Brewers Will Send Taylor, Ramirez, others to 2014 Arizona Fall League

30 groups of prospects, six teams, ~5.5 weeks. This is the Arizona Fall League.

As a premier showcase for talent on the cusp of breaking through to the upper levels of the minors and ultimately The Show, the Arizona Fall League plays host to some of baseball’s best and brightest of who you’ve likely never heard. This year the AFL runs from October 7 through the league championship game on November 15. The annual All-Star Game, appropriately dubbed the “Fall Stars Game” will be held on November 1.

Brewers prospects will be a part of a different, yet somewhat familiar, team this year. After competing last year as a part of the Saguaros of Surprise, the Brewers will be returning to the monicker under which they played in 2012, that of the Desert Dogs. In 2012, the Desert Dogs were referred to as the Phoenix Desert Dogs. In 2014, however, they’re known as the Glendale Desert Dogs. They play their home games at Camelback Ranch, which is the Spring Training home of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox.

Farmhands from the Dodgers, White Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers will work alongside those of the Brewers as members of the Desert Dogs.

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banner courtesy of CamelbackRanchBaseball.com[/caption]

The Brewers originally were set to send six players to Surprise in 2013. They were pitchers David Goforth, Taylor Jungmann, and Kevin Shackelford, infielder Jason Rogers, outfielder Mitch Haniger, and catcher Adam Weisenburger. For 2014, Milwaukee will be sending ### players (and pitching coach Chris Hook) to Glendale. By position, here are those players and some supplemental information:

Pitchers

• Brooks Hall — RHP — (Highest Minor League level played at in 2014: Double-A)
• Ariel Peña — RHP — (Triple-A) (***9/3 UPDATE*** Peña was announced as no longer participating on September 3.)
• Mike Strong — LHP — Twitter: @Strong_Mike1188 (***9/7 UPDATE*** Strong was announced as a participant.)
• Tyler Wagner — RHP — Twitter: @_TylerWagner_ (Class-A Advanced)
• Wei-Chung Wang — LHP — Twitter: @LeftyWang51 (MLB — As a Rule 5 pick)

Infielders

• Nick Ramirez — 1B — Twitter: @N_Ramirez33 — (Highest Minor League level played at in 2014: Double-A)
• Hector Gomez — SS — (Triple-A)

Outfielders (Brewers’ Priority Position)

• Tyrone Taylor — Twitter: @Ty_roneTaylor — (Highest Minor League level played at in 2014: Class A-Advanced)
• Taylor is currently ranked by MLBPipeline.com as the Brewers’ Top Prospect

Catchers

• Shawn Zarraga — (Highest Minor League level played at in 2014: Triple-A)