Friday's Frosty Mug

Some things to read while everything must go.

We're 100 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, and I guess that's as good a time as any to look back at 2011. FSWisconsin will air an hour-long recap of the season tonight, and likely dozens of other times over the months to come.

Beyond that, it's a pretty quiet news day. Let's skip ahead to the Prince Fielder notes:

• Nolan Ryan says the Rangers are not interested in Fielder or Albert Pujols, and will stick with Mitch Moreland at first base.
• Three of the twelve major league executives polled by Jayson Stark thought Fielder would end up with the Rangers. No other team received more than two votes.
• At MLB.com, a great debate rages on regarding this winter's better signing. Anthony Castrovince makes the case for Prince Fielder, while Alden Gonzalez argues on behalf of Albert Pujols.

Elsewhere on the free agent market: Jimmy Rollins reportedly has drawn interest from six teams, and Jayson Stark speculates the Brewers could be one of them. He's older than Jose Reyes but also likely to be less expensive.

Meanwhile, we still haven't heard much about the Brewers' plan to rebuild their bullpen. Brandon Berg of Chippewa.com has a look at some internal and external options to fill the gaps created by Francisco Rodriguez, LaTroy Hawkins and Takashi Saito's departure.

This is speculation on top of speculation, but it's vaguely interesting because of the names involved: Gabe Kapler is one of three Jewish former major leaguers involved in an effort to get Israel included in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. There's speculation at the link that Ryan Braun is one of the players who could be a part of the team.

In the minors: Kentrail Davis went 1-for-5, but that single was enough to stretch his hitting streak to 12 games as Peoria lost 9-5 to Salt River yesterday. You can read about that and more in today's Winter League Notes.

We profiled our 13th Brewer yesterday as Chris Narveson became the latest MVBrewer Honorable Mention. Check back later today for #14.

Elsewhere in self-promotion: I answered a few questions last week for MLB Daily Dish, and you can see them here. They were kind enough to call me a "Brewers Expert," which at least beats being called a "blogger."

Around baseball:

Mets: Removed outfielder Jason Pridie from their 40 man roster. He'll be a free agent.
Phillies: Signed pitcher Raul Valdes to a minor league deal.
Pirates: Signed catcher Rod Barajas to a one year, $4 million deal with a club option for 2013.
Twins: Re-signed infielder/outfielder Brian Dinkelman to a minor league deal.
White Sox: Signed pitcher Donnie Veal to a minor league deal.

Today in baseball economics: White Sox GM Kenny Williams told reporters yesterday that he team's 2012 budget is "a little bit less than what we had last year."

This seems like a daily occurrence lately: Yesterday I mentioned that Korean MVP Suk-Min Yoon was likely headed to MLB, and now today three-time Japanese batting champion Norichika Aoki appears poised to join him. Aoki is a center fielder and will be represented by Nez Balelo, who is also Ryan Braun's agent.

Today in former Brewers: The Beer Pen Podcast interviewed Seth McClung this week.

I'm starting to think Bernie Brewer got the best draw in The Outside Corner's MLB Mustache Madness tournament. He won his first round match and now faces minor leaguer Matt Shoemaker.

This seems like a strange move: The Royals are hosting the 2012 All Star Game, and they're citing that as the reason for their decision to cancel this winter's FanFest. That's roughly the equivalent of skipping breakfast this morning because you're having a big lunch on Wednesday.

It's been a pretty rough news week around the world of sports, as this week's top stories have been an abduction and a massive rape scandal. If you're having a hard time cheering up after all of this week's bad news, Larry Granillo of Baseball Prospectus is here for you.

Meanwhile, we're just a few weeks away from baseball's winter meetings in Dallas. Jack Moore of NotGraphs noted that the hotel where the event is taking place is just down the street from Medieval Times, where hilarity will almost certainly ensue.

If you still have time left over after reading this morning's Mug, maybe you should apply for a job. The Book Blog reports the Pirates are in the market for a data architect and a quantitative analyst.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to figure out what I'm wearing to two weddings tomorrow.

Drink up.