Brewers Arizona Fall League participants announced

The Arizona Fall League is a special league set up for minor league players. Each team (6 in total) is made up of prospects from 5 different teams. They play a short season starting in October and ending in November. This year the tentative start date is Tuesday October 13th. The final "regular season" game is Thursday November 19th. A championship game will be played on Saturday November 21st.

This year the Brewers' prospects will be a part of the Surprise Saguaros along with prospects from the Royals, Rangers, Yankees, and Cardinals. The Brewers are sending a number of pitching and positional prospects. The pitchers being sent there are Josh Hader, Jacob Barnes, Adrian Houser, Damien Magnifico. The position players are Yadiel Rivera (INF), Brett Phillips (OF), and Michael Reed (OF).

Josh Hader (LHP), Adrian Houser (RHP), and Brett Phillips (OF) were all part of the Carlos Gomez/Mike Fiers deal. They are all currently playing at AA. Jacob Barnes (RHP) was a 2011 draft pick and also coming from AA. Damien Magnifico (RHP) was selected in the 2012 draft. Like Barnes he is having an excellent season in relief. Yadiel Rivera is a slick fielding shortstop taken in the 2010 draft. His defense has always been plus but his bat has never developed. He split this season between AA and AAA.

The final member is outfielder Michael Reed. He is one of my personal favorites. He's a corner outfielder that provides above average defense, above average speed, above average throwing arm, below average power, and an average bat with strong on-base skills. I think he could be an outfielder similar to Nori Aoki. Aside from Orlando Arcia and Jorge Lopez no one in the Brewers farm system has raised his stock more than Reed.

It's an interesting group being sent to the AFL this year. I am somewhat surprised Orlando Arcia is not included but there could be several reasons for this. Perhaps the Brewers feel he doesn't need anymore polish. Perhaps the Brewers are even considering giving him a September call-up. Or it could just be that he plans on playing in a winter league and they don't want to overload him with playing time.

(*EDIT: It appears that only one player from countries that participate in certain Winter Leagues are eligible to play. Here that would be Yadiel Rivera which explains why Jorge Lopez and Orlando Arcia are exluded. 1, 2, 3. Though this now brings up an interesting: Why Rivera instead of the other two?)

Most games are not televised but if I remember correctly a handful were put on MLB Network last year. With the MLB playoffs starting so late this year that might change. But there isn't baseball in November so we'll keep any eye out and let you know if the Saguaros will be on TV. They should be a fun group this year so I hope they do get on TV more than last year.