In Mexico: Jason Bourgeois went 4-for-14 over the weekend (all singles) and stole two bases. He's hitting .342/.402/.392 for Mochis.

In Venezuela:

• Alcides Escobar went 0-for-2 with a walk Saturday, his first appearance in a week.
• Brendan Katin went 2-for-9 over the weekend with a walk and a double, drove in three runs and struck out five times.
• Luis Pena had a rough outing Sunday, giving up three runs on a hit and a walk without recording an out.
• The newest Brewer, R.J. Swindle, has already made 17 appearances in Venezuela and is posting a 3.32 ERA. Over the weekend, he threw a scoreless inning on Friday and retired the only batter he faced Sunday.

In the Dominican Republic:

• Joe Bateman gave up a run on a hit in one inning Saturday. He has a 3.66 ERA in 19.2 innings (17 appearances) for Este.
• Juan Sandoval gave up a hit to the only batter he faced Friday, then pitched a scoreless inning Sunday.

In Puerto Rico:

• Charlie Fermaint went 2-for-8 over the weekend with two walks and was caught stealing. Overall, he's hitting .333/.412/.400 in his first 30 ABs for Ponce.
• Mike Rivera went 4-for-7 over the weekend with a walk and a run scored.
• Steve Bray pitched two thirds of a scoreless inning Sunday, to bring his ERA down to 1.98 in 13.2 innings.
• Richie Gardner pitched 1.2 scoreless innings Sunday with a walk and a strikeout. His PWL ERA is 7.98, but it's 2.08 as a reliever.
• Efrain Nieves made his debut for Arecibo Sunday, allowing two hits in a scoreless inning of work, striking out one.

Finally, in the comments on Friday's Update TheJay noticed the following:

• Brad Nelson, who hasn't appeared in the Dominican since November 14, is back in the US getting married.
• Chris Narveson left his Mexican team, citing fatigue, and has been replaced on their roster.
• Casey McGehee returned to the US to deal with a family issue.

Since I've been gone for a week, all stats are from 11/21 to today, unless noted otherwise.

In Mexico: New Brewer Jason Bourgeois is hitting 10-for-29 over the last week for Mochis, with ten singles. All told, Bourgeois is hitting .354/.425/.415 in Mexico, with just two extra base hits in 65 ABs.

In Venezuela:

• Alcides Escobar went 0-for-4 with 2 strikeouts last Friday, and hasn't had a plate appearance since.
• Tony Gwynn went 2-for-8 with an RBI last Friday and Saturday.
• Hernan Iribarren has only had two plate appearances in the last week, and went 0-for-1 with a walk and was caught stealing.
• Brendan Katin went 2-for-6 with a walk and scored a run.
• Luis Pena threw two thirds of a scoreless inning Tuesday, his first outing since November 11 and only his fourth in two months of VWL play.

In the Dominican Republic:

• Joe Bateman gave up a run on a hit in an inning of work Saturday, then pitched 1.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts on Monday.
• Juan Sandoval had a rough outing last Friday, giving up four runs on three hits and a walk in one third of an inning, but rebounded to throw a scoreless inning Saturday and another 1.2 scoreless on Wednesday for his first DWL win.

In Puerto Rico:

• Carlos Corporan went 0-for-7 for Caguas and is 0-for his last 15 overall. He's hitting just .100/.100/.300 in his first 20 PWL ABs.
• Charlie Fermaint went 6-for-18 for Ponce with two doubles, and if you don't count a game where he entered as a pinch runner, he has a seven game hitting streak.
• Martin Maldonado went 0-for-1 in his only plate appearance last Friday.
• Mike Rivera went 4-for-15 with a walk, a double and an RBI for Santurce.
• Steve Bray has given up two runs on four hits and a walk over four outings spanning 3.2 innings of work. All told, he has a 2.08 ERA in 13 innings of work in Puerto Rico.
• Richie Gardner gave up a run on a hit and a walk in 2.2 innings of work over three appearances.

Also worth noting: Casey McGehee hasn't played since November 19, Chris Narveson hasn't pitched since November 17, and Brad Nelson hasn't played since November 14, but I haven't seen any reports on why. All were playing well prior to this gap. If you know something I don't, be sure to leave a note in the comments.

In Arizona: On Friday, Lorenzo Cain led off and went 1-for-5 with a double, and Brent Brewer went 2-for-4 with his first AFL home run as the Javelinas defeated Surprise 8-6.

On Saturday, Lou Palmisano went 1-for-4 with a double and Brent Brewer went 1-for-3 with a walk as Surprise returned the favor, 10-8. David Welch pitched two scoreless innings in relief, giving up just one hit and striking out four.

The AFL is off on Sundays to give the players a chance to do some early Christmas shopping. The Javelinas play at Mesa at 1:35 today. The AFL season ends on Thursday.

In Hawai'i: Friday, Caleb Gindl went 3-for-4 with a walk, his fifth AFL home run and three RBI, and Logan Schafer went 0-for-3 as the CaneFires defeated North Shore 6-5.

Saturday's final game of the regular season was rained out.

Then, on Sunday, Caleb Gindl went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and a GIDP and Cody Scarpetta allowed two runs on four hits and three walks in just 2.1 innings to pick up the loss as the CaneFires lost the HWB Championship game to Waikiki, 5-1. Chris Cody pitched in relief and threw 3.2 scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and striking out two.

With that, the Hawai'i Winter Baseball season has concluded. I'm hoping to write a season recap later today.

In Mexico: Casey McGehee stretched his hitting streak to sixteen games, going 5-for-11 over the weekend with a double, two walks, two home runs and four RBI. He's hitting .331/.354/.562 for Culiacan.

In Venezuela: All stats are from Thursday-Sunday.

• Alcides Escobar went 3-for-7 with three walks and a double for Lara. He's now hit in five straight games to bring his numbers back up to .233/.313/.288 in Venezuela.
• Tony Gwynn went 3-for-7 with two walks, a stolen base and three runs scored for Magallanes. He's hitting .317/.406/.366 in Venezuela, including .429/.556/.524 in 26 plate appearances against lefties.
• Hernan Iribarren went 3-for-11 over the weekend with three walks, a stolen base and two runs scored. He's hitting .333/.417/.505 for Lara.
• Brendan Katin returned from five days off to go 0-for-6 with a run scored for Zulia. He's currently 0-for his last-12 and has slipped to .235/.330/.642 in VWL play.

In the Dominican Republic:

• Brad Nelson went 0-for-3 on Friday, his only action of the weekend. He's still hitting .306/.375/.750 in DWL play, including .390/.444/.829 in 45 plate appearances against righties.
• Joe Bateman pitched an inning for Este on Saturday, giving up one run on two hits. He's still 3-0 with a 3.60 ERA in 15 DWL innings.
In Puerto Rico: All results are from Thursday-Sunday.
• Carlos Corporan went 0-for-7 with three strikeouts.
• Martin Maldonado went 1-for-3 with an RBI on Saturday.
• Mike Rivera went 0-for-6 with four strikeouts, but did walk twice and score a run for Santurce.
• Steve Bray picked up his first win Sunday, throwing two perfect innings with two strikeouts for Carolina. He has yet to allow an earned run in nine PWL innings.

In Arizona: No Brewers appeared in the Javelinas' 3-2 loss to the Saguaros.

The Javelinas host the Saguaros at 8:05 tonight.

In Hawai'i: Caleb Gindl went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the CaneFires' 5-1 win over Honolulu.

All of Thursday's HWB action has already been canceled, leaving just two games left in the HWB schedule and clinching the West division for the CaneFires.

In Mexico:

• Casey McGehee went 1-for-4 with a home run for Culiacan. This was his twelfth consecutive game with a hit and his third consecutive with a home run.
• Chris Narveson picked up his second consecutive win for Hermosillo, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk and striking out five in seven innings.

In Venezuela:

• Alcides Escobar went 3-for-5 with a stolen base, a run scored and an RBI for Lara. He's now 5-for his last-8 with two stolen bases and two runs scored.
• Tony Gwynn went 1-for-3 for Magallanes.
• Hernan Iribarren went 0-for-2 with four walks for Lara, and scored two runs. Those four walks were a third of his season total.

In the Dominican Republic: Brad Nelson went 1-for-4 with a two-run double, walked and struck out twice.

In Puerto Rico:

• Carlos Corporan went 0-for-1 in his only AB for Caguas.
• Charlie Fermaint entered the game as a pinch runner and stole a base for Ponce. He's now played in three games but only gotten one at bat, a single.
• Martin Maldonado went 1-for-3 with an RBI for Mayaguez.
• Mike Rivera went 3-for-5 with a double and a home run, driving in three runs in his debut for Santurce.
• Steve Bray pitched his fourth consecutive scoreless outing for Carolina, giving up a hit and a walk in 1.2 innings.

In Arizona: Lorenzo Cain went 2-for-4 and scored a run, Alexandre Periard allowed one run on four hits and three walks in four innings and David Welch allowed one run on three hits in three innings, but it was not enough as the Javelinas allowed Mesa to score seven runs in the final three innings and lost 8-4.

The Javelinas will play the AFL's best team, the Peoria Saguaros, today at 1:35.

In Hawai'i: Logan Schafer went 0-for-4 but Cody Scarpetta was dominant, striking out eight and allowing only one hit and one walk over five scoreless innings for the win as the CaneFires beat Waikiki, 6-3.

Since Hawaii doesn't do daylight savings time, they're only four hours behind now, so the CaneFires game with Honolulu today starts at 7 Central time.

In Mexico: Casey McGehee only needed one hit to keep his 11 game hitting streak alive, but he got four, including two doubles and his fourth LMP home run. He's hitting .327/.343/.505 in 104 plate appearances.

In Venezuela:

• Alcides Escobar finally snapped out of his slump yesterday, going 2-for-3 with a stolen base and a run scored for Lara.
• Hernan Iribarren went 1-for-4 with his second VWL home run for Lara.
• Luis Pena pitched a scoreless 1.1 innings with a hit and a walk yesterday for La Guaira, only his second outing since October 15.

In the Dominican Republic: Results from Monday:

• Brad Nelson went 1-for-4 with a solo home run for Cibao, his 8th home run in DWL play. Those eight home runs put him second in the DWL behind 35-year-old shortstop Mendy Lopez, who had seven cups of coffee in the big leagues but spent 2008 in the Mexican League.
• Joe Bateman picked up his third win for Este, giving up just one hit and picking up a strikeout in two scoreless innings. He's got a 3.21 ERA in 14 DWL innings.
• Rafael Lluberes pitched .2 scoreless innings with a strikeout for Cibao in his first appearance since October 29.

In Puerto Rico:

• Carlos Corporan hit a three run home run in his only plate appearance for Caguas.
• Steve Bray pitched a scoreless inning for Carolina. He has yet to allow a run in his first 5.1 PWL innings.

In Arizona: Lorenzo Cain went 4-for-4 with a walk, a double and two home runs, driving in five runs, Lou Palmisano went 2-for-5 with his first AFL home run, and Brent Brewer went 1-for-5 with a double as the Javelinas upended Mesa, 13-9. Omar Aguilar pitched a scoreless ninth, allowing two hits.

The Javelinas host Mesa at 1:35 today.

In the Dominican Republic: Brad Nelson picked up three singles in five at-bats Sunday for Cibao.

In Arizona: Friday, Brent Brewer entered the game late and went 0-for-2, Lorenzo Cain went 1-for-4 with an RBI, David Welch threw two scoreless innings with two hits and two strikeouts, and Omar Aguilar allowed only a walk while striking out two in one inning of work as the Javelinas lost again, 13-4 to the Saguaros.

Then on Saturday, no Brewers appeared and the Javelinas lost their 10th game in 11 opportunities, 9-6 to Surprise.

The AFL was off Sunday, so at least the Javelinas didn't lose again. They travel to Mesa at 1:35 today.

In Hawai'i: Caleb Gindl went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Friday, and Logan Schafer went 1-for-3 as the CaneFires defeated North Shore, 4-1.

Saturday, Logan Schafer went 2-for-5 as the CaneFires rode the wave of an 8-run second inning to a 13-4 victory.

Sunday, Logan Schafer entered the game late and went 1-for-1, Caleb Gindl went 1-for-4 and scored a run, and Chris Cody pitched five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks with two strikeouts, as the CaneFires played to a 6-6 7 inning tie.

Hawai'i Winter Baseball is off on Monday to avoid overdoing it. They return to action Tuesday.

In Mexico: Casey McGehee went 3-for-11 over the weekend with a double and his third home run. He has a hit in ten straight games for Culiacan.

In Venezuela:

• Alcides Escobar went 0-for-2 on Saturday for Lara. He's now 3-for his last 34 and hitting .155/.231/.207 overall.
• Tony Gwynn went 1-for-5 over the weekend with two walks and two RBI for Magallanes. He's hitting .307/.391/.360 in the VWL.
• Hernan Iribarren went 6-for-15 in four games over the weekend, picking up a double, two stolen bases and driving in three runs. He's hitting .354/.407/.524 for Lara, and has stolen seven bases in nine attempts.
• Brendan Katin went 1-for-8 over the weekend, walked, scored a run and got caught stealing. He's still hitting .253/.345/.693 for Zulia, and still leads the VWL with 10 home runs.

In the Dominican Republic: from Thursday-Saturday's games:

• Brad Nelson walked in his only plate appearance Friday, then went 2-for-4 with two home runs on Saturday. Nelson is hitting .304/.381/804 for Cibao, leads the DWL in OPS and is second in home runs and RBI.
• Joe Bateman pitched three innings over two appearances Friday and Saturday, giving up one run on two hits and three walks. He did strike out two.

In Puerto Rico:

• Carlos Corporan went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI Saturday in his debut for Caguas.
• Charlie Fermaint was caught stealing as a pinch runner in his debut Friday, then singled, drove in a run and scored in his only at bat Saturday for Ponce.
• Martin Maldonado went 0-for-3 in his debut for Mayaguez on Saturday.
• Jorge Crespo gave up six runs (three earned) on four hits and a walk in .2 innings of work for Arecibo Saturday.
• Richie Gardner started and gave up four runs on six hits in four innings for Carolina Saturday, but escaped with a no decision.
• Steve Bray pitched two scoreless innings of relief, allowing only a walk and a hit for Carolina on Sunday.

Note: Erasmo Ramirez, Jay Gibbons, Chris Woodward and Ozzie Chavez are all minor league free agents now, so they will no longer appear in these reports.

In Arizona: No Brewers appeared in the Javelinas seventh straight loss, 9-3 to Scottsdale.

The Javelinas host Surprise at 1:35.

In Hawai'i: Caleb Gindl went 2-for-4 with two walks, two doubles, drove in two runs and scored three times, Logan Schafer went 1-for-3 with a double and two walks, and Cody Scarpetta allowed two runs on three hits and four walks while striking out five in four innings to pick up the win as the CaneFires bludgeoned Honolulu, 13-5. Scarpetta also hit a batter, threw a wild pitch and committed an error.

In Mexico: Casey McGehee went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a srtikeout for Mazatlan. He's hit in five straight games (11-for-22). Also for Mazatlan, Chris Woodward went 1-for-4 with a K in his second LMP appearance.

Apparently I'm up too early. The Venezuelan stats aren't up yet, and all I know from the Dominican is that Brad Nelson went 0-for-2 with a strikeout for Cibao. I'll include what I'm missing from today in tomorrow's update.

In Arizona: Brent Brewer got his first start at shortstop and went 0-for-3, and Lorenzo Cain entered the game as a pinch runner and stole a base but failed to score in the Javelinas' 5-3 loss to Surprise.

The Javelinas have lost six straight games, and will try to snap that streak in Scottsdale tonight at 8.

In the Dominican Republic: From Sunday's games:

• Ozzie Chavez went 2-for-4, scored a run and drove one in for Este.
• Brad Nelson went 1-for-3 with two walks and scored twice for Cibao.

So, as you've likely heard, the Brewers exercised their option for 2009 on Mike Cameron today. Mike Cameron will make $10 million in 2009, $750k of which the Brewers would have been forced to pay him even if they had decided not to keep him, to buy out the option.

Now, $9.25 million is a lot of money. In $100 bills, it would pretty much fill this suitcase.

If you assume the Brewer payroll will be around $90 million next season, give or take depending on free agent signings, Mike Cameron stands to make about 11.1% of the Brewers' total payroll. That number is less than Jeff Suppan (13.8%), only slightly more than Bill Hall (9.3%) and much, much more than Ryan Braun (0.8%).

In several threads discussing the option, there seems to be a percentage of the population that feels like $9.25 million was too much to spend on Cameron, an above-average defensive CF who hit .243/.331/.477 in 2008, his tenth consecutive and eleventh out of twelve season with an OPS+ over 100. I'll agree that $9.25 million is a lot of money, and perhaps more than I'd like to spend, but if not Cameron, then what? Let's take a look down three other paths the Brewers could have pursued:

Option 1: Replace from within
Cost: Cheap. Any two of these guys would cost less than $1 million for 2009.

Six minor leaguers played in at least ten games in center field for either Nashville (AAA) or Huntsville (AA) in 2008. Thanks to Jeff, we can calculate their major league equivalents for 2008 relatively easily. Here are the six, sorted by their MLE OPS:

Laynce Nix (AAA): .238/.287/.429
Lorenzo Cain (AA): .228/.293/.383
Michael Brantley (AA): .264/.322/.323
Hernan Iribarren (AAA): .233/.274/.283
Tony Gwynn (AAA): .231/.272/.274
Freddy Parejo (AA): .233/.248/.289

Of those, Nix is no longer with the organization, Brantley was the PTBNL in the Sabathia deal, and Iribarren has played just 11 games in center field in his career. Lorenzo Cain has played just six games above AA, and only played half of 2008.

So if you want to go really cheap and create the possibility of half innings that go 7-8-9 with Kendall, Cain/Iribarren/Gwynn, Pitcher, that's one option. On Yovani Gallardo's starts he should hit seventh.

Option 2: Sign another free agent to replace Cameron
Cost: Moderate

Could the Brewers bring in another stop-gap centerfielder for less? Possibly. Let's look at the options:

Gabe Kapler, Brewers: There's no guarantee Kapler will be back, as he's coming off a career year and the Red Sox reportedly have interest in him. He's never had 500 AB's in a season, and hasn't even had 500 plate appearances since 2001. He had a career year and a nice comeback in 2008, but spent 2007 out of baseball, and in the five seasons before that he posted OPS+'s of 75, 85, 77, 65 and 77. He's only 33 and coming off a career year, so my guess is he'll sign for either 2 or 3 years at $3.5-$4 million per. If you sign him for that and he either can't physically handle playing full time or is ineffective, then you're back to the options listed above.

Jim Edmonds, Cubs: Came back to hit .256/.369/.568 for the Cubs in part-time duty after a rough start that led to his release in San Diego. He's 39 years old and hasn't appeared in 120 games since 2005. He's almost certainly not capable of playing everyday, but if you'd like to give him a shot I'd guess about $3 million for one year could do it.

Mark Kotsay, Red Sox: Hit /276/.329/.403 for the Braves and Red Sox in 2008. He's a serviceable big league CF with decent experience and while he hasn't reached a 100 OPS+ in any of the last four seasons, he was only truly terrible in one of them. The downside: he made $8 million in 2008, and since he's really the only other everyday option available in free agency, he'll probably get something like 3 years, $27 million, to make him $25k cheaper than Cameron.

Scott Podsednik, Rockies or So Taguchi, Phillies: Podsednik hasn't been a full-timer since 2006. He had a nice comeback in Colorado this year, but still only hit .253/.322/.333. Taquchi hit .220/.283/.297 for the Phillies this season and, at 38 years old, is likely done. Either might take a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. Neither should be depended on to provide anything.

Option 3: Move Ryan Braun/Corey Hart to CF and look for a corner outfielder
Cost: Depends on the corner outfielder

CHONE projects Mike Cameron as about three runs above average defensively in center field in 2009. Braun projects at about 7 runs below average in center, and Hart projects at 9. Braun has never played there before, so I'm not sure how reliable that number is. But, assuming one of the two would be 8 runs below average, the new corner outfielder would need to be an average defender and 11 runs better than Mike Cameron offensively to break even.

There are some Brewers that could be a fit here. Brad Nelson (.246/.321/.393 MLE in Nashville) is as close to big league ready as he'll ever get, in all likelihood. Mat Gamel (.273/.326/.430 MLE in Huntsville) could work, and a free agent to fill a corner spot is easier to find than a center fielder. This is probably the most viable of the three options, but it weakens the Brewers a lot defensively, and could mean Ryan Braun's second position change in as many years.

So what do you think? What should the Brewers have done?