Friday's Frosty Mug

Some things to read while exercising your influence.

We're 22 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Maryvale, but yesterday's top story came away from Milwaukee as the Tigers officially introduced Prince Fielder. I transcribed most of the press conference, but the only notable Brewer moments came when Fielder mentioned Ryan Braun in passing and Freudian-slipped "Brewers" in place of "Tigers." Big League Stew wants your help captioning a picture from the festivities, while Adam McCalvy has a list of his favorite Brewer memories. Meanwhile, Jordan took a look at life without Fielder moving forward.

Moving back to the Brewers who are still here, the team released the schedule for this weekend's "On Deck" event. If you're planning on attending, make sure you bring plenty of cash.

Even though he's not going to be there, Ryan Braun will probably be one of the primary topics of conversation at On Deck. Off The Bench listed him as the fifth best #3 hitter in baseball.

MLB Daily Dish did a nice job of putting together a complete organizational chart for the Brewers for your perusal. Clearly a lot of work went into this, and you should go check it out.

Months have passed, but the sense of loss following the sudden end of the 2011 season is still too fresh for some: The Outside Corner laments an unused ticket for Game 7 of the NLCS and looks at what the Brewers need to do to get back there in 2012.

In the minors:

• Carlos Gomez went 0-for-2 but drew two walks, stole a base, scored a run and drove in the go-ahead run in Aguilas' 8-5 win over Escogido in the Dominican League finals last night. You can read more about that in today's Winter League Notes. Escogido still leads the best-of-nine series 3-2.
• The Huntsville Stars have a video interview with Brewer hitting coordinator Sandy Guerrero.

Elsewhere in media, John Axford was on Colin Cowherd's show on ESPN Radio yesterday and Taylor Jungmann, Randy Wolf and Corey Hart were all on WSSP.

Yesterday we celebrated Bob Uecker's 77th birthday. If you missed it, though, there's still time to participate in NotGraphs' Feast of Uecker, Patron Saint of Failed Endeavors.

Around baseball:

Athletics: Designated infielder Adrian Cardenas for assignment.
Giants: Signed pitcher Clay Hensley to a one year deal.
Indians: Signed pitcher Dan Wheeler to a minor league deal.
Nationals: Signed reliever Brad Lidge to a one year, $1 million deal plus incentives.
Red Sox: Designated pitcher Scott Atchison for assignment.
Reds: Signed pitcher Jose Arredondo to a two year deal, avoiding arbitration.
Yankees: Signed pitcher Boone Logan to a one year, $1.9 million deal to avoid arbitration and designated pitcher Kevin Whelan for assignment.

In former Brewers:

• High Heat Stats notes that Teddy Higuera was worth 27.3 wins above replacement (rWAR) over a five year stretch from 1985 to 1989, and that's the 21st best such span for a non-Hall of Fame pitcher.
• 2012 will be Jose Hernandez's third season as a minor league instructor in the Orioles' organization. He's spending this year as the fielding coach for high-A Frederick in the Carolina League.

Until the last few weeks, I've felt like this offseason was moving along pretty nicely. Things have slowed considerably, though, and now I find myself missing baseball almost as much as Manny Acta appears to have missed Slider, the Indians mascot. (h/t @KevinKaduk)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to put something in the freezer.

Drink up.