Currently tenth on Google's depth chart for cheap weird handled mugs.

So I learned to spell Zduriencik just in time to write about his departure. Some bullet points from around the web this morning:

• Tom H.'s initial announcement.
• Between the Green Pillars says thank you.
• The Brew Town Beat expects Zduriencik's replacement to come from within the organization.
• Fire Ned Coletti Now is excited that the Mariners chose Zduriencik and left Kim Ng with the Dodgers.
• U.S.S. Mariner has the opening post for the Zduriencik Era in Seattle.
• Lookout Landing has already given him a cool new nickname, Dr. Zoinks.
• Zduriencik is one of the primary reasons why Bill James ranked the Brewers 6th in young talent. Hopefully he's not the only reason.
• Here's a picture of Jack Z. It didn't occur to me until yesterday that I'd never seen one.

So now a new scouting director can be added to the list of hires needing to be made in the near future. On the managerial front, there's only some news today: The Official Site is reporting Bob Brenly will be interviewed before the end of the week. MLB FanHouse thinks he'd be a good fit. Also, Dale Sveum has had a change of heart and could return to the Brewers if invited.

Today's Sabathia Smorgasbord is an all-you-can-eat awards buffet: Sabathia won the Clutch Performer of the Year award, and also took home Brewers Most Valuable Player, Most Valuable Pitcher and Top Newcomer honors.

Still no word on whether or not the Brewers will exercise their 2009 option on Mike Cameron's contract, but at least one team is watching closely: the Yankees are reportedly interested in making an offer to Cameron if the Brewers set him free.

Beyond the Box Score has Prince Fielder as the 13th best first baseman in baseball in 2008, adding 42 runs with his bat but losing 12 in the field.

So if you've been following my Fall/Winter League updates, you know that Taylor Green left yesterday's game after being hit in the face with a pitch. He has a "minimally displaced" fracture of his nose. What I didn't know until today was that Jeremy Jeffress was injured in the game too, and complained of shoulder discomfort after being shelled in two thirds of an inning of work. Here's a quote from the Official Site's story: Jeffress is pretty much the only stud pitching prospect in the Brewers organization, and he left a fall league game and was diagnosed with shoulder fatigue. Why is there any question about his AFL status? He should've been put on an airplane home the same day. Why would the Brewers even consider letting him pitch again?

This one caught me off guard: Seamheads has a list of the 25 catchers with the best careers. There are 12 catchers enshrined in Cooperstown, but Seamheads says the seventh best catcher of all time is Ted Simmons, who is not a member of the Hall. Also, they rank Jason Kendall as the 19th greatest catcher of all time.

Two Jake Peavy notes today: MLB Trade Rumors is reporting that as many as 14 teams may already have inquired about him. Negotiations with Atlanta may have hit a snag, as a potential Opening Day Rotation of Jake, Jair (Jurrjens), Jorge (Campillo) and Jo-Jo (Reyes) would bring into play a little-known MLB rule requiring them to re-sign John Smoltz to be the fifth J.

Oh, and Baseball Reference has updated their similarity scores, so now you can see that Rickie Weeks' career through age 25 has most paralleled the career of Denis Menke, who played for the Milwaukee Braves and never really did anything all that special. Also, Weeks' #10 comp is Dale Sveum.

Drink up.

It's still a little early to get wrapped up in these things, but while there's still quite a bit of space between the Brewers and the Cubs, the Crew is only two games behind the wild-card leading Cardinals.  It's only a matter of time...

Tonight's matchup is Ben Sheets and Jo-Jo Reyes.  Reyes has been solid this year, including a seven-inning, one-run performance last time these two teams met.  Sheets didn't perform as well against the Braves, but he did register a quality start, and he did get the win--just like he did in his previous four starts against the Braves.

Game time is 6:05 CT, and here's the BR Game Preview.

Go Brewers!

Last night the Brewers looked like a bona fide Major League baseball team.  Maybe it was the Julian Tavarez effect? 

It's been an two whole days since Tim Dillard pitched, so I think we can expect him to see some action.  Bridging the gap between the National Anthem and Dillard is Jeff Suppan, who is taking on Jo-Jo Reyes, a lefty. 

Here's the BR Game Preview.  Game time is 7:05 CT.

Go Brewers!