Thursday's Frosty Mug

Some things to read while taking the average.

We're 30 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Maryvale, and yesterday we learned that you can feel free to make other plans for Sunday nights in April, May and July. ESPN has unveiled the schedule for ten Sunday Night Baseball broadcasts in early 2012 and the Brewers (along with the Diamondbacks and Tigers) won't be making an appearance. Jaymes Langrehr of The Brewers Bar notes that six of the ten games announced (and all four in April) are AL games, but also shows a somewhat unexciting list of Brewer games that could have been aired.

Should we be worried about Yovani Gallardo's workload? Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated included him on a list of pitchers who could face injury issues in 2012, noting that Gallardo's 226.1 innings in 2011 where 41.1 more than he pitched the previous year. He took a similar jump between 2006 and 2007 before missing most of the 2008 season with a knee injury. (h/t @Mass_Haas)

Ryan Braun is still planning on attending the New York BBWAA dinner this weekend to accept the NL MVP award, and yesterday his agent announced he plans to give a speech at the event on Saturday. David Brown of Yahoo has already decided Braun is guilty and says he should refuse the award, while Bob Nightengale says he voted for Braun and wouldn't change his vote now.

Here are today's Prince Fielder notes:

• The Rangers are saying they're no longer interested in a long term deal for Fielder, but Bob Nightengale says not to count them out and It's About The Money has a list of reasons he'll end up there.
• Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post says the Nationals now appear to be the favorites to sign Fielder.
• Fresh Brewed is still begging Fielder to come back to Milwaukee.
• Carson Cistulli of NotGraphs used Fielder to demonstrate what democracy looks like.

If you're needing your heart warmed this morning, Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com has the ticket: A story involving Craig Counsell, former coach Rich Donnelly and the phrase "the chicken runs at midnight."

In the minors:

• Francisco Rodriguez allowed two runs on two hits and a walk in his lone inning for La Guaira last night, but still held on for the save in their 9-8 win over Magallanes in the Venezuelan playoffs. You can read about that and more in today's Winter League Notes.
• As part of yesterday's All Questions Answered thread John Sickels of Minor League Ball picked Jed Bradley out of a list of candidates as the guy who most looks like a major league pitcher. He also once again acknowledged Zelous Wheeler's awesome name.
• The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers talked to infielder Nick Shaw this week in the latest installment of their Interrogation Room series. Shaw may not be a major leaguer, but the organization could use more guys with his plate discipline.
• As of this writing Tyler Thornburg leads Taylor Green by 65 votes in the voting for the #3 spot on our BCB Community Prospect list. You have until 1 pm today to cast your vote, then stop back after 2 to see the nominees for #4.

John Steinmiller announced on Twitter yesterday that new Brewer Norichika Aoki will wear #7. I know a handful of you were planning on buying his jersey, but maybe now you can repurpose an old J.J. Hardy instead.

Another day, another thing that's kind of like a power ranking: The Outside Corner says the Brewers have baseball's seventh best starting rotation.

Around baseball:

Astros: Designated catcher Craig Tatum for assignment.
Cubs: Signed catcher Jason Jaramillo to a minor league deal.
Mariners: Signed pitcher Oliver Perez to a minor league deal.
Rangers: Signed pitcher Yu Darvish to a six year, $60 million deal.
Rockies: Signed pitcher Jamie Moyer to a minor league deal.

Moyer, as you've probably heard, is 49 years old and a veteran of 24 major league seasons. The Platoon Advantage notes that he's also only four degrees of separation away from Babe Ruth.

In former Brewers: High Heat Stats says Eric Plunk was the fifth most under-appreciated player of the 90's.

In further proof that we live in strange times: We may only be a few years away from seeing the last Bob play in the major leagues. Jon Bois of Baseball Nation notes that MLB only has two Bobs left. The last Brewer named Bob was Robert James "R.J." Swindle, who pitched a few games in 2009. There hasn't been a Brewer who actually went by Bob since 2000, when Bob Wickman and Bob Scanlan were teammates.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to pick up a prom dress. (h/t PocketDoppler)

Drink up.