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.

It's tonight at 7 CT on ESPN. The field, listed by neutralized isolated power (SLG-AVG):

• Dan Uggla (.329)
• Lance Berkman (.306)
• Chase Utley (.295)
• Ryan Braun (.278)
• Grady Sizemore (.277)
• Evan Longoria (.259)
• Josh Hamilton (.249)
• Justin Morneau (.194)

Poll

Who will win the Home Run Derby?

3%

Dan Uggla

7 votes

8%

Lance Berkman

16 votes

4%

Chase Utley

8 votes

38%

Ryan Braun

70 votes

1%

Grady Sizemore

2 votes

1%

Evan Longoria

3 votes

22%

Josh Hamilton

41 votes

16%

Justin Morneau

30 votes

3%

Erik Komatsu

7 votes

184 votes | Poll has closed

Ok, I think my hiatus is done. I've gone on vacation, I've moved, and last night I got home from 5 days in Denver. And somehow, I managed to schedule my return for the biggest Brewer news day of the season.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

First, if you haven't seen them yet, the specifics of the trade: In exchange for a 3 month rental of C.C. Sabathia and the increased potential of a long playoff run, the Brewers are giving up Matt LaPorta, Zach Jackson and West Virginia reliever Rob Bryson. They will likely also add Brevard Co. 3B Taylor Green.

Of course, some people have written about this:

Baseball Intellect has a nice overview of the trade, complete with a review of Sabathia's stuff, if you're not familiar with him.
In-Between Hops likes the move.
Phil Rogers says it's time to take the Brewers seriously again...so he ranks them behind All-Star arguments in his most recent power poll.
Thomas Wayne of Dugout Central pulls out the smallest possible sample size and says the Sabathia move won't help the Brewers, based on his 7+ ERA in four career postseason starts.

I think the most interesting Sabathia conversation has yet to start, though: Who does he replace in the rotation? Assuming Sheets and Suppan are safe, and Dave Bush is similarly safe based on his recent performances and Ned Yost's man-crush on him, then we're down to Seth McClung and Manny Parra. In the Fanposts, Badgermaniac suggests platooning them. What do you think?

A semi-related note: The Biz of Baseball has made a list of six GMs on the hot seat. If this move doesn't work out and Doug Melvin traded a large chunk of the future for a 3 month rental on a team that misses the playoffs, he'll likely be on lists like that next season.

Also, while I doubt he'll slide directly into Sabathia's spot in the rotation, the Indians signed Jeff Weaver yesterday.

Are the Brewers done dealing? Buster Olney, via The Brew Town Beat, says the answer may be no. They're reportedly still talking to the Padres about Randy Wolf and Greg Maddux.

Somehow overshadowed in all of this: The Brewers finished a 3-game sweep of the Pirates yesterday, and J.J. Hardy is hitting .468/.507/1.000 in his last 15 games with 9 doubles, 8 HR and 19 RBI.

All told, the last 24 hours have certainly been more interesting than sitting on the roof.

On injuries:

Braves reliever Manny Acosta injured his hamstring running out a sac bunt and has been DL'ed.
Braves P Jeff Bennett is on the DL after injuring himself throwing to first.
Lance Berkman missed yesterday's game with what sounds like a pretty nasty eye condition.
A's SS Bobby Crosby is on the DL with a strained hamstring.
D-Backs RP Juan Cruz is on the DL with a strained oblique.
Johnny Damon is on the DL for the first time in his career after injuring his shoulder colliding with the wall Friday.
Nats OF Elijah Dukes will be out 4-6 weeks after having arthroscopic surgery to repair damage to his patella.
Phillies reliever Tom Gordon is on the DL with elbow inflammation.
Orlando Hernandez pitched four rehab innings yesterday. It's unclear whether he threw the banana.
Reds OF Norris Hopper will miss the rest of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Braves IF Omar Infante is on the DL with a strained hamstring
Roy Oswalt's next start is being pushed back to give him time to recover from pain in his hip.
Troy Tulowitzki is on the DL after breaking a maple bat against the wall and slicing open his hand.

A quick maple bat story: Saturday night I attended my first game at Coors Field (worth seeing if you're in Denver, but don't go out of your way to get there). I was nearly reduced to tears by the inane conversation of two young women behind me, who showed incredible perseverance by hanging in there through 3 full hours and two rain showers despite the fact that they had almost no idea a game was going on. Some examples from their conversation, when they weren't too busy talking about drinks, hookups and drugs: The Rockies were up 8-0 at the time. The following quote came after a home run was inadvertently knocked back onto the field by a fan trying to make the catch: But, in the middle of all of that mess, they also said this: My point: Even the ditziest blonde in Denver recognizes the problems with maple bats. Major League Baseball, however, still says the matter needs more research.

Stories like this put our pitching conversations into perspective: Mark Mulder is starting for the Cardinals again.

The Phillies have taken an opportunity to drive up the price of closers, and rewarded Brad Lidge's half-season of effective bullpen work with a 3-year, $37.5 million extension.

Oh, and by the way, I hate the X-Games with the fire of a thousand suns, but I love Darkmane.

Drink up.

For those of us who like to win series, there are two phrases that go together quite nicely: "rubber game" and "Ben Sheets."  I would imagine "Brian Moehler" does not evoke quite the same confidence in an Astros fan, though Moehler has been solid in the rotation this year, including seven shutout innings against the Cards last weekend.

Not-so-fun matchup fact: Sheets has faced Berkman an astonishing 69 times, and the Fat Puma has managed an 1.105 OPS against him.  Actually, this whole lineup looks like they're going to have a leisurely afternoon teeing off on Sheets.  One outing isn't going to adjust the numbers too far downward, but I trust that Ben will give it a try.

Game time is 1:05 CT, and here's the BR Game Preview.

Go Brewers!

So, Mike Rivera is batting .500 since I suggested he should play more. I know it's a small sample size (4-for-8), but it'd be a bigger sample size if he played more.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

Thanks to Jeff for allowing you to drink straight from the tap with the Win Expectancy Graphs and BR Box Scores over the weekend.

Jim Powell blogged after Saturday's game. He's pretty excited about the homestand so far, and reasonably so.

He also mentions the massive home run Russell Branyan hit Saturday. I was at the game (my first of the season), and from my perspective, it didn't look like the ball actually made the Dew Deck. It looked like it hit near the back of the second deck. Unfortunately, at the ballpark I only got to see it once, and at game speed. Anyone have access to it on video?

Following Saturday's game, Ned Yost took a beating from Beyond the Box Score for allowing Ben Sheets to throw 120 pitches. I understand the logic at play here, but I find myself agreeing with the first commenter, who notes that everything would've been fine if not for the 11 pitch at bat with Lance Berkman, with two outs in the ninth.

Also Sheets related: Another Baseball Blog takes a look at Sheets' hitting and how it impacts a game. He estimates that the difference between Gallardo's hitting (near elite) and Sheets' hitting (near inept) is equivalent to about a .30 difference in ERA. If the swing from top to bottom is that small, maybe I've spent too much time worrying about pitcher hitting.

Dave Pinto notes that Brewer starters are 4-1 with a 2.47 ERA over their last 7 starts. It's probably a little early to say our pitching woes are over, but this is certainly an improvement.

Here's an interesting new stat: The Beane Count. It tracks home runs and walks, by hitters and pitchers, and combines them to form one number to evaluate. The Brewers rank 13th in the NL at present. I rank somewhere near dead last in being able to explain new stats.

While I'm on the topic of interesting stats, Recondite Baseball takes a look at the all time highest and lowest BABIP numbers. Most of these guys aren't huge surprises, but somehow, Gorman Thomas cracked the list on the low end, at #18. How did that happen?

On injuries:

Twins P Nick Blackburn is fine, amazingly, after being hit in the face by a line drive. He may not miss a start.
Hank Blalock had carpal tunnel surgery Friday and will miss at least another month.
J.D. Drew missed a start over the weekend with vertigo.
Padres P Shawn Estes broke his thumb falling down the stairs. The bad jokes here can only escalate.
Angels IF Chone Figgins has been placed on the DL with irritation in his hamstring.
Reds P Josh Fogg has been placed on the DL with a bad back.
Travis Hafner has been placed on the DL with a sore shoulder.
D-Backs 1B Conor Jackson will be out for a few days with a strained quad.
Braves OF Mark Kotsay has been placed on the DL with a strained lower back.
David Ortiz felt something pop in his wrist Saturday and will (maybe already did?) undergo an MRI.

The Brewers aren't the only team that can't win on the road. At The Book blog, MGL notes that the homefield advantage this year is significantly higher than average, and offers some reasons why.

Dugout Central notes a moment from Friday that's indicative of the problem MLB has with confrontational umpires: Seriously, aside from professional wrestling, is there another major sport where this would be tolerated?

If this works out, it'll set a dangerous precedent: Last week, the Braves designated backup C Brayan Pena for assignment, and placed him on waivers, presumably hoping to send him to the minors. The Royals claimed him off waivers, kept him on their roster for a day, then DFA'd him again, hoping to send him to the minors as well. If this is possible, couldn't Pena be claimed and DFA'd by teams needing a AAA catcher every few days for months?

Here's something new to check periodically: Baseball Musings has a daily chart showing the probability Chipper Jones will hit .400.

Oh, and here's some fun with misheard lyrics.

Drink up.

Here are some things to read while I try to decide if I should buy the new REM album. Geoff from Ducksnorts seems to like it. Seriously? Is this what it's come to? I'm taking musical advice from the guy who writes Ducksnorts?

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

Ned Yost is in his sixth year as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers. He's been in baseball for decades. He just now decided that sending a reliever out there four straight days is bad. As a result, Salomon Torres was unavailable yesterday. Kudos to Ned for working out a new strategy...but really, should it take 6 years to get there?

Adam McCalvy wrote the easiest story ever: A profile of Mike Rivera. I'm glad Rivera could fit this into his busy schedule. Topics covered include how to best remove splinters from one's backside, interesting things he's found under the bench, and why playing him more than once annually could turn out to be a good idea.

Yesterday, I mentioned a rumor that the Brewers were considering moving their AA affiliation from Huntsville to Connecticut. The Connecticut Defenders' relationship with the Giants is deteriorating quickly and will likely end soon. After writing that, I was fortunate enough to have this conversation with Joe Perez of the Norwich Bulletin, which lays out the complaints the team has about the Giants. For an alternative view, check out the 12th comment on this post over at McCovey Chronicles, which does a nice job of portraying the other side.

Didn't he just do this? Dayn Perry has made another top ten list of free agent disappointments. Eric Gagne checks in at #7. Barry Zito, signed for 6 more years and over $100 million more, is nowhere to be found.

On injuries:

Braves OF Matt Diaz will miss at least a month with a partial tear of his PCL.
Troy Percival made an appearance on the DL the same day he made an appearance in my mailbox on the cover of The Sporting News.

RotoJunkie has taken over what used to be the Baseball Happenings Weekly Blog Poll. Lance Berkman, Edinson Volquez and Geovany Soto are this week's NL MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year, respectively. Full results here. Here's my ballot:

Rookie of the Year:
1. Geovany Soto
2. Jair Jurrjens
3. Joey Votto

Cy Young:
1. Edinson Volquez
2. Brandon Webb
3. Carlos Zambrano

MVP:
1. Lance Berkman
2. Dan Uggla
3. Chipper Jones

I guess I should've seen this coming, but somehow I had no idea: Randy Johnson tied Roger Clemens on the all-time strikeout list last night. Combine that with 289 wins and he now seems like a pretty clear-cut lock for the Hall of Fame.

Trust a voice of experience, this move won't make things any better: The Rockies are bumping Jorge De La Rosa from the rotation and replacing him with Glendon Rusch.

Bret Boone retired earlier this week and I didn't really treat it as news because he's been out of a job for months. This Ichiro quote about Bret Boone, though, is fun all by itself:

Oh, and the Mariners don't want lesbians making out in their ballpark. (Hat tip to 6-4-2)

The Mug is off tomorrow and Sunday as I continue my quest to drive 100,000 miles in 2008. Drink up.

Here's a tradition I'd like to see more of.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

You can either stop holding your breath, or prepare to hold it for 15 more days: the Brewers' deadline to make a decision on Jeff Weaver has been extended to June 15.

Apparently David Riske has no new structural damage, but is taking longer than expected to recover. That's bad news all around. Of course, Salomon Torres is pretty excited about getting to close games.

So last night the Brewers got 3 hits and won. That's a stark contrast from August 24, 2002, when they got 20 hits and lost, tying the tenth highest hit total in a nine inning loss of all time. Recondite Baseball has the full list at that link. Or, you could stay here and watch me struggle with bad segues and awkward linking.

In the fanposts yesterday, Greg8370 mentioned a report that the Brewers might be looking to move their AA team to the Eastern League, and had been mentioned as a candidate to play home games in Norwich, CT. After a brief search this morning, I found the column mentioning it. Sounds like the Defenders are having some real problems with the Giants organization, mainly tied to the fact that the Giants don't like the ballpark dimensions, and also don't like playing 30-degree home games. I think I'd stick with Huntsville. I emailed the reporter, though, to see where he got the rumor from.

UPDATE: I've been in touch with Joe Perez, the writer from the Norwich Bulletin. You can see our conversation here .

So yesterday afternoon I had a moment to kill, and I got an email from the Brewers. They really wanted me to vote (25 times) to get some Brewers in the starting lineup of the All-Star Game. They've also posted a story about how close Braun is to only being 4 spots back of the leaders. So I sat down with the stats, picked out the best candidate at each position...and didn't vote for a single Brewer. Here's the ballot I clicked and reclicked and submitted 25 times:

AL:
C: Joe Mauer
1B: Kevin Youkilis
2B: Ian Kinsler
3B: Joe Crede
SS: Michael Young
OF: Milton Bradley
OF: Josh Hamilton
OF: Magglio Ordonez
DH: David Ortiz

NL:
C: Brian McCann
1B: Lance Berkman
2B: Dan Uggla
3B: Chipper Jones
SS: Hanley Ramirez
OF: Nate McLouth
OF: Pat Burrell
OF: Adam Dunn

On injuries:

Pirates P Zach Duke will get an extra day before his next start to allow a blister to heal.
Carlos Guillen is battling some hemorrhoids his manager seems a little too eager to talk about.
Marlins P Scott Olsen still isn't getting velocity back after an exceptionally long outing against the Brewers weeks ago.
Troy Percival collapsed falling off the mound last night and has a tight hamstring. Grant Balfour may be called up in his place.
A's OF Ryan Sweeney had to be taken to the hospital for X-rays after fouling a ball off his foot.
Frank Thomas may be headed to the DL after an MRI on his strained right quad revealed major inflammation.
Blue Jays C Gregg Zaun has been placed on the DL with inflammation in his elbow.

Does the price include my computer and rent for mom's basement? The Juiced Sports Blog ranks the 100 most valuable sports blogs.

It didn't crack the top 100, but I think this post is pretty valuable: The Padres recently acquired Cha Seung Baek, and Paul DePodesta discusses the move.

Oh, and a hydrochloric acid spill is a pretty good reason to suspend a game.

Drink up.

So the Brewers win, the Cardinals lose, the Cubs lose, and they appear to be signing Jim Edmonds. That's win-win-win-win if I ever saw it.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

The circle of life continues: Chris Capuano will have Tommy John surgery as soon as Thursday, giving up the effort to come back without it. Also on Thursday, 2006 first round pick Jeremy Jeffress will return from his 50-game drug suspension and report to Brevard County.

Beyond that, it's kind of a slow day for Brewer news. Baseball Analysts, though, did take a look at players looking to avoid a sophomore slump, including one guy you may have heard of who's hit 6 extra base hits in 3 days.

On injuries:

Milton Bradley was held out of last night's Rangers game with a sore shoulder.
J.D. Drew injured his wrist making a sliding catch and is day-to-day.
A's 2B Mark Ellis missed last night's game with a hamstring injury, and will miss a few more.
O's C Ramon Hernandez missed last night's game with a sprained left wrist.
Reds SS Jeff Keppinger fouled a ball off his knee last night and has a fractured kneecap.
O's 3B Melvin Mora was hit by a ball in warmups yesterday and missed last night's game.

If you haven't been paying attention, Lance Berkman is pretty hot right now. He's hitting .605 in his last 11 games, and has scored a run in 15 straight games, leaving him 2 games shy of tying the NL record Rickie Weeks tied earlier this season.

Berkman also won this week's BaseballHappenings blogpoll for NL MVP. Brandon Webb ran away from the field in the Cy Young voting, and Geovany Soto dominated the Rookie voting. Here's the ballot I cast:

MVP:
1. Lance Berkman
2. Chase Utley
3. Chipper Jones

Cy Young:
1. Brandon Webb
2. Edinson Volquez
3. Carlos Zambrano

Rookie of the Year:
1. Geovany Soto
2. Jair Jurrjens
3. Kosuke Fukudome

Click the link above for the full results.

A rare former Brewer trifecta happened yesterday: The Mets designated Nelson Figueroa for assignment, called up Claudio Vargas and activated Matt Wise from the DL in the same day.

Oh, and here's a story about Tigers P Nate Robertson's unrequited love for bats.

Drink up.

So, sometime around the sixth inning of last night's game, I got an email from a Cubs fan, offering a thank you for taking 3 of 4 from the Cardinals. Just to make sure he didn't get too far ahead of himself, I sent him this.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

Obviously, it's smiles all around after Dave Bush put up a nice performance last night and Ryan Braun's bat sent a couple more baseballs screaming into the masses. But, in the JS Online game story, there's still a hint of Ned being Ned:

Kudos to Anthony Witrado for publishing that exchange and coming through with more than just the "it's early" refrain.

Adam Charles at Bugs and Cranks thinks last night's game was just part of an elaborate plot by Tony LaRussa. We're still waiting for the twist.

The Grand National Championships has a quick rant on bullpen management and closers. I will give credit to Ned for pitching Gagne in a non-save situation last night and giving him an opportunity to straighten himself out.

Last night's game didn't involve a save situation, but it did involve two teams going closer by committee. Baseball Musings asks what happens if it works.

Not only did Dave Bush pick up his first win of the season last night, he also qualified to start in row 7 of the Hank Aaron 755, Big League Stew's race for players with NASCAR names.

The Padres have designated Rule 5 pick Callix Crabbe for assignment (also noted here in the Fanshots), meaning the Brewers could have him back. Al doesn't seem to think they'll be interested, but it's middle infield depth, how could they not be?

On injuries:

Rafael Furcal will miss the upcoming series with the Brewers after being placed on the DL with a lower back injury.
Marlins P Scott Olsen isn't hurt, but he was having a hard time regaining velocity after his 8 2/3 inning, 121 pitch outing against the Brewers last week.

Here's pretty much all you need to know about Dayn Perry: He thinks Carlos Zambrano should win the Cy Young even though Brandon Webb is 8-0, has thrown more innings, struck out more batters and has a lower WHIP. I know compiling award ballots can be hard, but writing Webb in for Cy Young is a no-brainer at this point.

Apparently he hits other teams, too: Lance Berkman had stretches last week where he went 16-for-20 and 19-for-25. That second feat had only been accomplished once in the last 50 years.

David Sloane is the agent for Carlos Delgado. He's making Delgado a lot of money, but the Mets 1B is his only client. Why, you ask? Because he's insane.

Oh, and here's video of an unassisted triple play.

Drink up.