The Brewers front office held individual meetings with the coaching staff, as part of the team's annual season-ending evaluations, while in St. Louis for a series against the Cardinals this past week. "It's more on what's going on and what we can do better, and do we need to change anything in Spring Training, do we need to do anything in the season differently?" manager Ron Roenicke told reporters, including MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. "Kind of, 'What went wrong?' We know the injuries, we know what. But what else can we do to help?" This week, the front office and the coaching staff will meet as a group to discuss plans for 2014. Elsewhere from MLB's Central divisions:
- Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel breaks down the Brewers' roster position-by-position.
- Chris Carpenter is concentrating on mentoring the Cardinals' young starters and not on whether he will be able to resume his career in 2014, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I'll start working out before Spring Training, get off the mound like I always do and see what happens — and it's not time to say whether or not I want to do that. That's not on my mind right now." Carpenter said. "I'm going to enjoy this time with the guys, my family, and at the end of it we'll sit down and process where we're at, where we want to go forward as a family."
- Scott Baker will make one more start for the Cubs on Friday before being shut down for the remainder of the season, reports MLB.com's Carrie Muskat. Baker, who underwent Tommy John surgery 17 months ago, has allowed just one run and five hits with a 5.0 K/BB ratio in his two starts (11 innings) since being activated from the disabled list.
- Baker's performance has impressed manager Dale Sveum, who would like to see Cubs re-sign the right-hander, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. Baker, finishing off a one-year, $5.5MM contract, is also interested in a return engagement. "It's definitely an interesting place for me to be next year," said Baker. "I love the city and I love the organization as a whole. But obviously, we'll just have to see because there's a lot of moving parts. They've got a master plan and we'll just see if I'm part of it."
- Twins manager Ron Gardenhire may or may not be back in 2014, but he does know the team needs to acquire better starting pitching, writes MLB.com's Rhett Bollinger. "I don't think we have enough ready arms to step into this rotation," Gardenhire said. "We have lots of candidates. But are these guys ready to turn you around? I don't think so."
- Within the same piece, Gardenhire also expressed his disappointment in some players' work ethic, as the franchise plots its course for 2014. "A lot of these guys have to understand this means a lot right now to how this roster is going to shape up next year," said Gardenhire. "Hopefully, they'll figure it out. We've been beating it into their heads that there's still something to play for."
