What we learned this week: October 5, 2013

The Brewers still have confidence in their coaching staff.

It was a disappointing season for the Brewers is 2013, but there was a lot of positives that came out this season, mainly from the minor-league prospects that came out of the system. To continue the development of the team, the Brewers announced that they would retain the entire coaching staff for 2014. There were a few small changes, with John Shelby reassigned to outfield coach and Mike Guerrero added as an infield coach, but the remainder of the staff will remain intact. When asked about it in the tracking poll this week, the majority of voters agreed with the decision to retain the coaching staff. A few coaches received approval ratings below 50%, but still higher than their disapproval rating. Is bringing back the whole staff the right decision? We will find out next season.

The roster changes have started.

With the regular season over, the roster changes have started for the Brewers. A lot has to happen before spring training, so it's never too early to start making the changes.

The first set of changes that happened was on Wednesday, when Chris Narveson and Blake Lalli elected to become minor-league free agents. This was Blake Lalli's only season in the Brewers organization, and in his limited time in Milwaukee, he didn't put much together. He did perform better in Nashville, but not well enough to earn a call-up in September. On the other side, Chris Narveson had been with the Brewers organization since the 2008 season, and was a critical starter on the 2011 team that made it to the NLCS. However, his 2012 season was lost to a shoulder injury, and his 2013 season started with a finger injury before he ended up in Nashville. With the Brewers looking to the future for their starting rotation, Narveson's future potential in Milwaukee was very limited.

The second set of moves happened later on Wednesday, as Mat Gamel and Taylor Green were placed from the 60-day DL onto waivers. The goal was to send them to the minor leagues and retain them as minor league free agents. However, Mat Gamel was not able to clear waivers, as he was claimed by the Cubs. Gamel was never really able to get his career going in Milwaukee, with organization depth, free agent acquisitions, and injuries all keeping him from getting his career going in the majors. With Gamel facing arbitration in the spring and recovery from a second knee surgery, there will be a lot of questions facing him in the spring. Meanwhile, Green did clear waivers, but will be able to opt for minor league free agency. He has mainly been an infield backup for the Brewers in his limited time in Milwaukee, and his 2013 season was lost to a hip injury. The Brewers will try to keep him in free agency for next season.

The last set of moves was minor, with Nick Bucci and Josh Prince being outrighted off the 40-man roster. As they do not have enough major league experience yet, they did not have the right to refuse the assignment. However, they are also not protected from the Rule 5 draft this winter now. With this set of moves, the Brewers 40-man roster is currently at 38 players.

Unfortunately, Yuniesky Betancourt is still on the roster. Be patient, he will be off the roster soon.

It's never too early to start predicting the future.

Baseball Reference is a great website to kill a lot of time on when you're a little bored. You could spend hours on the site researching different players, seasons, teams, and much more, and still not scratch the surface of everything on the site. Kyle spent some time on the site, looking up comparisons for many of the major players from the 2013 season. Some of the comparisons were good, while others weren't as flattering. No two players are the same, but seeing how similar players fared in their MLB careers may give some insight about how different Brewers will progress in their careers.

We never stop working at Brew Crew Ball.

You already knew this, right? Well, if you didn't, you know it now. Sunday may have been the last day of the regular season, but Brew Crew Ball doesn't rest. There is plenty planned for the offseason, so keep coming back daily and don't miss anything.

Remember the Games

9/28/2013: Brewers 4, Mets 2
9/29/2013: Mets 3, Brewers 2

The Collection of Mugs

9/30/2013: Moving on
10/1/2013: Wrapping up and watching
10/2/2013: Lighting the hot stove
10/3/2013: Moving Day
10/4/2013: Moving Day 2

A Quick History Lesson

9/28/2005: Nelson Cruz records his first MLB hit
10/1/1978: Larry Haney last member of Seattle Pilots to appear in a Brewers game
10/2/1957: Milwaukee makes first appearance in a World Series
10/3/2010: Ken Macha informed he would not return as Brewers manager