What we learned: October 6, 2014

Minor league work continues as the offseason begins.

While the offseason is in full swing for the Brewers, not everyone gets to rest just yet. Tomorrow is the start of the Arizona Fall League, where chosen prospects head to work on their skills during the offseason. The Brewers are sending eight players this year, and the league will feature some experimental new rules this year. Derek broke down all of this on Friday as the season is preparing to start. Meanwhile, in the ongoing instructional league season, Clint Coulter is getting more work as he looks at a potential position switch. Right field is getting the most discussion right now, but the move is only in the preliminary stages. We'll have to wait and see exactly where he ends up starting next season.

Yovani Gallardo, Matt Garza, and Kyle Lohse ended up being better than expected.

Prior to the season, Jordan went through some projections for players at each position for the Brewers. Now that the season is done, he is revisiting those projections to see exactly what the players ended up doing. He started with the top of the starting rotation, where all of the players ended up playing better than expected. It was a nice surprise for the season, where starting pitching was going to be important for the success of the Brewers. The question now is how well that pitching will hold up entering next season.

Cram Session

• What went wrong the Brewers this year? Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel notes that the Brewers are going to need to make some tough decisions this offseason if they want to improve. The Journal-Sentinel also has their yearly team grades and player grades for the Brewers, with only three As issued between the two parts.
• Remember how the Carlos Gomez for JJ Hardy trade should have been a win for both teams? Bill Berg of Reviewing the Brew looks at why it wasn't a win for the Twins.
• As Francisco Rodriguez heads into free agency, Jeff Todd of MLB Trade Rumors has a profile of the reliever. Also on MLB Trade Rumors, Tim Dierkes has a profile of potential free agent Aramis Ramirez.

NL Central Update

• The offseason for the Pirates got started on Friday, as they acquired Orioles pitcher Preston Guilmet for cash considerations.

Postseason Update

Yesterday's Games

• AL Division Series Game 3
  Orioles 2, Tigers 1
  Orioles Win Series 3-0
• AL Division Series Game 3
  Royals 8, Angels 3
  Royals Win Series 3-0

Today's Games

• NL Division Series Game 3 - 4:00 pm, MLB Network
  Nationals (Doug Fister) @ Giants (Madison Bumgarner)
  Giants Lead Series 2-0
• NL Division Series Game 3 - 8:00 pm, Fox Sports 1
  Dodgers (Hyun-Jin Ryu) @ Cardinals (John Lackey)
  Series Tied 1-1

News & Notes

• With the Brewers out of the playoffs, you may have been looking for something to do. Over on NotGraphs, John Paschal has five ideas for things you can do.
• Close games have kept the 2014 playoffs interesting. John Schlegel of MLB.com notes that these playoffs are on pace to have the most one-run games ever in a MLB postseason.
• Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw knows the pain of facing the Cardinals in the postseason too well. Dan Weigel of Beyond the Box Score notes that Kershaw's last two starts against the Cardinals have been two of the worst postseason starts of all time.
• Mize Oz of Big League Stew notes that between three Cy Young pitchers, none of them could come up with one win for the Tigers.
• Lorenzo Cain once again dazzled fans with two diving catches in game 3 against the Angels. Of course, they may not have noticed if they were still in shock after Billy Butler stole a base.
• Unfortunately, there's also a dark side to the playoffs this year. David Brown of Big League Stew notes that after Friday's game at Angels Stadium, a fan was severely beaten in the parking lot and is currently in critical condition in the hospital.