Alberto Arias News

The Astros on Monday named three-time All-Star and veteran minor league instructor Jon Matlack their minor league pitching coordinator after Matlack spent the past 15 seasons in the same position with the Detroit Tigers .

There's not much for Brewer news out there today, so we'll start this morning with a look back: Adam McCalvy has a recap of the 2011 season and says most of the Brewers are viewing the glass as half full at this point.

Earlier in the week Peter Gammons tweeted that the Astros sale to Jim Crane was nearing approval and the Astros would be moving to the American League.

Astros general manager Ed Wade announced Thursday that catcher J.R. Towles and right-handed relievers Alberto Arias and Jose Valdez, cleared waivers and have been outrighted to Triple-A Oklahoma City, thus trimming the 40-man roster down to 35.