On this day in 1970 Takashi Saito was born in Miyagi, Japan. He had already had a long career in Japan and was just a week shy of his 36th birthday when the Dodgers signed him as a free agent before the 2006 season.

Saito has now pitched six years in the majors as a member of four teams (three years as a Dodger and one each with the Red Sox, Braves and Brewers). He's recorded 84 saves, appeared in an All Star Game and struck out 10.7 batters per nine innings for his career during years where most pitchers' playing days are already over.

Durability has never been a strong asset for Saito, but he has posted a 2.18 ERA over 326 innings in the major leagues. Among pitchers who have thrown at least 300 innings since the end of World War II, only one has done better:

In October Saito won a postseason game, becoming the oldest Brewer ever to do so.

Interestingly enough, Saito was born on the same day as 1996-97 Brewer Kelly Stinnett. Stinnett had a 14 year major league career and has already been retired for four years.

Both Saito and Stinnett turn 42 today. With help from the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to:

• Ken Henderson, the Brewers' first round pick in 1991 (#5 overall, didn't sign). He turns 39.
• 1983-86 Brewer Jaime Cocanower, who turns 55.

As the Brewers get ready to report to spring training, we'll be taking a look this week at various players who should, could or might approach notable milestones this season. We'll start today with a look at John Axford.

Axford, of course, set a franchise record and led the National League with 46 saves last season. He now has 71 for his career, which is fifth all time among Brewers. If he closes out 27 games this season he'll move into sole possession of second place:

41 of Axford's 71 saves have come at Miller Park. He needs seven more to pass Francisco Cordero for that record:

37 of Cordero's 47 saves came as a Brewer, while ten more came as a member of the Reds. Axford and Turnbow are tied for the career record for saves at Miller Park as a Brewer, with 41 each.

Last season Axford became just the second Brewer ever to record 40 saves, and the tenth ever to record 30. If he passes 30 again this season he'll join Dan Plesac as the only Brewers ever to save more than 30 games twice.

Some things to read while digging out your guitar.

We're still five short days away from Brewer pitchers and catchers reporting to Maryvale, but we're already talking about "visa issues:" John Axford's trip to Arizona over the weekend was delayed when homeland security wouldn't allow his young son into the country. I'd assume this will be resolved in plenty of time for Axford to make it to the first scheduled workout, but as of yesterday it was still an issue.

Elsewhere in delays, Ryan Braun's appeal process continues to drag out. The arbitration panel's 25 day window to render a judgment expires today but Tom Haudricourt says no announcement is expected, meaning they've likely asked for (and inexplicably been granted) more time. Ken Rosenthal makes the case that a Braun suspension would be a good thing for baseball as it would remove any doubts about favoritism in the system.

Meanwhile, the Brewers are still facing the challenge of preparing for the season without knowing if the reigning NL MVP will be available on Opening Day. Matthew Pouliot of Hardball Talk has projections for the Brewer starting lineup with and without Braun. Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports says "the onus will be on the pitching staff" to cover the offensive production gap left with Prince Fielder gone and Braun potentially suspended.

Regardless of how the Braun situation plays out, the Brewers' best chance to win in the next few years is probably 2012. Adam McCalvy addressed the perception that this is an "all-in" year in his spring training preview. Tyler Lockman of Fox Sports Arizona also has a camp preview.

I find it hard to believe the Brewers are still active on the free agent market at this point, but Jon Heyman lists them as one of three teams that could be a good fit for veteran shortstop Edgar Renteria. Renteria is 35 and hit .251/.306/.348 in 96 games for the Reds last season, playing almost exclusively at short and making $2.1 million. UZR/150 says he's been a league average or above shortstop defensively each of the last three seasons.

I still think it's possible, however, that the Brewers could work out an extension with Zack Greinke in the coming days. Keep Turning Up The Heat! says the team needs to make extending Greinke their first priority.

It'll be interesting to see how Nyjer Morgan handles his second season in Milwaukee following his meteoric rise to stardom in year one. No matter what happens, though, he'll always have this: Sully Baseball notes that he's one of just 24 players that have ended a postseason series with a walkoff hit. Morgan also hit a home run off a 61.2 mph Tim Wakefield knuckleball last season, and Baseball Nation says it was the slowest pitch hit out all year.

Carlos Gomez projects to spend most of 2012 as the other half of Nyjer Morgan's platoon in center field. Jack Moore of Disciples of Uecker uses heat maps to make a compelling case that Gomez should be standing a little closer to the plate while batting.

Ron Roenicke is getting ready for his second season as a major league manager, and the JS (behind the paywall) has a Q&A with him. Topics discussed include Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Johnny Narron, Doug Melvin, Mat Gamel and more.

Roenicke's rookie campaign will be a tough act to follow: Brewers 101 wonders if the 2011 Brewers were the best team in franchise history.

In the minors:

• Seedlings To Stars compiled several top 100 prospect rankings and used them to rank the Brewer farm system 24th in all of baseball.
• Speaking of top 100 lists, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus has Wily Peralta #92 on his. Peralta is the only Brewer mentioned.
• Cream City Cables has profiles of Peralta and Taylor Jungmann, while Brewer Nation has a look at Caleb Gindl.
  
• BCB Community Prospect #3 Tyler Thornburg is now on Twitter. He's been added to the list.

Your first opportunity to start earning free 2012 tickets is upon us: The Brewers and BP are bringing back the "C'mon Back Card" promotion this season.

Around baseball:

Cardinals: Signed reliever Scott Linebrink to a minor league deal.
Indians: Signed shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera to a one year, $4.55 million deal to avoid arbitration and signed pitcher Jon Garland to a minor league deal.
Orioles: Signed reliever Luis Ayala to a one year deal with a club option for 2013 and designated outfielder Matt Angle for assignment.
Rangers: Signed catcher Mike Napoli to a one year, $9.4 million deal to avoid arbitration.

If you'd like a recap of this winter's free agent movement, Flip Flop Fly Ball has a great graphic showing when and where players signed this offseason.

The Brewer spring training countdown still has a few days left, but Mariner pitchers and catchers have already reported to Arizona and held their first workout yesterday. (h/t Baseball Musings) Lookout Landing is on top of it and already has their first evaluation of a player haircut.

Today in baseball economics: A rumor surfaced over the weekend that the Padres' new TV deal will be worth $75 million per season, although Gaslamp Ball was quick to throw some cold water on it. Regardless, Baseball Nation has a look at how surging local TV revenue could impact the game going forward.

In case you'd forgotten, here's a reminder that relief pitcher usage has changed dramatically in the last 50 years: High Heat Stats notes that Warren Spahn had more career complete games (382) than wins (363). The Brewer career record for complete games is 81, held by Mike Caldwell. Ben Sheets (18) and CC Sabathia (7) are the only Brewers to collect more than 5 since 2000.

You may also have forgotten that at one point in history we relied pretty heavily on pay phones. Larry Granillo of Baseball Prospectus unearthed an old listing of pay phone numbers one could call to get an update on the score at various ballparks.

This might be my favorite post from the weekend, and it's a cautionary tale for all of us: If you're getting your picture taken with your favorite player, make sure the person taking the picture knows what they're doing.

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History celebrates Matt Mieske's 44th birthday. Today is also Sal Bando's birthday, as celebrated over at The Platoon Advantage. Bando was hit by 75 pitches in his career, the most ever for a player born on February 13. Ben Oglivie celebrated his birthday on Saturday, and his 35 HBP are the third most ever for a player born on February 11.

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

Drink up.

On this day in 1968 Matt Mieske was born in Midland, Michigan. He went to college at Western Michigan and was already 22 when the Padres selected him in the 17th round (471st overall pick) of the 1990 draft. Two years later the Padres sent him to the Brewers along with Ricky Bones and Jose Valentin in the Gary Sheffield trade.

Mieske made his major league debut as a Brewer in 1993 and spent most of the next five seasons playing the outfield in Milwaukee. His overall slash line (.260/.317/.436) would suggest that he wasn't much to write home about, but Mieske crushed left-handed pitchers. Take a look at his career splits:

35 of Mieske's 56 career home runs came against left handed pitchers. 44 of those 56 came as a Brewer.

The Brewers let Mieske leave as a free agent following the 1997 season and he played three more seasons in the big leagues as a member of four teams. He was done in the big leagues at age 32, and now works as a financial planner.

Mieske turns 44 today. With help from Brewerfan.net and the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday today to:

• Wisconsin Timber Rattler T.J. Mittlestaedt, who turns 24.
• 1981 Brewer Donnie Moore, who would have turned 58.
• 1977-81 Brewer and former GM Sal Bando, who turns 68.

On this day in 2010 there weren't a lot of pleasant things said about Corey Hart in this space. Hart was a 2008 NL All Star but had regressed mightily since that point, hitting just .239/.263/.396 after the break that season and following it up with a .260/.335/.418 performance in 2009 with just 12 home runs. There weren't many of us excited about Hart's recent performance, and that was made all the worse when he won his arbitration hearing against the team and was awarded a $4.8 million salary for the upcoming season.

The troubles with Hart carried on into spring training: Amid concerns that he was playing with less than 20/20 eyesight Hart struggled in Cactus League play and actually lost the Opening Day starting job to recent acquisition Jim Edmonds. Hart rebounded fast, however, and went on to hit a career-high 31 home runs and make an All Star appearance despite the fact that he wasn't even on the ballot.

Before this day two years ago, Hart was a .273/.326/.470 career hitter. He's hit .284/.348/.518 since, and now paying $4.8 million for his services in 2010 doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore.

With help from Brewerfan.net and the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:

• AZL Brewer Alejandro Mendoza, who turns 20.
• 2010 Brewer Adam Stern, who turns 32.

On this day in 1994, just a few days before Brewer pitchers and catchers were scheduled to report to spring training, Robin Yount announced his retirement.

He was only 38 years old but Yount had already played 20 major league seasons, debuting as an 18-year-old shortstop in 1974 and finishing up as an outfielder in 1993. Yount had hit .258/.326/.379 while playing primarily center field in his final season and recorded the final 117 of his franchise record 3142 hits.

Yount retired as a two-time American League MVP (1982 as a shortstop and 1989 as an outfielder), a three time Silver Slugger, a three time All Star and a one time Gold Glover. He led the league in doubles and triples twice each, and led the AL with 210 hits in 1982. He's still the Brewer all-time leader in nearly every category.

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

• 2006 Brewer Chris Mabeus, who turns 33.
• 1978-86 Brewer Ben Oglivie, who turns 63.
• 1972-73 Brewer Ollie Brown, who turns 68.