In Arizona: Taylor Green went 1-for-4 with his first AFL HR, Jeremy Jeffress started and gave up 3 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks in 3.1 innings, and Omar Aguilar pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save as the Javelinas defeated Mesa, 9-8.

At 5-4, the Javelinas are back in first in the AFL National Division. They travel to Scottsdale tonight at 8.

In Hawai'i: Caleb Gindl went 1-for-3 and Logan Schafer went 0-for-2 as the CaneFires fell to Honolulu 4-2 in 7 innings.

The Canefires host North Shore tonight at midnight.

The two Brewer position players in Hawai'i aren't exactly ripping the cover off the ball (.217/.294/.326 for Gindl, .154/.292/.231 for Schafer), but it could be worse: The Giants organization has called home #1 pick Buster Posey since they didn't feel he was getting enough playing time. You just can't pout your way through life.

In Venezuela: It appears the previous day's box scores don't get posted early enough to make the Mug. As a result, here's how Brewer prospects fared in Wednesday's action. This is still more up to date than 2001 Google (h/t Aaron Gleeman):

• Jay Gibbons went 0-for-3 with a walk and drove in a run for Magallanes.
• Also for Magallanes, Tony Gwynn went 0-for-4 with a K.
• Across the field, Hernan Iribarren went 0-for-5 with 3 K's for Lara.
• A day after hitting his first VWL home run, Brendan Katin went 0-for-3 for Zulia.
• Luis Pena made his VWL debut and pitched two thirds of a scoreless inning for La Guaira.

In the Dominican Republic: Ozzie Chavez is 1-for-7 with an RBI and a stolen base in his first two games for Este, and Joe Bateman gave up two runs on two hits in an inning of work yesterday for Este as well.

Ok, sorry for the extended delay, I had a bit of a change in my morning routine.

So I've spent the last two weeks watching the Seattle GM search and hoping we'd get to keep Jack Zduriencik in his current draft czar role with the Brewers. No more than 12 hours after I'd noted that the Mariners were down to three finalists, Zduriencik was announced as the fourth finalist. (Noted in FanShots) Chuckie Hacks thinks Seattle should pick someone else.

Speaking of picking someone else, Doug Melvin has decided to expand the search for the next manager of your Milwaukee Brewers. Tom H. has three former big league managers who may or may not have expressed interest in the position.

Once those dilemmas are solved, we can fire up the hot stove. Chuckie Hacks notes that the Brewers were mentioned as a possible candidate to trade for Jake Peavy, but Rowland's Office also seems to think the Braves have the inside track.

Camden Chat has brought up the possibility that the Orioles could trade for Prince Fielder, but opposed it. I'm opposed to it too unless the Orioles are willing to overpay, so I'm glad we're on the same page.

MLB Trade Rumors has the Brewers' offseason outlook, but it's to be taken with a grain of salt for a couple of reasons: 1) They appear to be operating under the assumption that Tony Gwynn could be 2009's fourth outfielder and 2) They appear to believe the Brewers' 2009 payroll could approach $100 million. Both of those things are unlikely, but if the Brewers somehow manage to spend $100 million AND Tony Gwynn is their fourth outfielder, something went terribly wrong.

Could Tony Gwynn be a part of the Endy Chavez family of players? If so, Tangotiger says he may be an underrated talent.

Not all of those players are undervalued. Juan Pierre, for example, is still owed $28.5 million and wants to be traded somewhere where he could play everyday.

Over at The Hardball Times, Chris Neault says Ben Sheets' elbow injury should respond well to plenty of rest. I think he'll get plenty of rest for the rest of 2009 after he pitches in April for his new team.

Oh, and CNN analysts would rather watch baseball than debates. Maybe one of them should have brought this sign.

Drink up.

Ok, so it isn't exactly a series preview...consider it a rest-of-series preview.  Rob runs the great Dodgers/Angels site 6-4-2, and he was kind enough to take the time to answer some questions about one of his teams for us.  Without further ado:

Q: You've had the opportunity to watch Joe Torre in action for six weeks now--kind of like the previous decade, I'd imagine, only on local TV instead of national.  What are your impressions so far?

A: Torre seems to be under the impression that the press release version of his team is the actual team; it's certainly the only explanation why Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones have both appeared as starters in various lineups.  With Rafael Furcal out, it's simply shocking to have Torre miss what seems obvious to everyone else:  Andre Ethier is the team's second best hitter, and the Dodgers can ill-afford to miss both while plugging in arguably worse defense (and certainly worse offense) in left.

Q: In Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones, the Dodgers have a pair of outfielders who are underperforming the youngsters in every category but age.  How do you see the outfield situation shaking out over the course of the season?  Are there any other prospects who Pierre might end up blocking?

A: My inclination is to place the blame for this squarely on the shoulders of ownership. As Joe Sheehan recently pointed out in a Baseball Prospectus piece picked up by Sports Illustrated, the Dodgers are really three teams in one: the Paul DePodesta Dodgers, the Ned Colletti Dodgers, and the (VP of Scouting) Logan White Dodgers. Unsurprisingly, the Logan White team is the most productive as measured by value-for-salary, but the Colletti players -- which includes the likes of Jason Schmidt, Nomar Garciaparra, Juan Pierre, and Andruw Jones -- contains all the deadweight. "Grady Little's inability to play his best players at the expense of those veterans was the critical factor in the Dodgers finishing eight games out in a competitive NL West", Sheehan opined, and it's absolutely a factor again with Torre running the team.

Unfortunately, it's unclear what the Dodgers will do going forward. Pierre's contract virtually dictates he will end up with playing time (almost certainly too much and at the expense of Ethier, from what we can gather so far). Likewise Jones' glove, and more, his arm represent a significant improvement over the noodle Pierre uses to toss his rainbow throws back to the infield. If there were a clearly superior outfield prospect in the wings, it seems likely that the Dodgers would have blocked that player, too. So, no, I have no idea how this will shake out, other than to say it will be done sub-optimally.

Q: Similar question: with Blake DeWitt playing well, Andy LaRoche stuck in AAA, and Nomar pretending to healthy sometime soon, what will happen at third?  If you were running the team, what would you do about that spot?

A: I would tell Nomar his duties are limited to pinch-hitting and spot starting, or cut him. The best thing he's done for the 2008 Dodgers so far has to spend substantial time on the DL, thus giving Blake DeWitt an extended showcase. I don't think DeWitt is quite as good as he's shown so far, and LaRoche will probably, eventually, develop more power, but either or both of those young players can bring to the table more, now, than Nomar. (In case you can't tell, the big problem with this team is that it doesn't have enough injuries to the right players.)

Q: The Brewers aren't going to see Hideki Kuroda this series, but he hasn't gotten a whole lot of national coverage, so I'm curious what your impressions are so far.  He's certainly gotten results--do you see that holding up as the league sees him for the second or third time?

A: League? Try, lineup. In Sunday's contest against Houston, he uncharacteristically carried a no-hitter into the seventh, but as Vin Scully mentioned in the TV broadcast, Kuroda tends to wilt the third time through the order. (Baseball-Reference doesn't show this data on his splits page, but you can get a feel for it by pitch count; after 75, his line goes ballistic to a slapped-silly .355/.412/.516.) Jon Weisman thought he was actually trying too hard, but it seems to me his stuff flattens out early. Fortunately, the Dodgers only need a third starter, or should; it's likely that with rotational ineffectiveness (Derek Lowe's groundballs haven't been coming as they used to, and Brad Penny's meatball catering service is giving the team fits), the team wiill have to bring up Clayton Kershaw earlier than they might like.

Q: Overall, the LA bullpen has been quite effective, but not in the way I would've expected.  Beimel dominating while Broxton is scuffling?  Fill us in on the pecking order behind Saito, and how you see this group performing over the course of the year.

A: Beimel wears the number 97, which tells you a little something about his psychology; he tends to blend into the background, but you're right that he appears to be dominating in the early season. Emphasis should be on appears, because in point of fact, he's second on the team for allowing inherited baserunners to score (so far, five have, one back of Scott Proctor's six), thus deflating his ERA while adversely affecting both the team and the pitcher(s) ahead of him. Broxton had the worst outing of his career on Sunday, giving up six runs while making only one out, but he'll revert to form; one of his hallmarks early on was his tendency to get in a funk and lose control on his fastball, and it looks like that's what happened.

The real question is what happens once Chan Ho Park turns back into the guy Texas knew and hated. By ERA, he's the third best pitcher on the team (2.16 in 25 IP), but there's no way he sustains that with his low strikeout rate. Scott Proctor is looking mighty like a midseason DFA or a slow regression to mopup duties, something that will be hard to accomplish given Torre's extended experience with him in New York. Most likely to replace him, and perhaps the biggest wild card currently on the 25-man, is Yhency Brazoban. The man with a name designed for Scrabble had a rough but scoreless go in the team's 7-1 Friday loss. He was all but unhittable for a couple months in 2004, but injuries sidetracked him. Even at league average, he could still be a useful part given the likelihood of both injury and ineffectiveness elsewhere in the pitching staff.

Thanks, Rob!