Some things to read while waiting for your Calvin & Hobbes model toboggan.

One small step was taken towards payroll certainty yesterday, as the Brewers reached an agreement with J.J. Hardy on a one year deal worth $4.65 million. It's been noted in the comments, but it's still worth noting how far the arbitration process is from assessing a player's actual value: This is Hardy's second arbitration year, and yet he will still make less than two-thirds of what Prince Fielder will make in his first arbitration year.

Of course, both could lend some money to Gabe Kapler, who signed a 1 year/$1 million deal with the Rays. DRaysBay estimates Kapler will be worth about .75 wins in 2009...and also thinks Gabe Gross is being shown a clear path towards the door. In other news, Guillermo Mota is a Dodger again.

Trevor Hoffman isn't as young as he used to be, but has his stuff held up over time? Dixieflatline takes a look over at The Hardball Times. Perhaps there's room for some optimism.

Behold life on both ends of the spectrum: One Ryan Braun is one of baseball's elite outfielders, drafted ninth in FakeTeams' mock fantasy draft. The other Ryan Braun was recently released by the Royals, and will be a non-roster invitee for the White Sox.

Three minor notes today:

• The Brewers are considering abandoning their "less is more" theory and re-opening a Dominican training academy. They're currently the only team without one.
• In the closest vote yet, Brad Nelson leads Tim Dillard by two votes and Zach Braddock by seven votes in the balloting to determine Community Prospect #14. Voting closes at noon.
• Another candidate for #14, Alexandre Periard, is interviewed over at Right Field Bleachers.

Hall of Fame voting is in and, for Brewer fans, it's largely the expected result. Both Greg Vaughn and Dan Plesac join this list of players who appeared on the ballot but received no votes. Jesse Orosco narrowly avoided the list, appearing on one ballot.

'Tis the season to talk about projections...but my guess is we won't be spending a lot of time on this one: Walkoff Walk has unveiled The BONILLAs, grouping players by age. Follow the link for their...well, I guess it's a preview, of Jason Kendall.

On the hot stove:

Angels: May have interest in acquiring Jermaine Dye from the White Sox.
Astros: Re-signed Jose Valverde to a one-year deal worth $8 million.
Braves: Are believed to have offered Derek Lowe a four-year deal worth $60 million.
Marlins: Signed Jay Gibbons to a minor league deal.
Mets: Are believed to have offered Oliver Perez a three-year deal worth around $30 million.
Pirates: Reportedly will not bring Doug Mientkiewicz back for 2009.

So let's say you're Major League Baseball, and for whatever reason you've decided you'd like to get into the restaurant business. You've got 30 MLB cities and several other options open...so why would you choose Tokyo? It's an odd move.

Speaking of odd moves, someone designed the Mets' Citi Field uniform patch for 2009 while looking at a pizza box.

Oh, and thanks for stopping by to share my inevitable decline in productivity.

Drink up.