Some things to read while enjoying pumpkin yogurt.

Still no official news on the managerial front, but as noted in the Fanshots, Tom H. seems to think Ken Macha is the frontrunner. Chuckie Hacks still prefers Bob Brenly, and has the following to say about Macha: If Macha promises to be exactly what he's accused of being here, a manager who works based on statistical evidence, then I'm ready to wholeheartedly endorse him. I can do without "real managing." View From the Bleachers wants to keep Brenly bad enough to consider naming him the heir apparent when Lou Pinella retires.

Also, remember a month or so ago when I asked if Jack Z. might be a better fit to serve as GM of the Brewers than Doug Melvin? Nevermind. It's looking increasingly likely that Jack Z. will hire Ned Yost to manage the Mariners. He says he's looking for winners. I'm less disappointed about him leaving now.

It's been several days since we heard the Brewers were planning on making an offer to CC Sabathia, now we have the first rumor of specifics: The Atlanta Journal Constitution is reporting the offer is expected to be 4 years, $100 million, and that Sabathia is more likely to stay a Brewer if Mike Cameron is also brought back. That would leave the Brewers on the hook for $95 million next season before free agency even begins.

There's still not much word on the market for Ben Sheets. Crawfish Boxes has decided the Astros need another pitcher, but doesn't want that pitcher to be Sheets. If the Brewers are going to keep Cameron and make a legit run at signing Sabathia, there's almost certainly not room for Sheets in Milwaukee. So where will he go?

Maybe having money available for free agents is overrated after all. The Rockies, for example, are using their spare pennies to attempt to re-sign Glendon Rusch.

Also likely available as a free agent: Ray Durham. MLB Trade Rumors says the Brewers will not be eligible for compensation picks if/when Durham signs with another team.

This one is making my head hurt: Jeremy Jeffress, easily the Brewers' top pitching prospect, left a game in the AFL last week complaining of shoulder discomfort. He was pitching a day ahead of schedule so he'd be available to pitch a fall league all-star game. He was diagnosed with shoulder fatigue, even though he never actually saw a doctor, and now, as noted in this FanShot, it's being reported he could return to action in the AFL. Are they trying to kill this guy? I love fall baseball as much as (actually, probably more than) the next guy, but seriously, there is nothing in the AFL worth risking the health of a stud prospect over. Shut him down.

Here are some notes from the hot stove today:

• Matt Holliday may be available. Be sure to consult the home/road splits (110 OPS+ at home, 89 away) before you even consider it.
• At least one team has been eliminated from the Jake Peavy sweepstakes, as he has reportedly told the Padres he'll reject a trade to the Rangers.
• John Smoltz is reportedly considering going into the season unsigned and making a midseason return.

Here's something to spark another debate on the merits of bringing Mike Cameron back: Kerry Whisnant says players with high strikeout rates are, on average, more productive. I tend to think the argument should be flipped, that more productive players are more likely to get away with having a high strikeout rate, but I suppose a case can be made for both sides.

This dugout will look awfully familiar: the coaching staff of the 2009 Washington Nationals will feature both Marquis Grissom and Pat Listach.

Oh, and the folks over at Fire Joe Morgan may be getting their wish.

Drink up.

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.

So, don't get me wrong, I'm excited for a win, but 3:40 for a nine-inning game? There's a lot of stuff I could've done in that time.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps
BP Postseason Odds: 85.2 wins and a 22.9% shot at the Central.

Today's interesting side note from BP Odds: A month into the season, BP has the Rays as the most likely playoff team from the AL East, at 42%. The Yankees and Red Sox are both down in the 30's.

Of course, last night's win was largely sparked by the return of Mike Cameron. The JS Blog has quotes from him afterwards.

After the game, Sheets also reported no pain, so hopefully last night was just a rough first day back and he'll be back to normal for the next one.

I have yet to see or hear a report on the condition of umpire Jerry Crawford, who left last night's game early. Most media outlets are just saying he wasn't feeling well, but Baseball Musings says he was complaining of chest pains.

There's no respectful way to transition from a story about chest pain to a story about Derrick Turnbow. There just isn't.

The Brewers are #12 in the latest Bugs and Cranks Power Rankings.

On Injuries:

Nats closer Chad Cordero is headed to the DL with a strained muscle in his shoulder.
Alex Rodriguez's quad injury finally landed him on the DL.
John Smoltz, currently on the DL, is contemplating making the unprecedented move from starter to closer to starter and back to the bullpen again.

If you go out for a walk today, try not to trip over a former Brewer looking for work: Chad Moeller, recently DFA'd by the Yankees, could join Raul Casanova on the Mets. The Orioles DFA'd Greg Aquino yesterday. And Ray King refused to report to AAA and has been released.

It's an annual ritual of spring: Ken Rosenthal seems to think Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey could be on the move soon. I'd be more likely to believe it if we didn't have this conversation every spring, and if the Reds hadn't just signed Cordero and Dusty Baker to win now. But, just like Bronson Arroyo, trade rumors swim in circles.

That's all I've got for today. As always, feel free to leave a comment if you have something to include in a future Mug. Drink up.

Got opinions? Go share them in this week's Fan Opinion Poll. Got half an hour or so to kill and want a quick recap of stuff from around the web? Grab your Frosty Mug.

BDD Recaps
BP Postseason Odds: 84.1 wins and a 20.2% shot at winning the NL Central.

With Ben Sheets returning to the mound and Mike Cameron making his Brewer debut, in Chicago against the Cubs, Tom H. wants to make sure you know today is kind of a big deal.

Thanks to reader Michael M who pointed out that The New York Times did a story on Prince's new eating habits. It's a New York Times story, so it displays all Wisconsinites as raw meat eating savages, but aside from that it's a good read.

The JS Blog notes that Prince hits more than his share of home runs at Wrigley, so this could be a good week for him.

Is Prince the best first baseman in the NL Central? The Cub Reporter wants to know. They're also asking about second basemen.

On injuries:

Hank Blalock has a torn hamstring and is out 3-4 weeks.
Troy Glaus is trying out some clear sunglasses to help him see the ball at night in St. Louis.
Alex Rodriguez has reinjured his quad and is out of the lineup for at least a few more days.
Grady Sizemore has been out since Saturday with a sprained ankle.
John Smoltz will miss his next start and may have to go on the DL with shoulder trouble.

Dusty Baker is drawn to grittiness, but apparently every now and then he incorrectly hears it: He reportedly thought Ryan Freel told him he didn't want to play everyday. That's like saying no to ice cream. Who does that?

As noted below in the minor league report, Nashville lost again last night to drop to 5-18. How long do we give them before we start worrying about the fact that our top minor league affiliate is terrible?

Baseball Happenings has posted the results from this week's Blogpoll for NL MVP. Chase Utley won overwhelmingly, as he probably should.

Baseball Musings asks if the Reds wasted money on Francisco Cordero. He's 4-for-4 in save opportunities, but the Reds have only managed to get him 4 opportunities in 25 games. Speaking of wasted money, the Giants are sending Barry Zito to the bullpen.

Carlos Quentin of the White Sox has been hit by a pitch with the bases loaded 3 times in April. That ties the MLB single season record.

Some days the stars align and everyone's talking about the same thing: Scott Adams, of Dilbert fame, attended a game over the weekend and didn't enjoy the experience. Stephen Dubner, the author of Freakonomics, blogged yesterday about ways to make the game more interesting. Sabernomics picked up on that and added a few suggestions of their own, including one that should've been adopted years ago: eliminate arguing. Confrontational umpires are one of my biggest pet peeves in baseball, so I'd welcome some kind of movement to remind them that no one paid to see them yell back at a manager/player. Baseball is the only sport I'm aware of that tolerates it.

I don't typically read Cardboard Gods, but I'm glad I followed a link there yesterday to catch this post, which is as profound as anything I've read in a long time.

That's all for today. Drink up.

I think I got a little too much frustration yesterday. Saturday night, the cruise control on my car went out about 350 miles from home. Narveson had a no-hitter going through 3 innings in Omaha yesterday before I jinxed it and he gave up the game-winning run in the 4th. Mike Cameron is jogging out his ground balls in AAA in a way that would make Johnny Estrada jealous. Omaha walked the bases loaded in the seventh, but Brad Nelson saw fit to swing and miss at 3 straight pitches to end the inning anyway.

Then I got back in the car and heard the last 3 innings of yesterday's game. One strategic note still irks me:

Craig Counsell walked in the 9th, which was great. So now we've got Bill Hall up, fresh off a seventh inning home run. Am I the only one who screamed when they told him to bunt? I know he's a big risk to strike out, but the pitcher can't find the strike zone and we handed them an out anyway. Advancing the runner via the sacrifice actually brought the win expectancy down, and was made completely irrelevant when Weeks walked too. Did this drive anyone else nuts? I had 300 more miles in the car to think about it, and it's still bugging me.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps
BP Postseason Odds have us at 84 wins and 19.7% to win the Central.

So Dave Bush has been sent to AAA to make room on the roster for Mike Cameron. Brewers Bar thinks Parra should've gone down instead. In-Between Hops says the buzz about Parra's inability to pitch deep into games is overblown and based on pitch counts. Today I have a new Fan Opinion Poll. I'm curious to hear what people think about this one. Results from last week's poll are below.

Adam Charles at Bugs and Cranks is using his excitement about the Cubs series to forget that the Brewers just lost to Wes Helms.

With the 16th pick in the first round, the Milwaukee Brewers selected Christian Friedrich, a LHP from Eastern Kentucky, in Minor League Ball's mock draft.

Phil Rogers ranked the Brewers 16th in his most recent power rankings, behind 3 NL Central teams. The Southpaw ranks them 8th and does a better job of including some eye candy with the rankings.

Speaking of rankings, Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun Times rated Miller Park 25th. I'll admit I haven't been to all (or even most) major league parks, and I'm not Miller Park's biggest fan, but I find 25th hard to believe.

On injuries:

Moises Alou may have broken his ankle in rehab.
Jorge Posada has a torn muscle in his rotator cuff.
John Smoltz left yesterday's start with discomfort in his shoulder.

No one's calling it an injury, but there does seem to be some concern and difference of opinion regarding Brett Myers' struggles to regain velocity.

No one, though, will doubt Joel Pineiro's flexibility.

Here are the results from last week's Fan Opinion Poll, with a record 168 votes:

• 48% of voters thought the Brewers should have 12 pitchers on their roster. 44% voted for 13.
• 25% of voters thought Derrick Turnbow should be the pitcher to go. 18% voted for Mitch Stetter and Seth McClung, 16% voted for Dave Bush and 15% voted for Manny Parra.
• 96% of voters thought Yovani Gallardo was brought back at just the right time.
• 69% of voters thought 3 consecutive days should be the limit for Eric Gagne.
• 36% of voters thought Ben Sheets will miss five to ten starts this season. 35% thought he will miss three to five.
• Ned Yost's approval rating is at 47%, with 22% disapproval and 29% unsure. He was at 78%/8%/12% last week.
• Doug Melvin's approval rating is at 83%, with 4% disapproval and 11% unsure. He was at 97%/0%/2% last week.
• 94% of voters approved of the Cameron/Hall/Braun move.
• 47% of voters approved of the decision to sign Eric Gagne, down from 61% last week.
• 30% of voters thought the Brewers shouldn't offer Ben Sheets a contract until after the season. 29% think they should do it now, and 25% think they shouldn't do it at all.

Full results here.

To cast your vote in this week's poll, Click here. Last week's poll set a turnout record for the third straight week. Thanks to everyone who helped promote it, and if you can help us out this week, please do so.

That's all for today. Drink up.