Your Friday Liter o' Cola

Some things to read while commemorating the the King's birthday, who would've been 75 today, had he not had that whole incident with the ... you know ... and the toilet ...

Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends.  KLSnow is off recording a remix of "Informer" this morning (and I fear I have dated myself horribly with that joke), so you're stuck with me.  Again.

Before we start: a big Tip o' the Cap to KL for the quantity and, more importantly, the quality of the daily Mugs, especially as we trudge through the off-season.  This is the third time I've guest-hosted the Mug, and this ain't as easy as KL makes it look.  So, huzzah and kudos, Mr. Snow -- and let's hope I don't drive this thing into a g**damn bridge abutment.

It's been a dreadfully slow news week, so this qualifies as Big Time Stuff, relatively speaking: as noted in this FanShot, MLB commissioner Bud Selig and Japanese baseball commissioner Ryozo Kato met in our own backyard to discuss the possibility of a "Global World Series."  (Why not toss an "of the Planet Earth" at the end there?  Someone alert the Office of Redundancy Office.)  The proposal is for a series pitting the MLB champion against the victors of the Japanese league.  No word yet on possible sites, but -- ahem -- we do have a retractable roof stadium in town.  We also have an IHOP and a Sonic and an Arby's within a couple miles of the park.  What more could you want?

As of, oh, about five minutes ago, the Brewers' 40-man roster remained one man shy of a full load.  While Tom H. insists that all is quiet on the lakefront, we were promised another starting pitcher at the beginning of the off-season.  So: would you like the Washburn model, the Garland model, or the Davis model?  Our consumer expert Jordan kicked the tires on each of the three, and he's calling the Garland a lemon.

The Twins had an open spot on their 40-man roster, too, and Minnesota seemed poised to add western Wisconsin native Jarrod Washburn to fill that slot.  But it didn't happen yesterday, and it wouldn't have been a good move in the first place, says Jack Moore from FanGraphs.

The TimberRattlers.com crew has gone medieval on your buttocks with a new feature, the Interrogation Room.  First guy in the chair?  Jack Bauer.  (Checks notes.)  Wait, no.  Sorry -- it's T-Rats manager Jeff Isom, who reveals he's a big fan of Jordan's favorite minor leaguer, Carlos George.

PaulNoonan, Esq. from Brewed Sports took on all comers in the Hall of Fame debate this week, first eviscerating Dan Shaughnessy's column on Edgar Martinez and then taking apart Jon Heyman's "logic" (and I'm using that term in the loosest sense of the word) for not voting for Bert Blyleven.  (And, because I'm required to link to an FJM piece whenever someone channels Ken Tremendous in a post, here's FJM's Mona Lisa, KT's legendary assault on Colin Cowherd's thoughts on the baseball Hall of Fame.)

And speaking of the HOF, reaction continues to trickle in on Andre Dawson's admission and the omission of Robbie Alomar, Blylevan, et al:

• BBWAA member Drew Olson didn't vote for the Hawk and questions how a seeming lock like Alomar gets bypassed in favor of a marginal case like Dawson.
• My boy Reid over at the Buffet wonders if Bert Blyleven needs to start kidnapping family members of BBWAA writers to make the Hall ...
• While the Junkball Blues and Keith Olbermann (separately, not in tandem) bring out the heavy stats artillery to make Bert's case ...
• And JD from the Chalet jumps on top of the pro-Blylevan doggie pile.
• In the interests of equal time, grizzled old centenarian Murray Chass took a break from complaining about everything that has ever existed in this or any other dimension to congratulate Blylevan on making the Hall next year.  

You've got about seven hours to cast your vote in BCB's Community Prospect Rankings for the coveted Prospect #2 spot.  As we went to press (the 'publish' button), Mat Gamel and Brett Lawrie were a handful of votes apart.  Stop by, cast your ballot, and help us decide whether Gamel "literally" has hands of stone.

Around the Bigs:

• Jack Cust -- one of my favorite names in all of baseball, second only to Matt Stairs -- has re-signed with the A's.
• The St. Louis Upright Citizens Brigade finalized the $120 million anchor deal with Matt Holliday -- which likely puts an end to any interest the Cards had in Felipe Lopez, who is still accepting requesting begging on hands-and-knees for calls from interested parties.
• Speaking of the Cards: the Human Rain Delay made news yesterday when he said the Cards might consider adding new hitting coach Mark McGwire to the post-season roster as a pinch hitter.  That sounds like the sauce talking, to me.
• The Jays claimed shortstop Brian Bocock (hee hee) off waivers from the Giants.
• Texas inked infielder Matt Brown to a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite.
• The Roy Boys signed Cuban pitcher Noel Arguelles to a five-year deal, and rumor has it that they've signed Scott Podsednik, too.  Holy hell, guys.  First Kendall, now Podsednik?  If the Royals didn't make bad moves, they'd make no moves at all.
  
• The Red Sox and Mariners completed the Casey Kotchman-for-Bill E. Hall trade, as Hall passed his physical with the BoSox.  This move, of course, reunites Hall with ...
  

Birthday boy and terminally-underappreciated ex-Brewer and new Red So ... ck? x? (what's the singular version of "Red Sox"?) Mike Cameron, who turns 37 today.  And, from the "This Made Too Much Sense Not To Happen" files, the Sox announced that Cam is going to be manning centerfield at Fenway this season, while Jacoby Ellsbury moves to left field.   (And speaking of defense: Big League Stew tells you everything you always wanted to know about UZR in this post.)

That's all I've got.  Make sure that kid didn't spit in your burger, and dig in.