Wednesday's Frosty Mug

Here are a handful of things to read if you're bored with critiquing playoff commercials.

In Arizona: Alexandre Periard was the only Brewer prospect to appear, pitching an inning of scoreless relief with a hit, a walk and a K as the Javelinas fell for the fourth straight day, 5-4 to Phoenix. Box Score

The Javelinas play Mesa today at 2:35. Lou Palmisano is still on loan to the Solar Sox, so it's possible both Angel Salome and Lou Palmisano could both play today. Also, Jeremy Jeffress last pitched on the 9th, so today could be his day.

If you need something to read between now and then, here's the latest installment in Taylor Green's blog from the AFL.

In Hawaii: The CaneFires were rained out yesterday. They play Honolulu at 8 pm Central tonight.

In Mexico: Chris Narveson made his debut and pitched 4.2 innings, giving up 3 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits and striking out 8 in Hermosillo's 7-4 loss to Guasave. On the other side, Erasmo Ramirez pitched 2/3 of an inning for Guasave, gave up two hits and was credited with a blown save. Box Score

Almost all the Brewer news today is prospect related:

• Tom H. notes (and republishes) a profile on Jeremy Jeffress in Baseball America.
• The Hardball Times analyzes the delivery of Brewer 2008 2nd round pick Seth Lintz.
• Baseball America ranks teams by their 2008 draft expenditures. The Brewers spent a shade under $8.4 million, the sixth most in all of baseball. They also had a lot of early picks.

In other news, if you were still thinking about getting a general admission ticket for the Brewers Winter Warm Up event in January (as I was), you waited too long. Tickets are still available if you want to shell out $500 for a VIP pass, though.

So apparently Jake Peavy has released a list of cities where he'd be willing to play in 2009. He's only interested in playing in the NL, and only for teams with a solid tradition of winning. The places he's reportedly willing to go are Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and St. Louis. I guess the "solid tradition of winning" part wasn't as important as they made it seem.

Also, we have a new medical procedure of the moment: nerve relocation surgery. Albert Pujols had it this week, and at least six other current and former big leaguers have had it since 2002, with at least a handful of others considering it this offseason. Click the link for a full description (with pictures) of the problem and the solution.

Ken Griffey Jr. is old school, though, so he's sticking with the tried-and-true method and having knee surgery instead. This would seem to raise the possibility that the White Sox will decline his option for 2009, creating the possibility that the Mariners could have both the return of Ken Griffey and MLB's first female GM in 2009. That's about as much positive publicity as you can get during the offseason without actually improving your odds of winning.

The Nationals had a problem this season that might seem familiar. Their position players seemed to constantly come down with injuries that were deemed "day-to-day" before being rediagnosed as something more serious. Yesterday, their medical director resigned. There's likely an opening on the Brewers' staff for him.

We're less than two months away from the Rule 5 Draft, scheduled for December 11 at the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas. Baseball Analysts has a review of the Draft in 2007-Play in 2008 draft. Still wondering if anyone has a list of Brewer players who will be eligible.

Oh, and the Rays have proven once and for all that long ball is better than small ball.

Drink up.