Monday's Frosty Mug

Some things to read while finding something else to read.

Following a 3-3 homestand the Brewers are off to the West Coast today and may have a roster move to announce once they get to the ballpark: Todd Coffey is with the team on the road trip and is eligible to be activated off the DL today. When Coffey returns, the news likely won't be good for Chris Smith, who allowed two earned runs in his inning of work yesterday.

George Kottaras was back in the lineup yesterday after Jonathan Lucroy made three straight starts. Kottaras went 0-for-3 and is now hitting .107/.188/.214 in June.

Speaking of struggling Brewers, Randy Wolf told Jordan Schelling that mental, not phyiscal issues are responsible for his recent slide. He's allowed 13 earned runs in his last 11.1 innings.

Other notes from the field:

• Prince Fielder's two home runs yesterday made him one of seven players with multi-homer games, the most in the majors since June 4, 2006.
• Here are yesterday's MLB.com video highlights.
• Colby Lewis, Josh Hamilton and Fielder are leading FanGraphs' Star of the Game voting.
• Even after dropping two of three to the Rangers, CoolStandings has the Brewer playoff chances back up to 1%.
• Casey McGehee used "C is for Cookie" as his walkup music yesterday.
• On Saturday, Rickie Weeks picked up his 500th career hit and was also hit by his league-leading tenth pitch.
• Looking back to Friday, Vlad Guerrero's trot after his homer off Chris Narveson took 25.56 seconds, the slowest time of the day.

I know more than a few folks have been disappointed by the 2010 offensive performances of Alcides Escobar and Carlos Gomez, but at least the Brewers' speed infusion is paying dividends elsewhere: Beyond the Box Score reports that the Brewers are 4.4 runs above average in Equivalent Base Running Runs, the third best number in the NL.

Catch a nap during the day if you can, because it's going to be a late night tonight: The Brewers open a three game series in Anaheim at 9. Baseball Brew has the short list of former Brewers working for the Angels.

While they're in town, perhaps the Brewers and Angels will discuss first basemen. I've previously mentioned that the Angels have said they're not interested in trading for a first baseman to replace Kendry Morales, who is out for the season. Over the weekend manager Mike Scioscia clarified that a bit, saying they're not interested in renting a player for just this season, but leaving open the possibility they would consider acquiring a player who's still under team control for next year. Prince Fielder would fit that bill.

Don't look now, but Corey Hart is 0-for his last 9 and it's been two full days since the last time he hit a home run. Brewers Daily has a look at his resurrection.

If you like winning, 2010 hasn't been a very good year to be a fan of the Brewers in the majors or minors. They currently rank last in baseball in cumulative organizational record. They padded the lead by going 0-4 yesterday.

In the minors:

• Jeremy Jeffress returned to action yesterday for the first time in nearly a year, pitching a perfect eighth inning for the Timber Rattlers. Mike Woods of the Appleton Post Crescent has his thoughts on the performance.
• The Brewers announced 24 amateur signings yesterday, including 23 draft selections and one undrafted free agent. (FanShot) The Brewers have signed three of their top six picks and six players drafted between rounds 35 and 50 - last year, they only signed one player drafted after round 35 (Kyle Dhanani, 43rd round).
• Battlekow has an interview of one of those signees, 20th round pick Shea Vucinich. In the interview they discuss his signing, his strong defense and his background in gymnastics.
• The Tennessean has a profile of sixth round pick Cody Hawn, who has also signed.
• Vucinich and Hawn will both open the season in Helena, where Opening Day is a week from today.
• On the field, the affiliates went 0-3 last night but it wasn't Sam Narron's fault: He pitched eight innings and allowed just two runs for Nashville in his second outing back in the Brewer organization. You can read about that and more in today's Minor League Notes.
• Brevard County was off this weekend for the Florida State League All Star Game. Erik Komatsu went 1-for-4 with a run scored and Michael Fiers allowed a run on two hits in his inning of work, picking up a blown save.
• The Appleton Post-Crescent has a profile of Wisconsin reliever Caleb Thielbar. (h/t Rattler Radio)
• Nashville broadcaster Stu Paul just wrapped up a four game series in Omaha, the Sounds' last-ever visit to Rosenblatt Stadium. At the link he offers his thoughts on the historic ballpark, which is also hosting the College World Series for the last time this season.
• Brewerfan.net reports the Brewers have released outfielder Josh Anderson, who was just signed by the Brewers a few weeks ago after being released by the Reds.

For more on the draft, check out Jeff Sackmann's post at The Hardball Times breaking down some draft trends by the numbers. Or, if you're already ready to start looking ahead, check out Bryan Smith of FanGraphs' posts on the best hitters and pitchers available in the 2011 draft.

Sometime in the next few weeks I'm going to update this post on Brewer Twitter feeds. One of the feeds I'll be adding to the list is Jordan Schelling, the new associate Brewer beat reporter for MLB.com. I was planning on adding him even before he made me aware of the presence of mac and cheese at Miller Park.

There was a lot more Brewer news over the weekend: If you missed it, be sure to check out Noah's Weekend Mug.

Around baseball:

Astros: Signed pitcher Brad Thompson to a minor league deal.
Athletics: Designated 1B/OF Jake Fox for assignment.
Braves: Placed outfielder Nate McLouth on the DL with concussion symptoms.
Dodgers: Signed Kiko Calero to a minor league deal.
Padres: Placed outfielder Matt Stairs on the DL with a right knee injury.
Rays: Placed outfielder Gabe Kapler on the DL with a right hip flexor strain.
Red Sox: Placed outfielder Jeremy Hermida on the DL with a rib injury.

If you've been watching baseball this weekend you might have heard about the debut of Indians catcher Carlos Santana, the team's #1 prospect. What you might not have known is that Santana was basically acquired for $2 million from the Dodgers.

Sometimes I think we take some of baseball's incredible architectural marvels for granted. Consider Great American Ball Park for example: Over the weekend, it got 2.5 inches of rain in one hour, flooding the outfield. Yet somehow the field is already dried out and back to playable conditions.

We also probably don't give enough credit to some of baseball's best umpires. A recent player poll conducted by ESPN has Jim Joyce, Tim McClelland and Jim Wolf at the top of their profession, while CB Bucknor, Joe West and Angel Hernandez were rated the worst. (h/t Bernardo Fallas)

Here are this weekend's birthdays:

• 1987-91 Brewer Greg Brock turns 53 today.
• Jonathan Lucroy turned 24 yesterday.
• 2002 Brewer Ben Diggins turned 31 yesterday.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to the paper.

Drink up.