Thursday's Frosty Mug

Some things to read while making a list of things to do before having a baby.

Ryan Braun's intercostal muscle continues to be the big story today. Braun left yesterday's game after two at bats (and zero swings) due to stiffness in his side. The team is reportedly considering sending him to the doctor. At this point, I share a question with Chuckie Hacks: Why wasn't a doctor Braun's first stop when he got back to Arizona? Meanwhile, The Disabled List Informer still thinks Braun has been misdiagnosed and it could be a spinal issue.

The team made a bunch of roster moves yesterday, releasing Trot Nixon, optioning Mat Gamel and Angel Salome to Nashville, outrighting Wes Littleton to the minors and sending Jason Bourgeois and Chris Narveson to minor league camp. The Journal Sentinel has a bigger story on Nixon's release, which was especially hard on Ken Macha, who managed Nixon for four seasons in the minors (noted in this FanShot).

So the Brewers were briefly rumored to be interested in Jake Peavy, then the rumor was refuted and everyone went on with their lives. That's life in a big league front office, right? Maybe not. Doug Melvin called the rumor "disrputive" to 2009 preparations. I find it hard to believe that major league general managers aren't used to hearing unfounded rumors about players. That's the kind of thing that happens every day and if it's actually bothering Melvin while he's trying to work, he's not the GM we think he is.

The Peavy rumor was just part of Tom Haudricourt's bad day. First, he called out a commenter for posting a quote about Peavy, then he called covering Wednesday's game, a job most of us would take in a heartbeat, an exercise in tedium. Let me just go ahead and throw this out there: If Tom H. decides he doesn't want to cover baseball anymore, I'll gladly take over for him.

Visual evidence from yesterday's exercise in tedium:

• A disembodied arm stopped by to congratulate Casey McGehee on his fifth home run of the spring.
• Corey Hart attempted a sliding catch in foul territory.
• According to the caption, Prince Fielder celebrated his home run with Prince Fielder, but one of those Princes weighs about 100 lbs more than the other one.

There will be lots of visual evidence of the final game of the Brewers' opening series with the Giants. Thursday night's game will be the first regular season game broadcast in MLB Network history.

How long is your attention span? Depending on how much time you have, Jeff Sackmann has five+ questions regarding the 2009 Brewers, or Dayn Perry has one sentence on how they could win the World Series.

If you read both and still have more time on your hands, head over to The Book Blog and help project playing time for Brewers in 2009. I weighed in this morning and was the first vote.

Two prospect notes today:

• Minor League Notebook compared Alcides Escobar and Rangers prospect Elvis Andrus, and gives Escobar the advantage.
• Brett Lawrie has started a blog, so stop by and say hi. (h/t Rattler Radio)

Meanwhile, FanGraphs ranked the Brewers sixth in their organizational rankings, one spot ahead of the Cubs, first in the NL Central and ahead of all but several major market teams.

There's only one prediction/projection to cover today: The Wheelhouse picked the Brewers to finish fourth in the Central.

We've been debating/complaining about Jeff Suppan's projected Opening Day start for several days now, so I guess it's about time someone came along to play the other side: Two Fisted Slopper suggests the decision could pay off with improved matchups in other games.

Also, Miller Park Drunk is excited about Bison Blonde, the new beer at Friday's Front Row designed specifically for eating with buffalo wings. If only the Brewers had a deal like this one: a place named Claim Jumper gives away free wings when the Angels score ten or more runs. The Angels have done that in four straight games.

In other camps:

Angels: John Lackey has been shut down with elbow tightness and may not be ready for Opening Day.
Astros: Miguel Tejada will spend today's off day in Washington being sentenced for lying to Congress. He's expected to receive probation.
Marlins: Traded pitcher Eulogio De La Cruz to the Padres for a PTBNL.
Mets: Released Valerio de los Santos.
Padres: The sale of the team could be finalized as soon as today, and CEO Sandy Alderson is expected to resign when it is.
Rockies: The team is looking to move catcher Yorvit Torrealba and infielder Jeff Baker.
Tigers: Season ticket sales are currently at 15,000, down from 27,000 a year ago.

Sometimes a quote just jumps out at you. Consider, for example, this note from Ken Rosenthal:

Several of (Pedro) Martinez's friends, including the Dodgers' Manny Ramirez, have told him that he needs to be more realistic with his salary desires, sources say.

When Manny Ramirez says you need to be more realistic, you know you're asking for too much.

While I would gladly take a job as an MLB beat writer, there is one high profile job in baseball I definitely don't want: umpiring. Bob Timmerman of Baseball Analysts reviews a new book on the training and lives of umpires.

Oh, and today is a Woot-off day.

Drink up.