Some things to read while pondering the silver lining of the economic situation.

So the NL Cy Young Award will be announced today. Landon Evanson of Bugs & Cranks and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch both list the argument for CC Sabathia among their points to consider. Goold's post includes a poll, if you're into such things. Baseball Musings has Sabathia third on their imaginary ballot.

Speaking of Sabathia, the JS asked a sports economist at Vanderbilt to estimate how much money Sabathia will get this offseason. The guess: 5 years, $20-25 million. I fully expect the Yankees to have blown that figure out of the water by Friday afternoon, and the Angels and Dodgers could do it as well. Meanwhile, CC is packing up his stuff and waiting to see where he's headed next.

Yesterday, Geovany Soto and Evan Longoria won the NL and AL Rookie of the Year Awards, respectively. As they do annually, the BBWAA did something to lead us to believe they're incapable of handling this task. This year, three writers put Reds SP Edinson Volquez on their ballot despite the fact that he's not a rookie.

The Junkball Blues has six questions about young players on the Brewers and their ability to stop regression in 2009.

Two of those young players, J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun, made Beyond the Box Score's list of the top 50 players in 2008. Hardy is also the subject of very vague trade mumblings involving the Twins.

Another one of those young players is Corey Hart, who rated slightly below average as a defensive right fielder. The Brewers ranked 18th as a team in right field defense.

Baseball Digest Daily says the Brewers have had the fourth best offseason so far. Apparently acquiring Casey McGehee carries a lot of weight. Hiring Bruce Seid as the new amateur scouting director wasn't mentioned.

So two weeks ago, Rick Peterson was mentioned as a possible candidate for the Brewers' pitching coach vacancy, but later dismissed as an option and the team hired Bill Castro from within. Buried, literally in the last paragraph of this Ken Rosenthal column, is a note that sheds some light on the situation:

It's been a few days, I guess, since we've talked about Gabe Kapler. For those of you who felt Kapler could have been a cheap option to replace Mike Cameron, here's something worth noting: Beyond the Box Score estimates his value for 2009 at $6.69 million. I doubt he'll get that, but $4-5 million wouldn't surprise me at all.

Two other awards to announce today: Chris Cody, who split the season between West Virginia and Brevard County and now is pitching in Hawai'i, has been named the Brewers Organizational Pitcher of the Year. Also, Doug Melvin will receive the Nice Guy Award at the annual Red Smith banquet in January in Appleton.

Speaking of Appleton, Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio is already getting excited about the projected Timber Rattlers roster for 2009.

In hot stove news, two trades went through yesterday. First, the A's acquired Matt Holliday from the Rockies for a package including Huston Street, SP Greg Smith and OF Carlos Gonzalez. The A's are now allowed to ring-rang a dong for Matt Holliday. Meanwhile, the Rockies may be looking to flip Huston Street.

Also, the Marlins traded Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham to the Nationals for infielder Emilio Bonifacio and two young prospects.

Elsewhere on the stove:

Angels: Have reportedly decided not to pursue free agent Francisco Rodriguez.
D-Backs: Are reportedly expressing interest in former Astro (and Brewer) Mark Loretta.
Padres: Reportedly withdrew their offer to Trevor Hoffman.

In other news, the Mariners have scheduled initial interviews with seven candidates for their vacant managerial position. Neither Ned Yost nor Willie Randolph are on the list. That could mean they're not candidates, but Chuckie Hacks wonders if Yost is getting a first round bye since he's worked with Zduriencik before. The same thing is possible for Willie Randolph, who interviewed with the Brewers while Zduriencik was still there.

Oh, and Friday is Make Someone Feel Uncomfortable Day. If you really want to do a good job, you should probably start preparing now.

Drink up.

Some things to read once you're done with haiku on the Cardinals' offseason.

So it looks like the rumor about the Yankees offer for Mike Cameron was pretty accurate, or at least close to it, but it also looks like Doug Melvin didn't take the bait. It is about the money, stupid thinks the Yankees might be trading for Cameron in an effort to help lure in his friend, CC Sabathia. If that's the case, one has to wonder if Yankee executives spend their evenings trolling the bars for girls who might have hot friends.

I don't know if Prince Fielder has hot friends, but regardless of that the Nationals are showing interest in him. They might need one of their new uniforms in a really big size.

In all seriousness, though: Do the Nationals have any bargaining chips good enough to warrant unloading Fielder? I can't think of anything.

Because all things in life require balance, here's a trade rumor going the other way: Athletic Supporters looks at what it might take to get Huston Street to Milwaukee.

Ryan Braun finished eighth and CC Sabathia 12th in the SB Nation Voting for NL MVP. Braun appeared on 11 ballots but didn't get a single vote above third place. CC Sabathia picked up two second place votes but only appeared on four ballots. Albert Pujols, Lance Berkman and Hanley Ramirez were the top three, respectively.

In other ranking news, Brewer second basemen ranked 13th in all of baseball Baseball Musings' Probabilistic Model of Range. Rickie Weeks was slightly above average (100.55, with 100 being average) and Ray Durham was fifth from the bottom (92.86). Related: mgl bludgeoned the theory that players with better range make more errors.

Infield Chatter has made a list of the top 50 free agents and projected their destination. His list includes CC Sabathia the Angel, Ben Sheets the Astro, Ray Durham the Met, and Mark Grduzielanek the Brewer.

This will certainly shock you: The Hardball Times has a list of the worst free agent signings in 2008, and Eric Gagne is on it. In his brief appearance, he gave up a home run.

Here are today's notes from the hot stove:

Phillies: Pat Burrell and Jamie Moyer filed for free agency.
Red Sox: Jason Varitek is looking for a deal similar to Jorge Posada's, which pays $13.1 million annually. He'll be home if you need him.
Rockies: Brian Fuentes' agents are supposedly working on a four year deal with the Mets worth around $44 million.
Yankees: Declined Damaso Marte's option for 2009. Marte will be a Type A free agent.

Following up on the Phillies note: their backup plans, should Burrell leave, are Jerry Hairston, Rocco Baldelli...and Kevin Mench. They'd better bid high for Burrell.

No player with 500 home runs has ever been denied entrance into the Hall of Fame. Could Sammy Sosa be the first player to be denied with 600? It seems possible.

Nominations are open for the 2008 Weblog Awards. So if you have, by chance, a favorite sports blog, you could perhaps consider nominating it.

Oh, and apparently time loses all meaning when you work on a cruise ship.

Drink up.