Remember Saturday, when I Mugged from the road? I'm back on the road, and the Brewers are still losing. I'm sorry this Mug is late, but breakfast closed at 9, so it took full focus to finish 3 laps in time.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

Notable by their absence yesterday: Prince Fielder, Corey Hart and Jason Kendall. Apparently it was just a scheduled off day for almost half the starting position players, though.

The Yost Infection says it's time for a managerial change, even though most of this team's problems aren't Ned's fault. The time for a change was September of last year. The story now is that it hasn't happened yet.

Speaking of looming decisions, Derrick Turnbow will clear waivers soon. Looks like he's headed to Nashville.

On a positive note, Beyond the Box Score compares Matt LaPorta to Ryan Braun.

The Cub Reporter ranks Ben Sheets 4th among NL Central aces. He wants your vote to help rank them.

Or, if watching the Brewers is too much for you to handle sober, try out this drinking game. By the fifth or so, people will be stacking cups on your head.

On injuries:

Padres reliever Kevin Cameron is on the DL with an elbow strain.
Doug Davis is free of cancer. Sighs of relief all around.
Johnny Estrada is back on the DL with an inflamed nerve in his elbow.
Orlando Hernandez is no longer in a walking boot. He's one step closer to throwing the banana.
Dodgers P Esteban Loaiza is on the DL with spasms in his shoulder.
Nats C Paul Lo Duca has a broken hand and has been DL'ed.
Twins reliever Pat Neshek will have his elbow examined today after leaving last night's game.
Mets OF Angel Pagan is day-to-day with a bruised shoulder.
Braves P Brayan Pena is on the DL with a back strain.
Twins IF Nick Punto was scratched from last night's game with tightness in his hamstring.

Despite the hubbub about the Brewers only going as far as Prince Fielder will carry them, Recondite baseball notes that no Brewers make the list of top or bottom 20 in win-loss splits.

The Marlins are hot, but there's still plenty of great seats available at their games.

Reds Insider notes that new GM Walt Jocketty will get to rework his team in a hurry - the Reds will have 13 free agents after the season.

Here's video of Richie Sexson charging the mound last night. Two notes:

1) That pitch wasn't that close.
2) Richie, you're 6'6", did you really need to throw the helmet at the guy?

That's all for today. Drink up.

An off day is always a good time to practice thinking positive thoughts.

BDD Recaps
BP Postseason Odds: 79.2 and 8.2% to win the Central.

Yesterday's off day was also a pretty quiet one around the web. In fact, the biggest news is likely that there will be no news surrounding the closer's spot.

On closers, Eric Seidman at Fangraphs is working to develop a new stat that's more accurate than a pure save total. I like where he's going with it.

In his most recent "That's Debatable" at ESPN.com, Jerry Crasnick says the Brewers have too many pitching issues to overcome to be considered the top team in the NL Central.

Reportedly, the Mets are interested in Turnbow. Doug Melvin is sitting by the phone.

If you needed something disturbing to help you get through the day, here's Brian Shouse juxtaposed into classic art. Is juxtaposed the word I wanted? Perhaps I'm using it in the wrong situation...just like the Brewers use Shouse.

Here are the results from last week's Fan Opinion Poll:

• 52% of voters thought the Brewers made the right decision keeping Manny Parra on the roster and sending down Dave Bush. Of course, it's a moot point now.
• 70% of voters thought Mike Cameron should bat second. No other position got 10% of the vote.
• 52% thought Bill Hall should've swung away in the ninth inning of last Sunday's game. 43% favored the decision to bunt.
• 58% of voters were satisfied with the 13-pitcher roster. Also a moot point.
• Of those dissatisfied, 48% wanted more position players on the roster. Welcome back, Joe Dillon.
• Ned Yost's approval rating is down to 40%, with 32% disapproval and 26% unsure. He was at 47%/22%/29% last week.
• Doug Melvin's approval rating is up slightly, at 84%, with 4% disapproval and 10% unsure. He was at 83%/4%/11% last week.
• 97% of voters approve of the Cameron signing and position changes.
• 60% approve of the Gagne signing, with 17% disapproval. That's up from 47% approval last week.
• 34% of voters think the Brewers shouldn't offer Ben Sheets a new contract until after the season. 31% think the Brewers should offer him a contract now and 24% think they shouldn't offer him one at all.

Full results here. A new poll may be posted today. If you have suggestions for questions in this week's poll, I'd welcome them. Drop them in the comments.

On injuries:

Braves IF Martin Prado injured his thumb sliding into first base in a 14-7 game. He's out 6-8 weeks.
Mariners P Jarrod Washburn had to leave last night's start with tightness in his right calf.
Rockies P Kip Wells will require surgery to remove a blood clot in his right hand.

Non-Brewer related: We've been talking an awful lot in the comments lately about umpiring. The Book has an interesting post today on Angel Hernandez and how he skews umpiring statistics. I'd try to offer a better summary of it, but the more I read, the more confused I get.

That's all for today. Post your suggestions for linkage in tomorrow's Mug and/or suggested poll questions in the comments. Drink up.

There's nothing like a baseball game to make a long road trip seem shorter. Take yesterday, for example. I was just getting in the car in Kansas when the game started, I was pumping gas in Missouri when Mike Cameron hit the home run to make it 6-2, I was scrambling through my errands in Des Moines in the top of the 9th, and I still felt like I had just left home when I damn near drove off the road in the bottom of the 9th. I also have a sore spot on my forehead from banging it against the steering wheel near Iowa City in the 12th.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps
BP Postseason Odds: 79.3 wins and a 8.5% shot at the Central.

I probably don't need to tell you the obvious today, but Tom H. wants you to know Eric Gagne leads the league in blown saves.

Jim Powell also blogged from Houston, with one positive note: Ben Sheets should pass Teddy Higuera for first on the Brewers' all-time strikeout list Saturday.

Phil Rogers ranks the Brewers 20th in his most recent power poll.

Ken Rosenthal, via MLB Trade Rumors, says 4 teams are interested in Derrick Turnbow. The Rangers are not one of them.

The Cub Reporter continues their position-by-position look at the NL Central, and wants your vote. Here are the three that were posted since Saturday, with the TCR rankings:

Left Field: Ryan Braun 4th
Center Field: Mike Cameron 3rd
Right Field: Corey Hart 1st

On injuries:

Twins P Scott Baker left his start early and will have an MRI today on his injured groin.
Royals P John Bale was attacked by THE SPAZZOSAURUS!
Red Sox OF Brandon Moss had an emergency appendectomy Saturday night.
Dontrelle Willis suffered a setback in a minor league game in Toledo, has been called back from his rehab assignment.

Also, best wishes go out to Braves broadcaster Joe Simpson, who had an emergency appendectomy yesterday.

All of a sudden, posts like this one seem relevant here, too: U.S.S. Mariner takes a look at what it takes to work past a deficit and regain a division lead.

Finally, you may have known that Al Simmons hit more home runs than any other major leaguer born in Wisconsin, with 307. But can you name the leaders from all 49 other states, and the District of Columbia? If you can, that's sad. If you can't, Recondite Baseball has the list.

Drink up.

I've got a lot of tabs open right now, which means there are a lot of links to get to.  Let's get at it.

• FanGraphs Win Probability graph
• BR Box Score
• BDD Daily Recaps
• BP Postseason Odds: 84 wins, 26% shot at the playoffs.

The big news this morning is that it's official, Turnbow is DFA'd and Dillon is back.  It's disappointing that D-Bow hasn't been able to turn it around, but I do think it's well past time we cut our losses here.  One interesting thought that has been popping up a little bit lately is that Melvin is too slow to cut the cord on his reclamation projects--Podsednik is a similar case that comes to mind.  Branch Rickey was famous for saying it's better to trade a player a year too early than a year too late, and while you get bit occasionally for making that mistake, it's better than being saddled with someone as ineffective as D-Bow is right now.

A few writers at The Hardball Times ganged up to write a massive profile of Ben Sheets, including pitch f/x data, mechanics analysis, and injury commentary.

The Junkball Blues looks at how the Crew has done against closers.  It's interesting work, but he draws the wrong conclusions.  In 13 closer appearances, we've been shut out 7 times and have scored 6 times.  That's astonishingly good, to my eyes.  Would you happy if your team's closer gave up a run or more every other appearance?  That's essentially what we're turning opposition closers into.

Some injury news:

• Troy Tulowitzki will be out for a month, maybe two.
• Phil Hughes has a broken rib , and will probably be out for at least two months.
• Jimmy Rollins won't be back as scheduled, and there's no clear timetable for when he will be.

I'm not going to wade very far into the muck of the Bissinger/Costas/Leitch controversy, but I will point you to this great piece by Joe Posnanski, who straddles the blogger/reporter divide quite gracefully.  And I'll say one more thing.  Bissinger may have been honing his craft for 40 years, but his LaRussa book, Three Nights In August, was truly dreadful.  Possibly the worst baseball book I have ever read.  There is nothing more insulting than a quasi-analytical hagiography about an overrated, self-aggrandizing figure like TLR.

A couple of ex-Brewers notes.  Richie Sexson hit his 300th career home run, and Greg Aquino cleared waivers (big surprise--his ERA is roughly the same as Turnbow's) and is headed to Norfolk.  I don't remember seeing this in an earlier Mug, but Brady Clark is also in AAA--he talked about retiring, but has opted to spend some quality time with Claudio Vargas in New Orleans.

I think the Nationals Enquirer had too much to drink.  Careful kids: drinking and photoshopping don't mix.

Derrick Goold has a nice article about Rick Ankiel and Pat Jordan's writing about him.  When we played the Cards recently, I was thinking about the stories in baseball today that we'd still be talking about 40 or 50 years from now, and Ankiel is definitely one of them.

It's amazing how rarely I agree with Richard Justice.  A couple of days ago, he decided to rip on the Astros FO for choosing Max Sapp, a high school catcher, in the first round of the 2006 draft.  Amazingly, he uses the phrase, "they blew it" to describe the results of a draft pick made two years ago.  True, Sapp is struggling in A ball, but dude, he's two years out of high school.  He's younger than a lot of the guys who will be drafted this year.  And anyway, first-round picks fizzle sometimes.  We're doing just fine without the services of Jeremy Jeffress, who we chose well before the Astros picked Sapp.

Finally, a happy story.  John Wilson is a 53-year-old senior at Penn State Altoona, and a key part of their baseball program.  He's friends with Dusty Baker, too, though I guess I can forgive him for that.

Drink up, but don't drink it too fast.  This cup runneth over!

MLB's blackout policy just about led to a broken TV last night. I was excited for a Brewers/Cubs game on ESPN and had planned my evening around it. Unfortunately, being in the Brewers "home market" apparently means I'm not allowed to watch them. Because I'm in the home market, the game on ESPN was blacked out. BUT, because I'm in NE Iowa, not Wisconsin, I also don't get FSN Wisconsin. As it turns out, it sounds like I didn't miss much.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps
BP Postseason Odds: 82.5 wins and a 14.6% chance of winning the Central.

(Normally scheduled Mug starts in approximately eight paragraphs. Feel free to skip ahead.)

I've been doing my best to stay out of the blogger v. mainstream media debate, because I feel like there's a lot of hyperbole on both sides and, in all honesty, I'm more interested in continuing to do this job and entertain readers than argue about my own morality for daring to step into the world of writing without credentials. (By the way, I do have a journalism degree, if anyone would like to see it.) I intentionally avoided the clips from the most recent "Costas Now" until this morning, when a couple popped up in my daily reads.

After seeing Pulitzer Prize winning author Buzz Bissinger say, "blogs are dedicated to cruelty, they’re dedicated to journalistic dishonesty," I was tempted to write a paragraph to open today's Mug that really was dedicated to cruelty and journalistic dishonesty, involving a bodily orifice, an umbrella and an accusation that Bissinger might enjoy it. Instead, I found this post from Sam Mellinger's blog that's a little more reasonable.

Of course, it was only a matter of time before all of this came home to roost. My dad called this morning to make sure I'd seen Anthony Witrado's mailbag on the JS website. I hadn't. Adam of Milwaukee sent in the question that sparked the following exchange:

I'm glad Anthony doesn't think there's anything wrong with what we do. He certainly could've said worse, but he raises a point I've mentioned in conversation but never in this space before: I think the mainstream media is too close sometimes.

Certainly, Anthony, Tom H. Jim Powell, Brian Anderson and others have access to info we don't. Certainly, they'll always be useful as a source of information, and certainly their hard work is appreciated. I link to it multiple times daily. But they're also on the team plane. They're in the clubhouse. They're around the team more than their families sometimes. And that makes it really hard to be as honest as we can be on the web.

I don't want to question these guys' journalistic integrity, because I have no problem with any of them. But I will pose a question: Would it be harder for any of us to be honest in our criticism of Ned Yost, Doug Melvin or others if we had to ride on an airplane with them and work with them daily? I think it would. And I think honest criticism, the ability to speak our mind without having to think twice about who will object, and the ability to step back for perspective is what's occasionally missing from the mainstream media.

(Regularly scheduled Mug begins.)

Perhaps the most interesting storyline from last night's game was Derrick Turnbow's continued inability to get outs, even in a zero-pressure situation. This morning, Tom H. asks if Turnbow should be released. I think, if Bush cleared waivers to be sent down to Nashville, Turnbow would almost certainly clear too, especially after last night, and that may be the best thing for him.

Baseball Digest Daily notes some similarities in the substance suspensions and denials of Mike Cameron and Braves prospect Jordan Schafer, and wonders what it would mean if their denials were true.

Jim Powell, among others, notes a new Sports Illustrated survey ranking Miller Park second in all of baseball.

Over at The Hardball Times, Jeff takes a look at the Brewers brief run with a 14-man bullpen.

The Cub Reporter ranks J.J. Hardy as the second best shortstop in the Central, and wants your opinion on it as well.

On injuries:

Mike Hampton left his rehab start yesterday with pain in his pectoral muscle.
Yankees P Phil Hughes is on the DL with a mystery oblique strain.
Rangers P Jason Jennings left yesterday's start with an irritated nerve in his elbow and will be placed on the DL.
Troy Tulowitzki has been placed on the DL with a quad strain.

Also, umpire Jerry Crawford, who left Tuesday's game because he wasn't feeling well, has been released from the hospital. Apparently a bad reaction to medication was to blame.

On a former Brewer note: Just a few days removed from beating the Nashville Sounds on Sunday, Jorge de la Rosa is headed back to the big leagues with the Rockies.

Looking for work your nerdy friends will be jealous of? The Diamondbacks are hiring an Audio/Video Specialist. Yeah, it's a cheap joke, but I'm still pissed about the blogger v. mainstream media thing. I should've trusted my gut and stayed away from it.

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.

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.

(Witty open goes here). It's time for a Frosty Mug.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps
BP Postseason odds: 85.5 wins and 21.7% chance of winning the Central.

A side note from the BP Odds: 21 games into the season, the D-Backs are already being given a 67% chance of winning the NL West, which was supposed to be one of baseball's tightest divisional races.

Jim Powell's blog may be the best place to start today. He talks about Fielder, Turnbow, Gabe Gross and Geoff Jenkins.

Tom H. notes that one year ago, April 23 of 2007, Derrick Turnbow also saved a game where Prince hit two home runs. Considering Turnbow hadn't saved a game since, I thought it was an interesting coincidence.

Can great Brewer moments influence history? Bugs and Cranks seems to think so.

The Hardball Times looks at the future of Yovani Gallardo.

ESPN the Magazine ranked the Brewers fourth in all of MLB in Fan Satisfaction Rankings. Just think where they'd rank if there were more toilets outside.

Brief Alphabetical Morning (BAM) Injury Reports:

Rangers P Kason Gabbard has been DL'ed with a sore lower back.
Reds OF Norris Hopper was placed on the DL with "elbow inflammation."
Daisuke Matsuzaka missed last night's scheduled start with the flu.
Mariners P Carlos Silva left last night's game with a thigh injury. It doesn't appear to be serious.

If you missed it yesterday, or you read the site via RSS so you don't see Fanshots at all, the Reds fired GM Wayne Krivsky yesterday and replaced him with Walt Jocketty. It seems awfully early to be making big changes.

The Cubs picked up their 10,000th win last night. As Dave Pinto notes at Baseball Musings, that's about 75 wins/season since 1876.

Elsewhere in the Central, Fungoes decries the folly of having 13 pitchers on the Cardinals roster, but fails to mention that the Brewers had 14 pitchers during the same series.

Ah, the wonders of a Youtube era. Now, you too can bring your camera to the ballpark and shoot crappy, incoherent video of a Mets reliever responding to the drunken masses during warmups. If you're bored today, take a moment to look at some of the shooter's other "work" and feel better about your life.

Credibility fades fast when you do things like this: Last night, reports came out that Frank Thomas had signed with the A's. But he hasn't yet.

The circle of life continues: Gabe Gross was the odd man out in Milwaukee so he was traded to Tampa, causing Dan Johnson to be the odd man out for the second time in April.

Beyond the Box Score takes a great look at ball and strike calls and how they vary based on several demographic issues. An interesting confirmation of what we've suspected all along: veterans get calls.

True Blue LA takes a look at the world around him and reaches an interesting conclusion: Sabermetrics and stat work have become so commonplace that having a stat guy on hand no longer gives teams an advantage. He says Sabermetrics are dead, but that's like saying the internet is dead because everyone uses it.

Baseball Musings passes along a great list of hitting tips to distribute by age.

The Mariners are encouraging fans to bring their Nintendo DS to the game to chat with other fans, look at stats and order food and drinks from their seats. I have a DS, and if I could bring it to the game and do that, I'd absolutely bring it along.

We're only a couple of days in, but turnout so far has been underwhelming for this week's Fan Opinion Poll. If you haven't voted yet, please do so. Also, thanks to Dan Walsh at The Daily Drink for his help promoting it.

That's all for today. If you'd like to submit a link for inclusion in tomorrow's Mug, drop it in the comments. Drink up.

Good morning. With 12 wins in our first 20, we're sitting two back of the Cubs and half a game back of the Cardinals. Tonight, we open a two game series against Geoff Jenkins and the Phillies. Time for a Mug.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps
BP Postseason odds putting the Brewers at 84.8 wins with a 21% chance of winning the Central.

As you've most likely heard, following yesterday's game Gabe Gross was traded to Tampa for a warm body who's struggling in A ball. Brewers Bar has a nice farewell post. I still think Gabe will be a productive everyday outfielder somewhere, but I know it wasn't going to be here, so I'm glad to see him getting a chance somewhere else.

All of a sudden, there's rumblings that Eric Gagne might be pulled from the closer's spot. Admittedly, I'm not real excited about his performance yesterday, but Gagne had pitched in four straight games and warmed up in the fifth straight on Monday before pitching in the sixth game Tuesday. I don't think any closer would pitch exceptionally well in that situation. I think the Gagne signing was a mistake and his most effective days are past him, but pulling him now would be a mistake too.

Speaking of struggling relievers, apparently Ned's not done with Turnbow.

If you're looking for the whiniest possible recap of yesterday's game, Bugs and Cranks has it. Bring your violin.

The chatter around Fielder's new diet must be getting louder in the clubhouse, because now even Ned Yost is commenting on it.

Dugout Central says Brewer fans are the unluckiest in baseball. They make a decent case. But, with that said, Midwest Airlines seems to value them more than most customers.

Brief Alphabetical Morning (BAM) Injury Reports:

Josh Beckett was scratched from yesterday's game with a stiff neck.
Orlando Hernandez will be in a boot for two more weeks and still can't throw the banana.
Rangers P Dustin Nippert has been placed on the DL with a sore right foot.
Indians P Jake Westbrook is on the DL with a rib cage strain.
Mariners OF Brad Wilkerson was pulled from yesterday's game with a sore hamstring.

Cubs GM Jim Hendry has advanced to the second round of Bucs Dugout's Worst GM Tournament, and now faces Astros GM Ed Wade in the second round. Go cast a vote, if you're so inclined.

Could Charlie Manuel have been a Civil War General? Tim McCarver seems to think so.

That's all for today. If you have an item for inclusion in tomorrow's Mug, drop it in the comments. Drink up.

I think I need a Frosty Mug of coffee.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
ESPN Video Highlights
BDD Recaps
Postseason odds: Projecting 83.5 wins and a 21.7% chance of winning the Central.

A quick aside to discuss in the comments: Does anyone actually watch/enjoy the ESPN Video highlights? I really used to like them, but lately I'm getting pretty frustrated with them. Take last night's game, for example. A pretty good back-and-forth with some interesting moments and late inning drama. ESPN could've produced at least a full minute of highlights to show that. Instead, the highlight package is 24 seconds long and the only highlight is a sac fly. If you want the ESPN Video highlights to remain a part of the Mug, say something in the comments, otherwise I'm cutting them tomorrow.

As I'm sure you noticed below, in the JS or on ESPN, Ben Sheets will miss his next start. I'm trying hard not to overreact. Really hard.

Of course, even with Sheets inactive, the Brewers still have 13 active pitchers on their roster. The Official Site says they're sticking to it, even if Luft On Deck does call it creatively twisted logic. Cardinals Diaspora also picked up on the need to pinch hit with a pitcher in the 7th last night.

Between the Green Pillars thinks Derrick Turnbow doesn't have a place in the bullpen anymore. Last week, in the comments of the Turnbow thread, I said the following: Obviously Turnbow's not pitching well. But unless we produce a bunch of contract extensions real soon, he's going to be a key part of the 2009 bullpen again.

Only one injury report today, so it's exceptionally brief: Rangers P Kason Gabbard left yesterday's game with back stiffness.

Results are posted for the Baseball Happenings Awards Blogpoll. Manny Ramirez takes home the MVP this week, Cliff Lee takes home the Cy Young and Nick Blackburn wins Rookie of the Year. See the full results here and the BCB ballot here.

Al over at Bleed Cubbie Blue notes that the Cubs are inching up on 10,000 franchise wins. (Clever joke about 100 years goes here.)

This week's Fan Opinion Poll is a week late but it's up, go vote here. This week's new topics include roster construction, Yovani Gallardo, resting closers, Ben Sheets, and the five questions I've been tracking with the previous polls. Please go vote, and if you have the capacity to help promote the poll and build turnout numbers, that'd be fantastic as well. Last week 142 people voted, my goal for this week is 150.

That's all I've got for today. Drink up.