Some things to read while waiting in line to vote. Also, if you were planning on voting for The Pirate Parrot, you should watch this first.

The Brewers actually delivered their formal offer to CC Sabathia yesterday. Ed Valentine who writes about the Yankees for Bugs & Cranks, thinks Sabathia is worth about 6 years, $150 million to the Yankees. That strikes me as about right. Rowland's Office thinks the Braves could sign free agency's best pitcher...but it's Japanese starter Junichi Tazawa, not Sabathia.

MLB Trade Rumors has predicted where the top 50 free agents will end up. He's got CC Sabathia as a Yankee, Ben Sheets as a Brave and Ray Durham as a Diamondback. Perhaps more interestingly, he has Brian Fuentes and Jon Garland as Brewers. Crawfish Boxes says Sheets could rejoin Mike Maddux in Texas.

On the trade front: Buried in this story on Mike Cameron's return, Doug Melvin said he's not talking with the Padres about Jake Peavy. Melvin says he was unwilling to give up young pitching, but it's also possible Peavy would have rejected a trade to Milwaukee, as he appears to have listed seven teams he's willing to play for in 2009.

Here's a deal that would turn some heads: Infield Chatter proposes a three-team deal for the Brewers, Tigers and Rays with the Brewers sending J.J. Hardy to the Tigers and getting Rays SP Andy Sonnanstine and minor leaguer Jeremy Hellickson. The Tigers may be looking to cut payroll.

Meanwhile, Ken Rosenthal says the Brewers likely will not move Prince Fielder this offseason and Rick Peterson does not appear to be a candidate for the pitching coach position, which will likely be filled by bullpen coach Bill Castro.

Craig Counsell and Guillermo Mota filed for free agency Monday, joining Francisco Rodriguez, as well as Rafael Furcal, Omar Vizquel, Edgar Renteria, Brandon Lyon, Paul Byrd, former Rays Cliff Floyd and Trever Miller and Reds Corey Patterson, Paul Bako and David Weathers.

One free agent may not be available after all: Scott Boras, who represents Greg Maddux, said Maddux is leaning towards retirement. Maddux has 355 career wins, eighth most all time. If he pitched in 2009 and won ten games, he'd move all the way up to fifth.

The coaching carousel has some names you'll recognize on it this morning: Bleeding Blue and Teal has a list of potential candidates to manage the Mariners, including Ned Yost, Willie Randolph, Bob Brenly and Ted Simmons. If Randolph interviews, it will be his second interview with Zduriencik, who was part of Randolph's interview in Milwaukee. And as for Ted Simmons, he won't sit home even if he doesn't get the Seattle job: he and former Brewer manager Jim Lefebvre recently joined the Padres coaching staff.

Oh, and be careful with #3 pencils.

Drink up. And go vote!

Things must be slowing down a bit...today, there were only 270 posts and articles in my Google Reader from over 250 baseball blogs and sites.

The Peoria Javelinas defeated Surprise yesterday, 10-3. Omar Aguilar was the only Brewer prospect to appear in the game, and he allowed one hit while pitching a scoreless ninth. Box Score

The West Oahu CaneFires defeated North Shore 7-6. Chris Cody started the game and gave up four runs on eight hits in just 3.1 innings, but did strike out 7. He leads the Hawai'i Winter League with 12 K's in 3 appearances. Caleb Gindl went 1-for-4 with a walk. He's hitting .250/.364/.429 in his first 7 games in Hawai'i. Box Score

The Javelinas travel to Surprise today at 12:35 local time (2:35 in Milwaukee). The CaneFires play North Shore again tonight at 7:05 local time, which I think is five minutes after midnight at home.

Closer to home, we have a few more season in review posts. Big League Stew has their nail in the coffin on the 2008 Brewers. Jeff analyzed the Phillies/Brewers series over at The Hardball Times. Brian Anderson has his list of favorite Brewer moments from 2008. He also reveals that he's signed a five-year extension that will keep him with the Brewers through 2013.

I'll separate this one from the pack, because sometimes that helps when I want to make fun of something: The FanGraphs Brewer season in review has this quote in it: What? I'll admit I'm sometimes clumsy when turning a phrase and my use of commas is borderline atrocious, but I at least usually proofread my stuff at least once to make sure the things I say make more sense than that. Click the link if you'd like to read more about how Jeff Suppan negated the performances of Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia. Or just move on. Life's too short.

Between the Green Pillars compares several Brewers' performances to their preseason projections. Most of them are about what you'd expect, but a couple of guys (J.J. Hardy, for example) don't get enough credit for the season they had.

Speaking of 2008 productivity, four Brewers are on Beyond The Box Score's quiz comparing 2008 hitters. I only got 8 of the 31 questions correct. Go see if you can do better.

There's only one link in today's Sabathia Smorgasbord, and if you've been around the web at all lately you've probably seen it: Ryan Braun thinks the Brewers have a shot at re-signing CC Sabathia, and that he might take fewer years for the same money to stay in Milwaukee. It seems unlikely, but Braun's been a straight-shooter in the past, so I have no reason to doubt him.

If this guy shaves Sabathia's name and number into his back hair to go with the "Go Brewers" shaved into his chest hair, will it make Sabathia any more likely to stay? The answer is probably no.

I don't expect Prince Fielder to be on the move this offseason, but if he is MLB Trade Rumors has six places he might be headed. Two-Fisted Slopper has a look at the Brewers' roster headed into the offseason, and makes a few predictions.

Before any decisions can be made on the 2009 roster, though, a decision needs to be made on interim manager Dale Sveum. J.J. Hardy, Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and Jeff Suppan all want him back. And of course, we've already heard the same from Jason Kendall, Craig Counsell and Robin Yount. Fielder's quote: It's true. Sveum really did maintain confidence in everyone, no matter what they did. Just ask Corey Hart, who hit .170/.160/.213 in games managed by Sveum but still started and batted sixth in every game.

By 2010, the Brewers and Miller Park will have spent $9-12 million on a new HD scoreboard. Maybe they can show Packer games on it, since about twice as many TVs in Milwaukee preferred regular season football over playoff baseball.

So we've all more or less accepted the argument that Russell Branyan is a platoon-only hitter and can't hit lefties, right? But is it true? Geoff Young of Baseball Digest Daily takes a closer look.

Here are some hot stove notes:

• The Cub Reporter has a quote suggesting the Cubs will raise their payroll in 2009, and begin to act like more of a large-market club.
• The Rockies declined their option on RP Matt Herges, making him a free agent.
• The Reds are going to let Corey Patterson and former Brewer Paul Bako walk.
• The Mariners will most likely not re-sign Raul Ibanez, leading Bleeding Blue and Teal to make a list of places where he needs to sign to maximize the Mariners' draft compensation.

So if Lasik surgery could take Jason Kendall from a 63 OPS+ in 2007 to a 73 OPS+ in 2008, what can it do for 41 year old free-agent-to-be Omar Vizquel, who hit .222/.283/.267 in 2008? We're about to find out.

Today is our tenth day after the end of the regular season, and there's still not a single managerial vacancy, but the Rockies did fire their bench coach, hitting coach and third base coach and re-assign their bullpen coach yesterday. (h/t Purple Row)

Looking for work? The Astros are looking for an assistant GM for their AA affiliate, and the Yankees need an administrative assistant for business development. Update your resume today.

Oh, and if you want to be a ninja, you may want to check out this quick tutorial on smoke bombs.

Drink up.

Somewhere last night, a whiny baseball purist with a stick up his butt sent the following text: Brewers 4, Pirates 2
Win Probability Graph
BR Box Score

Cubs 9, Mets 6
Win Probability Graph
BR Box Score

Braves 10, Phillies 4
Win Probability Graph
BR Box Score

Well, today we get to see what Yovani Gallardo's got. Should he be pitching today? Until tonight none of us will really know. But Bernie's Crew is against it. I don't anticipate Gallardo being left in to get shelled as he would have been under a certain previous manager. In fact, I only really expect him to go 3-4 innings before Mark DiFelice, Seth McClung, Carlos Villanueva or Jeff Suppan are summoned to eat the middle innings. But, if Gallardo can provide a quality start, it could become a shining moment in Brewer history.

So I'm assuming you all saw Prince Fielder's walk off home run Tuesday night, right? But did you know he hit it wearing Brewer underwear? Home Run Derby has the full scoop.

It appears that, if the game means something, CC Sabathia will come back around on short rest and pitch again Sunday. He needs to throw 6 more innings to reach 250, which no major leaguer has done since Livan Hernandez threw 255 in 2004. Tom H. is praising his efforts and determination, but Umpbump has a poll up asking if the Brewers are screwing Sabathia by pitching him this much.

So you may know that Ryan Braun has led the NL in total bases for most of the season. He's actually in second now, one base behind David Wright. But did you know Braun is also the only major league outfielder to have played in over 140 games with no errors? Not bad for a guy's first year in the outfield.

So Baseball Prospectus has a statistic they call "Secret Sauce," which predicts which teams will do well in the postseason. The Brewers do not fare well in this stat, so I don't buy into it.

The Brewers are, however, compelled by the power of grit. Craig Counsell is one of three players who could play in the World Series for their third different team this season. Only 24 players in history have done it.

On injuries:

Carl Crawford still hasn't received medical clearance to start hitting live pitching and will likely miss the ALDS with his injured hand.
Andy Pettitte has a sore shouder and is done for 2008.
Rockies OF Willy Taveras is done for the year with a stress fracture in his leg.

The Orioles have enough injury news to warrant their own heading. Follow that link to read about the second opinion on Daniel Cabrera's elbow, reliver Jim Miller's torn muscle in his side, Dennis Sarfate's fractured collarbone and Melvin Mora's hamstring.

Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia had to be evacuated yesterday due suspicious packages that turned out to be hot dogs. You can make all the jokes you want, but aren't all hot dogs pretty suspicious packages?

TV ratings confirmed what we all suspected: No one outside of New York cared about the final game at Yankee Stadium enough to choose it over the Packers/Cowboys game. Also under the heading of "no one cared," the Nationals are about ready to set a record for lowest attendance in the first season of a new ballpark.

The Mariners lost their 100th game last night. Somehow, they're even worse than the Giants, who played nine rookies in the seventh inning last night.

So Corey Patterson has collected over 360 plate appearances for the Reds this season despite hitting .206/.241/.341. This lead to rumors that he was only playing because he's dating Dusty Baker's daughter. It was a good theory, but turned out to be false. Now it's just inexplicable again.

Drink up.

I don't think I've ever been this disappointed with a split of a road series.

Monday's Win Expectancy Graph
Monday's BR Box Score
Monday's BDD Recaps

Sunday's Win Expectancy Graph
Sunday's BR Box Score
Sunday's BDD Recaps

Saturday's Win Expectancy Graph
Saturday's BR Box Score
Saturday's BDD Recaps

Friday's Win Expectancy Graph
Friday's BR Box Score
Friday's BDD Recaps

Wow, after four days away, where do I even start? As reported in the fanposts, today the Brewers will announce they've signed Julian Tavarez. Also, while it won't be "announced," it will be strongly implied that the Brewer organization's desperation for reliable bullpen arms has reached a very dangerous stage.

Russell Branyan is back and sharing time at third with Bill Hall. Hall is unhappy, and understandably so, with the loss of playing time to the one guy in all of baseball who strikes out more than he does. Some guy named Eli completely destroyed his credibility by suggesting the Brewers may be ready to DFA Hall. Marty over at Fire Ned Yost is upset by the decision, and is now refusing to spend money on the team until Melvin is fired. Seriously? I was way more upset by the Tavarez move.

Jason Kendall batted eighth yesterday, in an attempt to "shake up the lineup." I know stat guys will say all lineup tinkering is relatively irrelevant, but this one seems especially small.

Remember that error thar J.J. Hardy committed on Friday? Apparently it attempted to destroy Washington.

Phil Rogers puts the Brewers at #22 in most recent power rankings, with the following comment:

In ESPN's most recent power rankings, the Brewers are also #22, with this comment:

It's close, but in this case I'm going to give the "one sentence or less analysis" challenge to Rogers, for actually analyzing something beyond home runs.

This makes his strategic decisions even more puzzling: Apparently Ned Yost has read The Book. I'm still going to guess he doesn't read blogs, but Mariners manager John McLaren does.

It's been five days, but I'm still confused and strangely fascinated by Babes Love Baseball's "sabermetric" analysis of Ryan Braun.

On injuries:

Rockies SS Clint Barmes is on the DL with a sprained MCL.
Fausto Carmona is out around 4 weeks with a strained hip.
Marlins OF Brett Carroll has a severely separated shoulder, partially torn ligaments and a swollen face. He'll be out a while.
Mets OF Ryan Church is still dizzy after getting his second concussion of the season last week.
Rockies OF Brad Hawpe is on the DL with a sore hamstring.
Felix Hernandez missed his start Saturday with soreness in his leg.
Matt Holliday was placed on the DL, also with a sore hamstring.
Andruw Jones will have the surgery he's been delaying on his knee and miss 4-6 weeks.
Padres P Chris Young, who suffered a broken nose via line drive, has other fractures in his face as well and will not be allowed to resume baseball activities for at least 2 weeks.

How do you react when your team is severely underperforming and is consistently painful to watch? Ichiro says you should try a beer from Papua New Guinea. U.S.S. Mariner is on the case.

When you find yourself complaining about the tough start Rickie Weeks is having, consider Reds leadoff hitter Corey Patterson, and his wafer-thin .242 OBP. In a move that has to be at least partially related, Jay Bruce will debut Tuesday.

On the flip side, Lyle Overbay set a Jays franchise record by reaching base in 12 straight plate appearances.

Oh, and Jamie Moyer has finally proven that all 30 MLB teams are capable of swinging and missing at 60 MPH pitches.

Drink up.