Soto strikes out swinging. Juan Silva grounds out, pitcher Hiram Burgos to first baseman Kennys Vargas. Ivan De Jesus Jr. to 3rd. A. J. Jimenez called out on strikes. Santurce Bottom of the 5th Christian Vazquez strikes out swinging. Robert Andino singles on a fly ball to center fielder Eddie Rosario. Ismael Salgado strikes out swinging. Drew Ferguson singles on a ground ball to shortstop Benji Gonzalez. Robert Andino to 2nd. Jose Lozada flies out to left fielder Danny Ortiz. Santurce Bottom of the 6th Ivan De Jesus Jr. grounds out, shortstop Benji Gonzalez to first baseman Kennys Vargas. Neftali Soto singles on a line drive to center fielder Eddie Rosario. Pitching Change: Alex Claudio replaces Hiram Burgos. Juan Silva grounds into a double play, second baseman Jesmuel Valentin to first baseman Kennys Vargas. Neftali Soto out at 2nd.

AUDIO via Brewers.com Tue. 12/27: As we look back on the 2016 Brewers what are some of the lasting memories that come to mind. MLB.com's Matt Waymire and Brewers reporter Adam McCalvy discuss their favorites like Keon Broxton taking a home run away from the Cubs in the 9th inning and Aaron Hill hitting three home runs in a single game.

Dominican box: This is the Jonathan Villar game, he finished 1-for-4 with the run scored on the stolen base linked above. His team lost 4-1, in the first game of what begins a long round-robin postseason schedule. *** Venezuela box: SS Orlando Arcia 0-for-2, was pinch-hit for in the 8th inning of a blowout loss *** Venezuela box: Catcher Manny Pina 1-for-3, one K, in his club's 5-3 win. His friend Hernan Perez was successful in stealing against him. Perez, playing third base, was 1-for-4, one K (one error).

Venezuela box: RHP Angel Ventura will only be 24 in April, but he's a veteran of six Brewers' seasons already, as his first three were in the Dominican Summer League. The Dominican native, who will qualify for minor league free agency next fall unless added to the 40-man or re-signed to a new minor league deal, made an impressive debut Tuesday, not in his home country, but in Venezuela - 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 56 pitches (36 strikes), 5:2 GB:FO. Ventura, regardless of level, has had an amazingly healthy and consistent ratio of K's to IP, 8.8 for his career, which took a solid jump at Brevard and Biloxi in 2016. If he can just knock the walk ratio down a bit (3.8 last summer), it could be a fun 2017 and beyond for him. Zulia Top of the 1st Ali Castillo strikes out swinging. Bryant Flete grounds out, shortstop Wilfredo Tovar to first baseman Jesus Aguilar. Jose Pirela called out on strikes. Zulia Top of the 2nd Jesus Flores grounds out, shortstop Wilfredo Tovar to first baseman Jesus Aguilar. Alex Romero called out on strikes. Francisco Arcia walks. Jose Flores singles on a line drive to right fielder Felix Perez. Francisco Arcia to 2nd. Carlos Colmenares grounds out softly, first baseman Jesus Aguilar to pitcher Angel Ventura. Zulia Top of the 3rd Jonathan Herrera bunt grounds out, pitcher Angel Ventura to first baseman Jesus Aguilar. Ali Castillo flies out to center fielder Yandy Diaz. Bryant Flete flies out to left fielder Harold Castro. Zulia Top of the 4th Jose Pirela grounds out sharply, third baseman Henry Alejandro Rodriguez to first baseman Jesus Aguilar. Jesus Flores strikes out on a foul tip. Alex Romero called out on strikes.

Puerto Rico box: Catcher Rene Garcia, a winter workhorse, 0-for-3, BB. Garcia threw out one of two basestealers. On the other side of the box, SS Angel Ortega was 1-for-3, two K's, 2nd error in as many games for the usually super-slick fielder, who debuted Monday.

More from Tuesday -- The Mayaguez Puerto Rico League duo of RHP Jorge Lopez (see tweet) and LHP Andrew Barbosa combined for 8 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, and 11 K in a 2-1 win. Old friend Carlos Corporan was behind the plate. Teammate SS Yadiel Rivera was 0-for-4, one K. Aguadilla Bottom of the 1st Reymond Fuentes singles on a ground ball to center fielder Eddie Rosario. Jack Lopez called out on strikes. Ruben Gotay walks. Reymond Fuentes to 2nd. Jorge Jimenez flies out to left fielder Danny Ortiz. Yovan Gonzalez singles on a ground ball to shortstop Yadiel Rivera. Reymond Fuentes out at home, shortstop Yadiel Rivera to catcher Carlos Corporan. Aguadilla Bottom of the 2nd Wilfredo Rodriguez grounds out, shortstop Yadiel Rivera to first baseman Kennys Vargas. Ricardo Bautista strikes out swinging. Dickie Joe Thon grounds out, pitcher Jorge Lopez to first baseman Kennys Vargas. Aguadilla Bottom of the 3rd Alexis Pantoja grounds out, second baseman Jesmuel Valentin to first baseman Kennys Vargas. Reymond Fuentes lines out to shortstop Yadiel Rivera. Jack Lopez strikes out swinging. Aguadilla Bottom of the 4th Ruben Gotay doubles (6) on a fly ball to center fielder Eddie Rosario. Jorge Jimenez called out on strikes. Yovan Gonzalez strikes out swinging. Wilfredo Rodriguez walks. Ricardo Bautista walks. Ruben Gotay to 3rd. Wilfredo Rodriguez to 2nd. Dickie Joe Thon strikes out swinging. Aguadilla Bottom of the 5th Pitching Change: Andrew Barbosa replaces Jorge Lopez. Alexis Pantoja grounds out, third baseman Emmanuel Rivera to first baseman Kennys Vargas. Reymond Fuentes triples (3) on a line drive to right fielder Henry Ramos. Jack Lopez out on a sacrifice fly to right fielder Henry Ramos. Reymond Fuentes scores. Ruben Gotay grounds out, pitcher Andrew Barbosa to first baseman Kennys Vargas. Aguadilla Bottom of the 6th Jorge Jimenez pops out to shortstop Yadiel Rivera. Yovan Gonzalez strikes out swinging. Wilfredo Rodriguez singles on a line drive to center fielder Eddie Rosario. Ricardo Bautista strikes out swinging. Aguadilla Bottom of the 7th Dickie Joe Thon strikes out swinging. Alexis Pantoja pops out to second baseman Jesmuel Valentin. Reymond Fuentes grounds out, shortstop Yadiel Rivera to first baseman Kennys Vargas. Aguadilla Bottom of the 8th Jack Lopez flies out to right fielder Henry Ramos. Ruben Gotay strikes out swinging. Jorge Jimenez strikes out swinging.

Jonathan Villar with a straight steal of home Tuesday night. He'd have to change his jersey afterwards (it "broke). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZQDkpHQew4

They've kind of been there, done that, clancyphile. That's why the Brewers are there.

Monday's action -- If you are a middle infielder with a Latin American background in the Brewers' system, you are very likely playing winter ball this season. The latest to debut is 23-year-old Angel Ortega, who split 2016 evenly between High-A Brevard and AA Biloxi. He was 0-for-4, two K's, in his Puerto Rico League opener (box). *** Puerto Rico box: SS Ivan Dejesus, Jr. 1-for-3, BB, while catcher Rene Garcia was 1-for-2, BB, R *** Venezuela box: SS Gabriel Noriega 1-for-4, SS Orlando Arcia 1-for-3, RBI, two K's *** Venezuela box: 3B Hernan Perez, 2-for-4, R

From Baseball America's Matt Eddy's Transaction update 12/24: The Tigers have searched far and wide for minor league depth this offseason by signing players from the top leagues in Mexico (Travis Blackley, Waldis Joaquin, Arcenio Leon), Japan (Jake Brigham) and Korea (Jim Adduci, Collin Balester) leagues. Detroit had success with this a year ago when they brought first baseman Chad Huffman back after two years in Japan. He hit .286/.387/.505 with 17 home runs at Triple-A Toledo in 2016. Detroit also signed veteran glove man Brendan Ryan, slugging third baseman Gabriel Quintana (20 homers at Double-A San Antonio) and 2010 first-rounder Zack Cox, who hit .290/.348/.452 in 96 games in the independent American Association. *** Just speculation, but there were enough inklings from press reports in Toledo last fall that the Tigers' continued terrible AAA performance might finally, finally, tempt Mud Hen management to break with their decades-long affiliation with Detroit. As we know, that did not happen. But this new somewhat unique tact to fortify a weak upper-level system may be partly in response to that. I don't plan on obsessing about Toledo's record the next two years, but if it's "more of the same", then it remains one of the better chances at an escape route from Colorado Springs (no offense to our friends with the Sky Sox or their fans).

Newly posted on Christmas Eve: AUDIO via Diamond Dante Audio (begins at the 2:00 minute mark): To start off the show Milwaukee Brewers Art Charles joins us after he was picked up in the rule 5 draft by the Brewers from the Reds. Before that Art played the 2016 season in the CanAm League with the New Jersey Jackals, finishing off the year with a .353 batting average and 29 homeruns.

From our November 27th note -- Doesn't sound like Josh still represents Barreda, but he's back in affiliated ball, signed by the Braves, good for him.

First posted March 16th -- After not pitching during the 2016 regular season, Torres has been throwing in this winter's Puerto Rico League and has done well (stats, 2.66 ERA in 18 appearances). Congrats to Torres, who has signed on with the Mets organization, as per Baseball America.

Among the recent releases -- Great news for the 21-year-old, the Rockies quickly scooped up Zach Taylor after his release, so he'll continue on immediately with a new affiliated organization (hat tip to Matt Eddy and Baseball America).

Thanks LouisEly, Kyle actually posted it on BP Milwaukee and I've fixed it -- BPMilwaukee's Kyle W. on OF Zach Clark and RHP Jon Perrin

Friday's games -- Puerto Rico: SS Yadiel Rivera 0-for-2, sacrifice bunt, 4th error (23 games) *** Puerto Rico: Ivan De Jesus Jr., batting 3rd, 1-for-5 *** Venezuela: 21-year-old Javier Betancourt, first game in 11 days, 1-for-3 (double) *** As you might imagine, there won't be updates for the next few days given the Christmas holiday. Feliz Navidad!

BPMilwaukee's Kyle W. on OF Zach Clark and RHP Jon Perrin

And with this tweet, RH reliever David Goforth tells us he's heading home from Venezuela, where he appeared in nine games beginning November 7th.

Found by BrewCrewBall's Kyle this AM: 2016 MLB Draft Reviews – Milwaukee Brewers

Thursday's games -- Dominican box: Jonathan Villar, consistently playing second base thus far, homered in his first two at-bats, finishing 2-for-5 with two K's. Apparently Villar's team really needed this game to qualify for the lengthy round-robin portion of the winter's "postseason", so he came up big in the 5-2 win. A reminder that we're soon on the portion of the winter season (round robin / postseason) where cumulative season-long stat pages will lock in and no longer update, thus as fans, we'll just need to focus on the singular box score updates. Villar took the very first pitch of the game deep, here's the video. Villar took the same southpaw deep in his next at-bat. *** Dominican box: RF Domingo Santana 0-for-4 *** Puerto Rico box: 18-year-old 2016 3rd round catcher Mario Feliciano got a start (as the designated hitter, batting 8th). He was 0-for-3 with one K. SS Ivan Dejesus, Jr. returns to the lineup after an early exit yet again. He left early here, too, but it was a blowout win. Dejesus was 1-for-3, BB, R, two RBI. *** Puerto Rico box: SS Yadiel Rivera 1-for-3, BB, R, RBI, one K On the other squad, catcher Rene Garcia, batting 2nd of all places, was 0-for-2, but drew three walks. Not to be confused with fellow youngster Mario, Jay Feliciano, was at the plate as a pinch-hitter in a huge spot in the bottom of the 9th of a 3-2 game. But he never got his chance as a teammate was inexplicably thrown out at third base to end the contest. *** Venezuela box: Hernan Perez, again playing third base, continues his beast mode winter (.881 OPS), 3-for-4, BB, double, three RBI, and has MVP buzz on Twitter. And has Hernan gone blonde, or optical illusion? *** Venezuela box: SS Orlando Arcia grounded out in his lone at-bat. Arcia was pinch-hit for in the 4th for no apparent reason. His brother Oswaldo was ejected a few innings later, and even though Oswaldo was HBP just before Orlando was lifted, the ejection seems unrelated. On another Orlando Arcia note, he's quoted in this translated article: http://lvbp.com/img/news/big/7641.jpg Eduardo Acosta | LVBP Press Puerto La Cruz.- Orlando Arcia does not hide his regret at having to leave the dugout of Caribes de Anzoátegui. As in the final days of the previous season, the shortstop regretted not being able to go beyond the month of December with the ninth Aboriginal. "It is very hard. For real. I would like to play to the finals with Caribes, but it's not my decision, it's Milwaukee and we have to obey. What remains is to keep going, enjoy the most from day to day, play by game, turn by turn and, of course, help the team as much as possible, "said Arcia. In principle, the management of the Brewers had set as the deadline for the performance of Arcia, on December 15. A permit that was extended until the end of the tie, after the efforts of the Eastern High Command. When the youngest of the Arcia leaves, Caribes will begin the quest for its fourth Final Series in seven years. "We have a good group of guys who know how to play ball and who are very focused on their work. They have the talent to aspire to great things. I have no doubts about that. "I'm sure Caribes will win the championship," said Arcia, who also assured that he will not stop coming to participate in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, whenever he has the opportunity. "Of course I'll keep coming. In this league one learns something new every day with both partners and coaches. That is a great reason to continue playing here. The advice you get every day is very valuable and really helps to improve, that's how great players are formed, that's why I want to keep playing here every year. " GREAT EXPECTATIONS IN 2017 In early December, Craig Counsell, manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, said that one reason to think positively about the club's defensive balance in 2017 has to do with Arcia's emergence as a regular at short stops. With the experience gained in 2016, he could be ready to show every day his talent. "What you have to do is get everything Spring Training, so that in Milwaukee you can see that I'm ready. I am sad to leave Caribes, but I am glad that the Brewers take care of me the way they are doing, that says of the plans they have for me next year, "said Arcia, who said he did not feel completely confident about his probable Ownership with the lupulosos, despite expectations. "The decision is taken by them. All I have to do is win my place in the spring. Let's see what happens. What I can assure you is that I will do my best once I join the Brewers. " *** Venezuela box: SS Gabriel Noriega 0-for-3, one K, in a game more note-worthy for the brief winter debut of King Felix, big buzz on that in his homeland

In an offline discussion, a trusted Brewers media person pointed out to me that while nominal, the Brewers would need to allocate another full coaching and training staff, there'd be additional medical costs, etc. ($$$) My points being is that the draft and international pools would be set and would not be impacted, but if you're going to accumulate all these rookie level bodies, why not truly evaluate them over the course of a full summer, rather than discarding so many of them based on 2-3 weeks of spring workouts and a few pre-season innings? If the Brewers couldn't afford a 2nd Maryvale squad (never mind one of the other short-season league entries), then that would be sad. How many more additional costs would there be besides those mentioned in the first line of this post? Gotta buy another bus?

Frosty Microbrews: Berberet, Ramirez Transition to the Mound By Kyle Lobner / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Good additional insights here...