battlekow

Via Adam McCalvy, Don Money will return as Nashville's manager; Sandy Guerrero will also be back as hitting coach, and Rich Gale was hired as the pitching coach. From Wikipedia:

With the way they talked about him after he impressed in spring training last year, I'm sure a second consecutive good spring would earn him some serious job consideration.

ESPN Insider article on Lucroy (not an Insider, so I don't know what it says).

Chris Mehring has some of the info from the Brewers report card at Rattler Radio.

The Rays re-signed Gabe Kapler.

The Rays re-signed Gabe Kapler.

I don't know anything about it, but one guy you could try to find out about is Cheslor Cuthbert, the highest-rated Nicaraguan prospect from this most recent international signing period (he was signed by the Royals). No idea if he's playing ball this winter, or if he is whether it's in Nicaragua, but it seems like a reasonable assumption.

Rogers didn't pitch well. No PITCHf/x, but ESPN's Jason Grey says Rogers' fastball was <93 in the first, though he did have a sharp slider.

Just to quantify this, as Ben Badler mentioned, the league was collectively hitting .301/.383/.468 through yesterday.

Wow, Aguilar was actually the least-bad pitcher today for the Vampire Pigs.

Josh Butler is blogging about the AFL.

I guess that was 2:35 Central, eh?

Josh Butler is starting for the Javelinas; the game is at 1:35 Central time. The opposing starter is none other than former Brewer Steve Garrison.

Zach Braddock just came in to get the last out of the 8th, which he did on two pitches, both fastballs (94 & 93 mph). EDIT: In comparison, Rogers was 90-92, touching 93, 94, & 95 once each. He was also using a high-70s curve. EDIT 2: I didn't expect Braddock to come back out after the break. He pitched a scoreless 9th, allowing a single and a walk, both with two outs. He threw a couple sliders, but other than that used his fastball exclusively. He might have been tiring by the time he walked Carlos Rivera, his 5th hitter, as his control evidently wavered and the first three pitches of that plate appearance were all 90 mph.

A list of released players, courtesy of BA: RHP Kris Dabrowiecki OF Brandon Drespling RHP Andrew Dunn RHP Ben Jeffers OF Derrick McPhearson RHP Mitch Miller RHP Travis Nevakshonoff C Jonathan Requena 2B Steven Sollmann RHP Liam Ohlmann OF Mike Vass RHP Josh Wahpepah

On BA's PCL Top 20 Prospects list, Alcides Escobar was #6, Mat Gamel #13, and Angel Salome #18.

According to Haudricourt, Mike Burns was outrighted off the 40-man roster.

Per BA, Jim Henderson and Patrick Arlis were re-signed, while Chris Duffy was granted free agency.

Kevin Goldstein on Taylor Green in the second part of his AFL preview:

Green falls in with other top prospects in Arizona Comox Valley Record Taylor Green "nose" what it takes to compete in the Arizona Fall League. Debuting in the development league last year, an errant pitch broke his nose in four places, and the steady-hitting infielder is hoping for a much less painful experience this time around. The Comox Valley minor baseball stalwart is one of seven Huntsville Stars (of the Double-A Southern League) that the MLB Milwaukee Brewers are sending to Arizona to extend their season. They will join players from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers to field the Peoria Javelinas. The Stars have sent 33 players to the AFL in the last five years, including current Brewers Ryan Braun, Alcides Escobar, Prince Fielder, Cory Hart and Manny Parra. The 22-year-old Green was drafted by Milwaukee in the 25th round of the 2005 June draft. He began his Brew Crew career in 2006 at Helena (Rookie League), moved to West Virginia (Single-A) in 2007 and Brevard County (Single-A Advanced) in 2008. In 2009 he played six games with Wisconsin (Single-A) before joining Huntsville for the rest of the season. Playing third base for the Stars, Green appeared in 87 games, batting .258 with five homers, 15 doubles and 43 RBI. The six-team AFL begins their six-week season Tuesday, Oct. 13. It features the top prospects from all 30 MLB teams. This year, 12 players in MLB.com's Top 50 prospects list are expected to attend the 18th edition of the AFL. Games are played in the spring training stadiums used by the Giants, Mariners, Padres, Cubs, A's, Royals and Rangers. Each August, Major League clubs hold a position draft to determine the players who will go to Arizona. Most are Double-A and Triple-A Minor League players. And they are good ones. The 2006 MLB All-Star Game in Pittsburgh featured 25 AFL alums. Over 1,700 former Fall Leaguerers have reached the majors, 141 have been All-Stars (including 38 in 2009) and six have earned MVP (Jason Giambi, Ryan Howard, Justin Morneau, Dustin Pedroia, Albert Pujols and Jimmy Rollins). AFL executive vice-president Steve Cobb notes one of the league's primary goals is "for the players to accelerate and hopefully jump a classification." http://media.bclocalnews.com/images/320*320/26700NewS.8.20091008131152.Taylor_20091009.jpg Courtenay's Taylor Green begins his second season of Arizona Fall League play with the Peoria Javelinas next week.

Bizarre given that all we hear about is his great arm; it's not like people rave about his range, though the center field dalliances and great zone ratings indicate he's a plus in that regard, as well. BA should know better than anyone that he was a potential draft pick as a LHP with a nice fastball.

Jonathan Lucroy at #13 is the only Brewer to make Baseball America's Top 20 Southern League Prospects list.

His height, yes, inasmuch as it contributes to the perception that he has a low offensive ceiling. Even if he never turns into a sluggardly slugger corner outfielder, his excellent defense should make some of that value back up, but it seems like BA still sees him as a fourth outfielder. Like I said above, he's the stereotypical tweener in their eyes: can't quite handle center defensively, but can't quite hit enough to man a corner. Still, Gindl actually got better this year only to have that improvement masked by the overall lower level of offense in the FSL relative to the SAL, so there's reason for optimism.

link (hat tip Baseball Think Factory). Steitz was the Brewers' third-round pick in 2001 (career stats).

Agreed. He doesn't sound like a tweener to me. Caleb Gindl is your stereotypical tweener. Starlin Castro at #6 seems a lot like Escobar.