Thursday's Frosty Mug

Some things to read while teaching the dog.

The GM meetings in Orlando will wrap up soon, but Doug Melvin is taking advantage of the opportunity to talk about contracts with two of his higher-profile players: Melvin met with Rickie Weeks yesterday to resume talks about an extension, causing Jaymes Langrehr of The Brewers Bar to bust out the Carlton dance (FanShot).

Also, Tom Haudricourt is reporting that Melvin met with Prince Fielder. With that said, Jeff Fletcher is reporting that talks between Melvin and Fielder were regarding his 2011 contract, not a long-term deal.

The Brewers made three minor transactions yesterday, adding second baseman Eric Farris and pitchers Dan Merklinger and Wily Peralta to the 40-man roster (FanShot). Here's a little more about them:

• Farris' 2010 season was cut short by injuries, but he's a former fourth round pick in 2007 who hit .296/.336/.385 and stolen 138 bases over four minor league seasons. He played 60 games for Nashville last season, and is hitting .351/.413/.432 in the AFL this fall.
• Merklinger is also a 2010 AFL player, posting a 3.98 ERA and striking out 24 in 20.1 innings. Prior to that, he made 27 appearances (23 starts) for Brevard County, Huntsville and Nashville this season with a 3.65 ERA, 148 strikeouts and just 45 walks in 143 innings. He was a 2007 sixth round pick.
• Peralta is a 21 year old Dominican right-hander, and split 2010 between Brevard County and Huntsville. He made 27 appearances (25 starts) with a 3.79 ERA, 104 strikeouts and 64 walks over 147.1 innings.

The organization has until Friday to add players to the 40 man roster and protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. Battlekow noted that infielder Taylor Green and outfielder Brendan Katin are still unprotected at this point. Brewerfan.net has the full 40-man roster complete with notes on option status.

The more I see what other people are saying about Ron Roenicke, the more I like him. Today, we have an MLB.com story from former Dodger Executive Fred Claire about Roenicke's playing career and study habits.

Earlier this week the Brewers announced their coaching staff and I mentioned that none of the coaches on Roenicke's staff had worked with him before. The Brewers rectified that when they hired new "eye in the sky" John Shelby, who worked with Roenicke in the Dodgers organization in the '90s. Shelby recently talked to Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun about his connection with Roenicke and his new role.

The NL Cy Young Award was announced yesterday and, as expected, Yovani Gallardo didn't win it. He did, however, get two fifth place votes in ESPN's SweetSpot voting. That's good for eighth place.

Say what you will about the Brewers' lack of pitching and success in 2010, but this number would suggest they did a pretty good job of keeping the best players on the field: Jeff Zimmerman of FanGraphs has the Brewers 23rd in all of baseball in number of below-replacement level players used this season, and 28th in terms of overall negative WAR.

Finally, Adam McCalvy emptied out his mailbag yesterday. Follow that link for answers to questions about Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Cliff Lee, Jorge De La Rosa, Brett Lawrie, Ron Roenicke and Maryvale.

Around baseball:

Blue Jays: Acquired outfielder Rajai Davis from the A's for two minor league pitchers.
Mariners: Signed reliever Justin Miller to a minor league deal.
Rays: Signed reliever Cory Wade to a minor league deal.
Tigers: Signed reliever Joaquin Benoit to a three year, $16.5 million deal.
White Sox: Signed reliever Brian Bruney and third baseman Dallas McPherson to minor league deals.

In Tuesday's Mug I mentioned a Beyond the Box Score post looking at pitchers' time between pitches. If you wanted to know more about the pace of 2010 Brewers (or anyone else, for that matter), FanGraphs has now added the stat to their site.

Today in former Brewers: Jeremy Greenhouse of The Baseball Analysts took a look at "Basic Fielding" and the leaders in that stat for the previous decade. Mike Cameron (first in center field) and Lyle Overbay (third at first base) were among the leaders, while Carlos Lee was the fifth worst left fielder.

Happy birthday today to:

• 2004-07 Brewer Matt Wise, who turns 35.
• 1991-92 Brewer Dante Bichette, who turns 47.
• 1985-90 Brewer Mike Felder, who turns 49.

It's also Gary Sheffield's 42nd birthday.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a book to finish.

Drink up.