The Brewers signed veteran relief pitcher Blaine Boyer to a Minor League contract on Friday and extended the right-hander an invitation to Spring Training.

Position players don’t need to report to Arizona until Feb. 23, but Jason Heyward and hitting coach John Mallee are already busy at the Cubs’ facility getting to know each other.

As MLB.com’s Spring Training primer continues, it’s time to focus on some of the prospects who will get a chance to demonstrate their growth. Though the Red Sox don’t have many roster spots up for grabs, spring is the time when prospects can prove they are ready in the event something opens up over the course of the season.

Manny Crespo, the Tigers’ director of Latin American player development, will manage Spain in the upcoming Qualifier for the World Baseball Classic.

For an 18-year-old American high school kid, the world stage is a dream come true. Add to that a win that keeps your native New Zealand alive in the World Baseball Classic? For Kiwi right-hander Jimmy Boyce, pitching 7,700 miles away from home, it gets a bit more complicated.

Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka said on Friday that he “can’t really say” if he will be ready for Opening Day until he resumes throwing off a mound and in games.

Larry Foley, a professor and chair of the journalism department at the University of Arkansas, recently told his 15-year-old grandson Jeremy: “I’ve gone about as long as I can stand without baseball.”

In the third installment of our Spring Training preview package, “Prospects to Watch,” MLB.com will take a quick glance at some of the exciting young talent that manager Joe Girardi and his staff will be evaluating at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

Sixteen-year-old Cuban outfielder Lazaro “Lazarito” Armenteros was expected to make a decision on where he will sign on Wednesday, but on Friday his agent said that the highly sought after outfielder is not close to a decision and that there are new teams in the mix.

A year ago, Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna were being hailed as arguably the best outfield trio in the National League, if not the Majors. In the eyes of the Marlins, they certainly were deserving of being in the conversation.

What were you doing in high school?

Spring Training gets underway in a week, and ideally the Marlins would like to add another pitcher or two before pitchers and catchers take the field on Feb. 19. But the signings have to make sense, and the club is willing to wait, even if it means reaching agreements after practices begin.

It’s about to get historically spooky.

Australia is one win away from returning to the main draw of the World Baseball Classic, but they will have to wait to face the winner of Saturday’s rematch between South Africa and New Zealand.

Free agent Ian Desmond’s next employers will be taking the chance his earlier performances, rather than his performance in 2015, will define the remainder of his career. There have been much larger free-agent gambles taken this offseason.

The mascot we deserve.

Four pitchers combined to strike out 11 as Team Australia (2-0) moved within one win of returning to its fourth World Baseball Classic following a 4-1 win over South Africa (1-1) on Friday night at Blacktown International Sportspark.