Sorry I missed yesterday's post. I'm very distractable sometimes.

Michael Fiers won on Wednesday by one vote, so here's where we stand:

1. Wily Peralta
2. Taylor Jungmann
3. Tyler Thornburg
4. Taylor Green
5. Jed Bradley
6. Scooter Gennett
7. Logan Schafer
8. Michael Fiers

And the nominees for the #9 spot are:

Orlando Arcia
Caleb Gindl
Jorge Lopez
Jimmy Nelson
Cody Scarpetta

Follow the jump for more on the candidates, then vote in the poll below.

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Some things to read while exercising your influence.

We're 22 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Maryvale, but yesterday's top story came away from Milwaukee as the Tigers officially introduced Prince Fielder. I transcribed most of the press conference, but the only notable Brewer moments came when Fielder mentioned Ryan Braun in passing and Freudian-slipped "Brewers" in place of "Tigers." Big League Stew wants your help captioning a picture from the festivities, while Adam McCalvy has a list of his favorite Brewer memories. Meanwhile, Jordan took a look at life without Fielder moving forward.

Moving back to the Brewers who are still here, the team released the schedule for this weekend's "On Deck" event. If you're planning on attending, make sure you bring plenty of cash.

Even though he's not going to be there, Ryan Braun will probably be one of the primary topics of conversation at On Deck. Off The Bench listed him as the fifth best #3 hitter in baseball.

MLB Daily Dish did a nice job of putting together a complete organizational chart for the Brewers for your perusal. Clearly a lot of work went into this, and you should go check it out.

Months have passed, but the sense of loss following the sudden end of the 2011 season is still too fresh for some: The Outside Corner laments an unused ticket for Game 7 of the NLCS and looks at what the Brewers need to do to get back there in 2012.

In the minors:

• Carlos Gomez went 0-for-2 but drew two walks, stole a base, scored a run and drove in the go-ahead run in Aguilas' 8-5 win over Escogido in the Dominican League finals last night. You can read more about that in today's Winter League Notes. Escogido still leads the best-of-nine series 3-2.
• The Huntsville Stars have a video interview with Brewer hitting coordinator Sandy Guerrero.

Elsewhere in media, John Axford was on Colin Cowherd's show on ESPN Radio yesterday and Taylor Jungmann, Randy Wolf and Corey Hart were all on WSSP.

Yesterday we celebrated Bob Uecker's 77th birthday. If you missed it, though, there's still time to participate in NotGraphs' Feast of Uecker, Patron Saint of Failed Endeavors.

Around baseball:

Athletics: Designated infielder Adrian Cardenas for assignment.
Giants: Signed pitcher Clay Hensley to a one year deal.
Indians: Signed pitcher Dan Wheeler to a minor league deal.
Nationals: Signed reliever Brad Lidge to a one year, $1 million deal plus incentives.
Red Sox: Designated pitcher Scott Atchison for assignment.
Reds: Signed pitcher Jose Arredondo to a two year deal, avoiding arbitration.
Yankees: Signed pitcher Boone Logan to a one year, $1.9 million deal to avoid arbitration and designated pitcher Kevin Whelan for assignment.

In former Brewers:

• High Heat Stats notes that Teddy Higuera was worth 27.3 wins above replacement (rWAR) over a five year stretch from 1985 to 1989, and that's the 21st best such span for a non-Hall of Fame pitcher.
• 2012 will be Jose Hernandez's third season as a minor league instructor in the Orioles' organization. He's spending this year as the fielding coach for high-A Frederick in the Carolina League.

Until the last few weeks, I've felt like this offseason was moving along pretty nicely. Things have slowed considerably, though, and now I find myself missing baseball almost as much as Manny Acta appears to have missed Slider, the Indians mascot. (h/t @KevinKaduk)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to put something in the freezer.

Drink up.

Dominican: Aguilas W 8-5 at Escogido

On this day in 1948 Tom Trebelhorn was born in Portland, Oregon. He played five years in the minor leagues in the Angels and A's organizations but his playing days were over by 1974, freeing him up to move on to coaching.

Trebelhorn was just 38 years old but had already managed nearly 800 games in the minors when the Brewers called upon him to replace George Bamberger on an interim basis for the final nine games in 1986. He had the interim tag removed from his title in 1987 and led the Brewers to 91 wins, the sixth highest total in franchise history and only the third highest since 1982.

All told Trebelhorn went 422-397 at the helm of the Brewers and his teams finished with a winning record in four of his five seasons. He's one of just four Brewers to manage over 200 games and leave with a winning record:

Trebelhorn is third on the Brewer all-time wins list behind Phil Garner (563-617) and Ned Yost (457-502).

Despite having a good record at the helm, Trebelhorn has only managed one big league season since leaving the Brewers: He went 49-64 as the Cubs' skipper during the strike-shortened 1994 season. He's spent the last four years managing the Salem-Kaizer Volcanoes (short season A ball) in the Giants organization.

Trebelhorn turns 64 today. With help from the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to:

• 2003 Brewer Jason Conti, who turns 37.
• 1998 Brewer Greg Martinez, who turns 40.

MLB Network's Baseball IQ, which debuted on Tuesday, has a Brewer first round matchup tonight as senior account executive Jeff Hibicke takes on Nationals Baseball Operations Analyst Samuel Mondry-Cohen.

The show airs at 8:30 and will be the second of two episodes to run tonight: The Marlins and Braves face off in the first one.

I'll most likely be DVR'ing this to watch later since the Badger basketball team is playing Indiana tonight, but if you're watching it live you can use this thread to discuss it.

Fielder's introductory press conference was televised live on MLB Network, giving him a chance to show off some pretty awful cornrows. He was joined on stage by agent Scott Boras, Tigers owner Mike Ilitch, GM Dave Dombrowski and manager Jim Leyland.

Fielder's opening comments:

First of all I want to thank my wife, my lovely wife. She means the world to me and she's kept me on track to get here today so I want to say thank you to her. I want to say thank you to Mr. Ilitch and the Ilitch family. This is awesome. I don't really know what to say. I'm just excited that this is kind of a dream come true. So I'm excited. I want to thank Scott (Boras), this is my man right here, I messed up his hair earlier...I said when I was 18 when we got to this day I was going to mess his hair up. So it does get messed up. Yeah, I'm just excited to be here and can't wait to get it going.

Prince: What does wearing the script D mean, coming home?

It's awesome. I really don't know what to say, I just never thought this could happen and it's happening now. It's an awesome moment and I'm glad I get to be here with my family and one of my sons up here. Like I said, this is an awesome moment and a real special day.

Mike Ilitch on how this happened:

Well it came about when (Victor) Martinez got injured and we sat down, Dave (Dombrowski) and I and some other key people in the organization about how we're going to handle this. I got a little dizzy with who's supposed to move here and who's supposed to move there and we've got Raburn here and fill ins for this one, that one. And I got to thinking "They're all going to have pressure on them to be able to match that .320 batting average, 100 RBIs, they're going to feel pressure filling that slot. I don't want to run into that. I was telling Dave, I think I'd feel better if we were just able to totally solve it. When he (Martinez) gets back, I think we'll have a very explosive team. So that's really how it got going. Then I decided we always wanted Prince...we missed him by one slot in the draft when Milwaukee picked him just before us, and we were ready for it but it didn't happen. So it's always been on my mind over the years and of course I followed him very closely, and I saw...what he did in Milwaukee was unbelievable. So I went to Dave and said, "You know, I think we should go after Prince. Let's make an effort and see if we can get him." After that it's a long story.

Mike Ilitch: Did anyone tell you you're crazy to do this?

Well, I've made a few moves in sports. I've got a couple of guys in the other sport on nine year deals. (Ilitch also owns the NHL's Detroit Red Wings.) That's working out beautiful. I know this is a lot more money but I go by my instincts like everyone else does in business and my instincts told me that this is going to work out fine. I'm not going to worry about it. I know what Prince can do and giving 100%...well he gives 120. So he'll give 120% and that's all you can ask of anybody and I feel very confident that things will work out. That's just how I feel about it. I feel good about it. I don't have any concerns. I'm not nervous about it. I know there's probably something wrong with me there...but anyhow. It's a green light.

Prince: Do you expect to play first base?

Yeah, that's what I was before I went into free agency so that's what I had in mind.

There's much, much more after the jump.

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In the past few days since Prince Fielder has signed with the Tigers, a few friends who are aware that I am an avid Brewers fan have brought it up with some predictable sentiments. "It sucks that the Brewers lost Fielder," or "baseball should have a salary cap," or "it sucks how baseball teams can't keep their best players." I usually just sigh and agree because I do not feel the need to go into a lengthy lecture about the real truth of the matter. In the future I might just link them to this post to explain why everyone that's a Brewer fan should take this news in stride.

It was extremely unlikely that Prince Fielder was ever going to be a Brewer after his first six years in the big leagues. After his 50-homer season in 2007 it was pretty clear that Prince was going to make a ton of money. The Brewers offered something like 5 years and $100 million when Prince entered arbitration, and when that was turned down there was no chance Fielder was going to be a Brewer beyond 2012. The Brewers knew it, Prince Fielder knew it, and some of the fans knew it.

Prince Fielder did not ask to play for Milwaukee. He is an asset that the Brewers drafted. He was obligated to play here for 6 years, 3 for a salary far below what his talents are worth, and 3 more at a still discounted rate. He gave the Brewers organization everything he had. There's no expectation that he needed to sign here. Prince did just about everything right.

The other piece of the puzzle is that the Brewers could have afforded Prince Fielder. There is certainly an imbalance in the competitive ability of the different franchises in MLB, but there's not some imaginary barrier between teams that can afford superstars versus teams that cannot. For the salaries of Randy Wolf, Rickie Weeks, and Corey Hart, the Brewers could have paid Prince Fielder $26 million next season. The Brewers think that those three players, together, will provide more value in 2012, and they are almost certainly right. That says nothing of 9 years from now, when Fielder will be making $25 million and most likely be nowhere near the production he had as a youngster when the Brewers were paying him $500,000.

The Brewers have to pick and choose when building a team. Some teams can afford to pay market value for a star coming out of his arbitration years, knowing full well that they will be paying close to market value for a few years and most likely overpaying significantly for the last few years of a deal. The only real viable strategy for a team like the Brewers to keep superstars beyond their arbitration years to identify them early. Ryan Braun did not sign his long-term extension as early as, say, Evan Longoria, but it's very clear he could have made a lot more money if he were to test the free agent market.

The Brewers do not need Prince Fielder to win in 2012. They are much better off filling the roster off by plugging holes and relying on cheap players like Mat Gamel and Taylor Green to fill out the roster. I think most Brewer fans understand that but it did not stop me from saying it anyways. If the Brewers, say, traded Randy Wolf and Corey Hart, and not elected to sign Aramis Ramirez, they could have afforded Fielder in 2012. The team, however, would not have been improved.

When Prince Fielder next plays in Milwaukee, hopefully in the 2012 World Series, I hope the crowd stays classy and lays off the booing. He did his time and is now rich beyond anyone's wildest dreams. He did not have to stay here, and the Brewers did not really need him to stay here. We had the privilege of watching Prince play for 6 whole years. I hope he sets all kinds of records playing with Detroit, but the Brewers are in the business of winning a World Series, not giving us a sentimental Brewer-for-life when it's not practical economically or smart in a baseball sense. The Brewers will move on without Fielder, and Fielder will move on without the Brewers. They say a breakup is never really mutual, but I think this one is. Hopefully we can still be friends.