First and foremost: Happy Columbus Day!

News and Notes over the last week:

–Rafael Chaves has been hired as the Phillies Minor League pitching coordinator .  Chaves had been working in the Dodgers organization as a special assistant for player personnel.  Carlos Arroyo who had been the minor league pitching coordinator in 2014 will return to his previous duties as a minor league roving pitching instructor

–Johnny Almarez was named as the Phillies new Scouting Director.  Almarez most recently was employed by the Braves where he was Directing of International Scouting and Operatins for the last five years and comes with an impressive pedigree of recognized and signed talent.

–INF Reid Brignac, P Jeff Manship and P Jeremy Horst all elected minor league free agency.

–OF Tony Gwynn and P Sean O’Sullivan were both outrighted off the 40 man roster and are now free agents.

–The Arizona Fall League has begun with mixed results for Phillies prospects.  OF Roman Quinn has had a rough beginning going 2 for his first 15 (.133) with 3RS and 3SB.  Logan Moore has seen action in 2 games this week and went 1-6(.167).  On the hill, Nefi Ogando has been impressive, appearing in three games in relief and throwing 4 innings, yielding just 1 run on 3 hits.  He walked 1 and struck out 3 while earning a save.  Adam Morgan made his AFL debut by throwing a perfect inning, while Ethan Stewart’s control problems have now translated to the AFL.  He made 2 appearances and gave up just 1 run on 1 hit in 3.1IP, however walked 5 and struck out an impressive 6 hitters. The dark side of the Phils AFL performance last week clearly went to Ryan O’Sullivan who gave up 6 runs on 7 hits in 2.1 innings of work.

Discuss.

Transactions begin to roll in on the minor league side as the off season gets going as three players who at some point saw time with the Phillies have elected minor league free agency.  Add INF Reid Brignac, P Jeff Manship and P Jeremy Horst to the list of former Phillies have they hit the free agent market.  Very little concern about losing any of the three with plenty of similar players on the minor league free agent market to replace them.

So, first off I am no Brad.  There is no other Brad.  But if anyone wants to attempt to be Brad, feel free to email me at phuturephillies1@yahoo.com.  My thanks to Brad who provided keen insight and a good deal of laughter for all of us with his laconic quips and remarks daily…

That said, a few news items.  Opening day in the AFL season is Tuesday.  Stay tuned for updates as anything notable occurs. 

Aaron Brown was named the #18 prospect in the New York Penn League.

JP Crawford was named the #2 prospect in the South Atlantic League, although he hadnt played there since June.

Adam Morgan, returning after missing all of 2014 injured, will pitch in the AFL.  It will be interesting to see how he is used and what kind of stuff he will bring to the table in Arizona.

Discuss.