Wednesday's Frosty Mug

Some things to read while uninstalling a turn signal.

In just a few hours, it'll become official: Trevor Hoffman has decided to retire and join the Padres front office in a position to be named. (FanShot). Hoffman, of course, is the all time saves leader (with 601), and finished his Brewer career with 47 saves in 105 appearances, posting a 3.73 ERA and 1.155 WHIP. He was also a Type B free agent, but the Brewers won't receive compensation now that he's decided not to sign with another team.

Here are some notes on Hoffman's announcement:

• Joe Posnanski has a fitting idea for Hoffman's farewell press conference.
• Adam McCalvy talked to John Axford about Hoffman's role with the Brewers.
• Chris Haft of MLB.com has a reaction from Bruce Bochy, who managed Hoffman in San Diego.
• At The Hardball Times, Larry Granillo notes the statistical differences in Hoffman's career before and after he started using "Hells Bells" as his entrance music.
• Larry also notes that Hoffman finished second in the NL Cy Young voting twice, eight seasons apart.
• Rob Neyer, Jack Moore, Jay Jaffe and The Ghost of Moonlight Graham consider Hoffman's Hall of Fame case.
• 63.5% of voters in this B-Ref Blog poll think Hoffman deserves to and will get in.
• David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution pointed out that Hoffman is retiring in the same offseason as Billy Wagner. The two have a combined 1023 career saves.
• Cybermetrics notes that Hoffman's strikeout to walk ratio is #1 among pitchers who have thrown at least 1000 innings since 1955.
• Tom Krasovic of AOL FanHouse is glad Hoffman and the Padres were able to patch things up after a rough split following the 2008 season.
• Gaslamp Ball notes that Hoffman was offered the opportunity to retire as a Padre, but declined.
• They also have the best possible reason for the Padres not to construct a Hoffman statue.
• Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post remembers Hoffman's brief time as a Marlin.
• Landon Evanson of Bugs & Cranks remembers a time he didn't get to see Hoffman in Milwaukee.
• Dan Hayes of the North County Times notes that Hoffman has been spending the winter coaching youth basketball.

I guess it's only fitting that we go from discussing an aging pitcher to a conversation about DL time. Jeff Zimmerman of FanGraphs calculated how much money each team spent on DL'ed players last season, and the Brewers spent $11.4 million, or 11.7% of their total payroll.

I'm not sure if we're going to have to update the countdown or not: MLB announced yesterday that the Brewers' first official workout of the spring will be held on February 17. Adam McCalvy said he had heard the 16th as the first day, but that's probably the day when players show up for physicals. The JS has the full list of team report dates - once again, the Brewers are one of the last teams to open camp.

When he gets to Maryvale, Zach Braddock is going to have a different jersey in his locker: TheJay noticed that Braddock is now wearing #21, which Alcides Escobar had worn last season.

Jack Moore of Disciples of Uecker continues to break down notable AB's from the 2010 season: Today he's looking at a September matchup between Mark Rogers and Logan Morrison.

In the minors:

• Mark Rogers, Wily Peralta, Eric Farris and Logan Schafer are spending the week at the MLB Rookie Development program, learning about life in the big leagues.
• Tom Haudricourt chatted with fans behind the pay wall at Baseball America this week, and Rattler Radio has some quotes about current and future Timber Rattlers.
• Voting is open for the #8 spot in our BCB Community Prospect Rankings. Last time I checked, Amaury Rivas had opened up an early lead.

If you missed last night's episode of The Onion SportsDome, you missed this note on the Brewers being repossessed.

Around baseball:

Angels: Signed infielder Alberto Callaspo to a one year, $2 million deal, avoiding arbitration.
Mets: Signed pitcher Taylor Tankersley to a minor league deal.
Rockies: Signed pitcher Claudio Vargas to a minor league deal.

Today in former Brewer notes: Dave Bush is reportedly drawing some interest from the Mets.

On this day in 2000 the Brewers pulled off one of the more dubious trades in franchise history, dealing Cal Eldred and Jose Valentin to the White Sox for pitchers Jaime Navarro and John Snyder. Consider the outcomes of these four players:

• Navarro, making his return to Milwaukee, made just five starts before the Brewers released him in April.
• Snyder posted a 6.17 ERA in 23 starts. It was his final major league season.
• Eldred, who had been a Brewer since 1991, posted a 4.58 ERA in 20 starts for the White Sox in 2000. Following a couple of injury-riddled seasons, he bounced back to have a few nice years out of the bullpen for St. Louis.
• Valentin had been a Brewer since 1992. He hit .273/.343/.491 in his first year with the White Sox and went on to play eight more seasons in the big leagues.

With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:

• Neenah, WI native Rich Loiselle, who turns 39. Loiselle pitched six seasons as a member of the Pirates between 1996 and 2001.
• 1981-85 Brewer Chuck Porter, who turns 56.
• Milwaukee native Joe Hauser, who would have turned 112. Hauser spent six seasons with the Philadelphia A's and Indians between 1922 and 1929.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some sabotaging to do.

Drink up.