Tuesday's Frosty Mug: Minor managerial misdirection

Some things to read while holding off the wolves.

We are 80 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Maryvale, and shortly after that the Brewers are going to need some new people to run their minor league camp. 2013 Huntsville manager Darnell Coles, recently promoted to Nashville, became the latest skipper to leave the Brewers organization yesterday when he accepted a job as the Tigers' new assistant hitting coach.

With Coles and briefly hired AA manager Dave Clark leaving for Detroit and former Nashville manager Mike Guerrero added to the MLB coaching staff, the Brewers currently have no one assigned to manage their top two minor league affiliates.

Of course, "minor league manager" isn't the Brewers' only offseason need. Norichika Aoki is one player they may consider dealing to fill some of those needs, and Derek Harvey of The Book of Gorman says it's time for him to go.

Kyle Lohse is another player that could have some value to the right team. Jordan Debolt of Tomahawk Take is keeping the "Lohse to the Braves" conversation alive.

It's also worth noting that Lohse's value could be peaking at this point. David S. Grant of Reviewing the Brew has a suggested best case scenario for the 2014 starting rotation that shows a fair amount of optimism for Wily Peralta, Marco Estrada and Tyler Thornburg but much less for Lohse and Yovani Gallardo.

Meanwhile, Rickie Weeks' value has to be pretty close to rock bottom. Yesterday we profiled him as part of our player-by-player look at the 2013 Brewers. Stop back this afternoon to see who we're profiling today.

In the minors:

• Elian Herrera went 1-for-4 and scored a run as Oriente lost 7-2 to Cibao in the Dominican Winter League last night (box score).
• Jose De La Torre pitched two innings and allowed two runs on four hits in Caguas' 7-4 loss to Ponce in Puerto Rico (box score). JDLT followed three guys named Luis to the mound.

Going from the Caribbean to the great white north: The Canadian Baseball Network recently welcomed Jim Henderson as a guest on their podcast.

Around baseball:

Athletics: Acquired pitcher Fernando Abad from the Nationals for a minor leaguer.
Indians: Designated pitcher Tyler Cloyd for assignment.
Mariners: Announced that team president and COO Chuck Armstrong will retire before the 2014 season and hired former minor league coach Howard Johnson and former Tigers coach Andy Van Slyke as their new hitting and first base coaches, respectively.
Orioles: Acquired reliever Brad Brach from the Padres for a minor league pitcher and claimed infielder Cord Phelps off waivers from the Indians.
Pirates: Acquired outfielder Jaff Decker and reliever Miles Mikolas from the Padres for a minor leaguer and designated 1B/OF Garrett Jones and pitcher Kyle McPherson for assignment.

I considered the possibility that Jones could be a fit for the 2014 Brewers in a late night installment of Freely* Available Talent.

It's a couple of days old now, but Jhonny Peralta following his PED suspension with a four-year, $53 million contract from the Cardinals remains a hot topic of conversation around baseball. Jorge Arangure Jr. of Sports on Earth says the fact that the Cardinals were unconcerned by Peralta's past "portends a possible new trend."

Today in former Brewers:

• Eight teams attended Randy Wolf's recent audition, where he reportedly threw 87-89 with a good curveball.
• Prince Fielder will wear #84 for the Rangers (h/t @Haudricourt). He doesn't want to talk about why, but it is his birth year.

And in baseball economics:

• Jim McLennan of AZ Snakepit wonders if new TV deals could allow the Diamondbacks to push their payroll as high as $110 million. They spent just $56 million in 2011 before climbing up to $86 million in 2013.
• Coors has sold its 14.5% percent minority share in the Rockies, although the price has not been disclosed.
• The Athletics have signed an extension to their lease at the O.co Coliseum that will keep them in Oakland through at least 2015.

Finally, with help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to Hall of Famer and 1901 Milwaukee Brewer Hugh Duffy, who would have turned 147. We covered his birthday in Today In Brewer History two years ago.

Today is also the eighth anniversary of the Brewers signing Wily Peralta as an amateur free agent in 2005. We covered that event in Today In Brewer History last year.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to drop more hints.

Drink up.