Wednesday's Frosty Mug

Some things to read with the hand-washing time you've saved.

Clearly, "calling a good game" is not weighted heavily in these rankings, but Driveline Mechanics ranked Jason Kendall 105th out of 114 catchers defensively in 2009, and Mike Rivera 28th. It's further proof that Kendall has outlived nearly all of his value...and somehow, I still expect Doug Melvin to find a reason to bring him back next season, and Ken Macha to play him 120 times.

Craig Counsell and Braden Looper's offseason surgeries were completed yesterday, and both were "routine," according to Dr. William Raasch, who is now off to shop for a new house with the money he's made off the Brewers this week (FanShot).

Here's some symmetry for you: Wisconsin Sports Tap has a list of the top ten Brewer moments from the 2009 season, and Miller Park Drunk has a list of ten things he won't miss about this season.

While glancing over Baseball Digest Daily's Asian MLB Awards, I noticed this completely unrelated tidbit: The Brewers, who scored the third most runs in the NL this season, got 14.3% of those runs from Ryan Braun. That's the fourth highest percentage in all of baseball.

In what might be an unprecedented event, the Brewers had two pitchers (Braden Looper and Manny Parra) among the top three in the "Good Luck Division" of The Hardball Times Awards' season finale. The two pitchers combined for 25 wins with a 5.70 ERA.

Speaking of awards, Jon Heyman left Prince Fielder off his NL MVP ballot. Moments like this are why it's so easy to blast the BBWAA.

The Arizona Fall League's Opening Day was yesterday, but it wasn't a great start for the Javelinas, who got pummeled by Surprise, 17-4. Lorenzo Cain led off with a double for Peoria in the first and scored the game's first run, but the Rafters responded with runs in the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Omar Aguilar also pitched in the game, and allowed three runs on four hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. Beyond the Box Score has the PitchF/X data on Aguilar's outing.

There's just one note for the transaction log today:

Padres: Infielder Luis Rodriguez and catcher Eliezer Alfonzo declined outright assignments to the minors and are now free agents.

Who knows if the Brewers might be interested, but one more name could be about to enter the starting pitching rumor mill: Ken Rosenthal is reporting Tim Hudson could decline his half of his mutual option with the Braves for next season. The option would pay Hudson $12 million in 2010, and it seems unlikely many teams will want to commit more than that to a guy who made just seven starts in 2009.

Every day it looks a little more likely that Ned Yost will be back in the big leagues next season. He's already being mentioned as a managerial candidate in Cleveland and Houston, and now you can add him to the list in Washington as well.

If a last place team in a terrible stadium switches over to a TV network much of their fan base doesn't get, do they make a sound? According to SportsBusiness Journal, only 20,000 households tuned in to watch an average A's game this season, the second lowest figure in all of baseball.

Some days I'm up perusing the internet before it's light, and I come back with lots of great baseball links. Some days, I just find lunch ideas. Such is the Way of the Mug.

Happy birthday today to Tommy Harper, who led the 1970 Brewers in hits, runs, doubles, home runs, RBI, stolen bases, walks, batting average, OBP and slugging, and turns 69 today.

That's all I've got for you today, but if you're looking for something else to do, you could consider Static Electricity Fun Time.

Drink up.