Arizona Fall League -- Javelinas Win Championship

[battlekow]

McCalvy:

Eight Brewers Minor Leaguers, including 2004 first-round Draft pick Mark Rogers, will play for the Peoria Javelinas in the prestigious Arizona Fall League.

 

Besides Rogers, who missed all of 2007 and 2008 with shoulder injuries, the Brewers will send pitchers Omar Aguilar, Zach Braddock, Josh Butler and Rob Wooten, plus catcher Jonathan Lucroy, infielder Taylor Green and outfielder Lorenzo Cain. The position players have been set for some time, but Brewers officials waited until this week to finalize their contingent of arms.

 

Braddock, who has battled a shoulder injury and blisters this summer, is on the Javelinas' "taxi squad" and may be activated only on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Both Rogers and Aguilar are on Milwaukee's 40-man roster.

 

Additionally, Class A Brevard County's Fred Dabney will serve as the Javelinas' pitching coach this fall.

 

The Javelinas play home games at Peoria Sports Complex and will be comprised of players from the Brewers, Dodgers, Mariners, Tigers and White Sox. The 18th annual Arizona Fall League season begins on October 13 and runs through Nov. 19 with the Rising Stars game on Nov. 7 and the Championship game set for Nov. 21. Every game can be followed live on Gameday on MLB.com and MLBFallBall.com.

[Never Outhustled]

Have we ever had a better group of pitching in the AFL?

[jimmyjeromehardy7]

I like that one of our own is servicing as the pitching coach as well to take care of these arms.

[twobrewers]

That team might be more exciting than Huntsville circa 2008.

Its really hard not to be excited by Braddock. He is 2 years younger than Rogers. He is a level higher than Rogers. His numbers (other than IP) are better. And he is left-handed.

For my money, Braddock is the most exciting pitching prospect since Gallardo.

[fondybrewfan]

I don't know, Rogers year has got me super pumped about him as well. I just have a hard time getting excited about a reliever no matter how good he is. If Jeffress ever stopped being a moron how awesome would it be to have a AA rotation next year of Rogers, Braddock, Jeffress, Peralta, and Scarpetta? It would be glorious. That is of course assuming Braddock gets moved back into the rotation. I hope they are just babying him this year because a talent like that seems wasted in the bullpen.

 

Assuming most of our pitching prospects continue to mature in 2009 and 2010 Melvin is going to have a ton of young arms at his disposal to fill out the MLB rotation and offer as trade bait.

[Rudy]

Agree with the Fred Dabney assessment. He has the personality to challenge these guys and push them to their best. At the same time, he is aware of the goal of their development. I have been very impressed with his approach to this.

[jvrocksaz]

I would have liked to have seen Amaury Rivas as well...

[battlekow]

I wonder if there was any thought of signing Kentrail Davis to a 2009 contract and letting him debut in the AFL.

[TheCrew07]

Rivas will have too many innings by the time the season is over. Braddock on the taxi squad sort of stinks, at least in my opinion, but at least he'll be pitching, any innings is better than no innings at this point.

[And That]

Braddock on the taxi squad makes some sense... the Brewers have been pitching him on set rest all season. Assuming this treatment continues and assuming he pitches on the days he's activated, he wouldn't be pitching on the other days anyway.

[colbyjack]

Yeah, I don't see why Braddock being on the taxi squad is a big deal. Would he pitch more than two days a week if he weren't?

 

That is one heck of a list of prospects. It should be a fun fall to follow, and we're due after all of the injuries last year.

[DHonks]

remember, by mid-AFL the taxi squads don't exist anyways. Teams are desperate for pitching and some pitchers have been sent home for injuries/excessive workloads. Heck, Dustin McGowan packed it up and left the AFL because he made his 5 starts. He didn't care that he was scheduled to throw in the championship game--in his mind he'd fulfilled his promise to the Jays. The only taxi squad guys that might keep that role all year are injured pitchers like Braddock or a team's 3rd/4th catcher. Even then, they usually get dealt to another squad in the league if a spot opens, rather than staying put on the taxi squad

[Never Outhustled]

I would have liked to have seen Amaury Rivas as well

The AFL is meant for American players, and recently, Canadians. International players only participate as injury replacements.

 

I'm guessing Braddock will get closer duties, like Omar Agilera did last year. It would be good practice for him, as that will likely be his future role in Milwaukee.

[TheCrew07]

I should have been more clear, I in a hurry and just should have waited to post until I had more time.

 

Braddock being on the taxi squad cements the idea for me personally that he will only be a reliever for the organization going forward. As others have pointed out he'll essentially be on the same regular relief schedule he's been on all season. Could that change in 2010? Possibly, but I doubt it given he once again had health issues this season... all things considered the data would seem to strongly suggest he's a reliever.

 

Add in the fact that many talent evaluators think Peralta's future is in the pen as well that essentially eliminates 2 of our higher ceiling pitchers from the starting pitching list. I'm not saying Peralta is a reliever for certain, but I'm open to the idea that it's a strong possibility he will be one.

 

With Jeffress doping again and suspended plus the strong possibility that Braddock and Peralta are relievers, that basically leaves Rogers as the most projectable starting pitcher in the organization. Rogers has become our best pitching prospect as of today. We do have some depth following behind him of various quality in Jones, Butler, Rivas, Cody, Anundsen, Periard, and Bowman who will all likely be someplace between AAA and AA next season. It's just that projectablility wise the focus is already starting to shift towards Arnett and Heckathorn who will likely only be in A ball next season.

 

As good as things looked on June 1 for the organization starting pitching wise, recent events have tempered my enthusiam. The idea of taking 3 pitchers who can reach the mid 90s consistently out of the list of possible starting pitchers has been very disappointing for me. I'll continue to hold out hope for Jeffress, and continue to hope that Peralta will stick as a starter, but I'm no longer counting on either player to be starting pitcher.

 

I hope that made sense, it's not so much Braddock or the taxi squad that I'm disappointed in, rather the entire situation.

[twobrewers]

Braddock being on the taxi squad cements the idea for me personally that he will only be a reliever for the organization going forward.

I'm guessing Braddock will get closer duties, like Omar Agilera did last year. It would be good practice for him, as that will likely be his future role in Milwaukee.

Has anyone in the Brewer's organization made a comment to indicate that Braddock is likely to be used as a relief pitcher?

 

I keep seeing this type of comment posted - did I miss something?

 

Until he was recently shut down, Braddock was pitching every 3 days - 2 innings at a time. Why does a regular rotation and multiple innings mean he will be a relief pitcher? If they wanted him to be a closer - wouldn't he start closing games in the minor leagues?

 

If anything, I think they are just babying him because of his history with injuries. Until he was shut down, his development really wasn't that different than Mark Rogers. I don't think the Brewers would look to waste a talent like Braddock until he proved he couldn't handle the starting rotation.

[TheCrew07]

Speaking only for myself, he only has 37.1 IP on the season. If they intended on stretching him out and guaranteeing his innings he'd be a starter so he could pick up 25-30 IP in the AFL, typically they get 5-6 starts if I recall correctly. I don't see him jumping from 50 IP to 140 IP in one season, especially since he was on the DL again this season for the 3rd season in a row. For example Rivas is making the jump from 90 to around 140 this season, but he's been healthy the last 2 years. If they ease up Rogers' pitch count a bit he's currently at 57.2 IP but could pick up another 20 IP in the AFL and be in the 80 range, he could push out to 130-140 IP next season as well.

 

Going forward I just don't see them more than doubling Braddock's IP when he's unable to remain healthy.

[Never Outhustled]

Until he was recently shut down, Braddock was pitching every 3 days - 2 innings at a time. Why does a regular rotation and multiple innings mean he will be a relief pitcher?

Yup, he was pitching just 50 pitches per game and still couldn't handle the workload. He's only pitched a full season once in the past 5 years, dating back to HS. I'd much rather have a great closer than see him blow out his arm in the minors stretching his pitch count.

[thefutureoftherapy]

Great googly moogly! This year's AFL is loaded with former 1st rounders and top prospects. I'm tempted to take a vaca to Arizona and get a glimpse of Strasburg, but I'll probably settle for MLB TV.

[Mass Haas]

It would have been nice if the Brewers chose to participate in this informal alternative to the Hawaiian League, which is on a one-year (perhaps longer) respite, but it appears only those Arizona-based clubs who share a facility are involved.

[battlekow]

In an AFL preview article tackling the up-the-middle positions (C, 2B, SS, CF), Kevin Goldstein has Jonathan Lucroy in the "Others To Watch" category for backstops:

He seemed to find himself at the plate during second half of season, which is good timing, as the Brewers' future at the position in the big leagues remains cloudy.

Goldstein also has Lorenzo Cain in the "Disappointing" category for center fielders:

Always one of the toolsiest players around, Cain seemed to be on the verge of a breakout coming into the year, but he was waylaid by a series of injuries that limited him to just 60 games, while batting just .218/.294/.330 overall across three levels. A good showing here could help mitigate what up to now has been a bit of a lost season.

[TooLiveBrew]

Is it realistic to think that Lucroy could be on the 25-man in 2010?

[battlekow]

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.

[battlekow]

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

Seen as a breakout candidate of his own coming into the year, Green struggled both at the plate and with his ability to stay healthy, leaving many wondering if he's anything more than a utility player in the end.

[colbyjack]

For those looking for a mid-October baseball fix, the AFL has started today, and Lorenzo Cain is batting leadoff (so far, 1-2 with a double) for the Peoria Javelinas. Omar Aguilar has just entered the game in the fourth inning:

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=l119&t=g_box&gid=2009_10_13_surwin_perwin_1

[twobrewers]

Should we be encouraged that 3 pitchers on his team put up a worse ERA that Aguilar?