Some things to read while helping evolution along.

So with Angel Salome and Mike Rivera both missing time with injuries, the Brewers are down to three healthy catchers and will have to bring Martin Maldonado back from minor league camp. It could be a short-term problem, though, as Rivera is only expected to miss a week or so, Salome's injury is not believed to be serious and Vinny Rottino's Italian WBC team will probably be eliminated by Monday or Tuesday.

We've beaten up on the Journal Sentinel in this space a lot lately, and perhaps deservedly so, but some credit is due for Brad Nelson's profile today, which is worth a read. Everyone seems pretty happy to see Nelson succeed.

Meanwhile Lorenzo Cain, the newest Brewer outfielder in camp, learned something about bringing a shirt with your name on it to major league camp. It sounds like Mike Cameron had some fun with it. It might be stretched out now.

Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated stopped by Brewer camp this week and had some nice things to say about the team. There's not much in there you might not have known, except a note about the "Clubby Olympics."

Beyond the Box Score gave a value to each NL Central team's farm system, and the Brewers lead the way with a value of $99.7 million. BtB was also kind enough to stop by and share this pie chart showing where that value was accumulated.

Ryan Braun had a big day yesterday. Not only did he hit a home run in Team USA's win over the Phillies, he was also #4 on David Letterman's Top Ten List, and got to make a joke about the metric system.

Bernie's Crew did the math and estimates the Brewers lost about three wins this offseason. That seems fair.

If it's not the worst job in baseball, it's certainly in the top five: Imperial Parking is holding a job fair for parking attendants at Miller Park.

Around other camps:

Cardinals: Signed former Twins RP Dennys Reyes. They may also be considering signing Pedro Martinez to close.
Giants: Released Dave Roberts, but will still have to pay the last year of his contract.
Phillies: Signed Rodrigo Lopez to a minor league deal.
Rangers: Andruw Jones has struck out 10 times in 14 spring training at bats, and will lead off every inning in a B game today.
Yankees: I think something may be going on involving Alex Rodriguez.

The 2009 World Baseball Classic may be the last hurrah for Moises Alou, who is planning on retiring. A press conference will be tentatively scheduled once he's healthy enough to stand behind a podium without straining a hamstring.

If you were in the parking lot in Peoria yesterday during the fifth inning of the Giants-A's game, you might have been in for a surprise: Giants hitting coach Carney Lansford was out there, pacing while his son Jared was pitching for the A's.

This is what it might have been like if the World Baseball Classic was played in 1935: Seamheads has the story of a near international incident that occurred at an exhibition involving a Japanese All Star team in Milwaukee.

Oh, and Milwaukee needs to grunt more. Sperling's BestPlaces rated Milwaukee as America's 17th Manliest City.

Drink up.