Some things to read while firming up your evening plans.

I don't really have much for you today, but the 2009 Marcel Projections are out, so if you've got a big empty gap in your schedule that's usually filled by the Mug but isn't today, you could go play with those. I've got them open in another window right now, waiting for a handful of free minutes.

Everyone else with time on their hands is talking about the NL MVP voting and the various BBWAA writers who came in with off the wall selections. This time the conversation hits close to home, as one of the writers taking a lot of criticism is our own Tom H, who had Albert Pujols seventh on his ballot, behind Prince Fielder. That's both the lowest Pujols appeared and the highest Fielder appeared on any ballot. Let's wander through the field of frustration for a moment:

• Dave Cameron of FanGraphs wants to know how Chase Utley finished 15th. So do some of the commenters in this FanShot.
• Chuckie Hacks called Tom H.'s ballot "asinine" and wonders how Carlos Delgado could've ended up ahead of Pujols.
• Sky Kalkman of Beyond the Box Score says the most valuable Brewer wasn't neither Braun or Fielder, it was J.J. Hardy.
• Baseball Musings thought Braun belonged around eighth. That's about where I expected him to finish too.
• The commenters over at Baseball Think Factory are having some fun with Tom H.'s ballot too.
• Goatriders of the Apocalypse thought the 2008 NL MVP was...Brad Lidge? I still have no idea how Lidge got two first place votes.
• The Griddle wasn't a fan of Tom H.'s ballot either.
• Lookout Landing is also unimpressed with Chase Utley's 15th place finish.
• Peter Gammons is upset about Hanley Ramirez's 11th place finish.
• Todd Zolecki reveals the one voter who left Ryan Howard off of his MVP ballot.

Now, moving on: I thought we had already heard the Sabathia Sweepstakes chronicled from every angle, but we hadn't...no one had asked LeBron James. That problem was remedied yesterday.

Also, Hot Foot thinks the Mets should sign Ben Sheets.

If the BBWAA voters had seen this, they probably would've voted about the same anyway: Bill James says Prince Fielder is the seventh worst baserunner in baseball.

If only all the decisions were this easy: The Brewers must either place Mark Rogers on the 40-man roster, or risk losing him in the Rule 5 Draft. I don't think there's much risk there.

Everyone knows versatility is an important skill. That's why the Brewers had two catchers in the top ten and bottom ten in Recondite Baseball's minor league CS% leaderboards.

On the hot stove:

Braves: Submitted a contract offer to Will Ohman yesterday.
Giants: Signed Jeremy Affeldt yesterday, the first free agent of the offseason to sign with a new team.
Mets: Are reportedly making offers to Francisco Rodriguez, Brian Fuentes and Derek Lowe.
Phillies: are reportedly pursuing relievers Juan Cruz, Doug Brocail and Russ Springer.
Red Sox: Tim Wakefield may retire due to pain in his throwing shoulder.

Elsewhere, it appears the Mariners could announce a new manager as soon as today and it won't be Ned Yost or Willie Randolph.

Matt LaPorta has had quite the season. He played for two minor league teams, was part of a blockbuster trade, got hit in the head by a pitch in the Olympics, and got the flu and fouled a pitch off his ankle in Venezuela. He returned home yesterday and my guess would be he's ready for a break.

A tech note: MLB.com is dumping Microsoft Silverlight and switching over to Flash. All I knew about Silverlight was that it was a pain to have to tell my computer I didn't want it every time I logged into Gameday Audio. Good riddance.

Oh, and the Brewers never really found another blogger to pick up the slack after Taylor Green was sent home from the AFL, so we'll have to settle for Mariner prospect Joe Woerman's story about getting nailed by a speed limit enforcement camera.

Drink up.

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.

Here are a handful of things to read if you're bored with critiquing playoff commercials.

In Arizona: Alexandre Periard was the only Brewer prospect to appear, pitching an inning of scoreless relief with a hit, a walk and a K as the Javelinas fell for the fourth straight day, 5-4 to Phoenix. Box Score

The Javelinas play Mesa today at 2:35. Lou Palmisano is still on loan to the Solar Sox, so it's possible both Angel Salome and Lou Palmisano could both play today. Also, Jeremy Jeffress last pitched on the 9th, so today could be his day.

If you need something to read between now and then, here's the latest installment in Taylor Green's blog from the AFL.

In Hawaii: The CaneFires were rained out yesterday. They play Honolulu at 8 pm Central tonight.

In Mexico: Chris Narveson made his debut and pitched 4.2 innings, giving up 3 runs (2 earned) on 6 hits and striking out 8 in Hermosillo's 7-4 loss to Guasave. On the other side, Erasmo Ramirez pitched 2/3 of an inning for Guasave, gave up two hits and was credited with a blown save. Box Score

Almost all the Brewer news today is prospect related:

• Tom H. notes (and republishes) a profile on Jeremy Jeffress in Baseball America.
• The Hardball Times analyzes the delivery of Brewer 2008 2nd round pick Seth Lintz.
• Baseball America ranks teams by their 2008 draft expenditures. The Brewers spent a shade under $8.4 million, the sixth most in all of baseball. They also had a lot of early picks.

In other news, if you were still thinking about getting a general admission ticket for the Brewers Winter Warm Up event in January (as I was), you waited too long. Tickets are still available if you want to shell out $500 for a VIP pass, though.

So apparently Jake Peavy has released a list of cities where he'd be willing to play in 2009. He's only interested in playing in the NL, and only for teams with a solid tradition of winning. The places he's reportedly willing to go are Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and St. Louis. I guess the "solid tradition of winning" part wasn't as important as they made it seem.

Also, we have a new medical procedure of the moment: nerve relocation surgery. Albert Pujols had it this week, and at least six other current and former big leaguers have had it since 2002, with at least a handful of others considering it this offseason. Click the link for a full description (with pictures) of the problem and the solution.

Ken Griffey Jr. is old school, though, so he's sticking with the tried-and-true method and having knee surgery instead. This would seem to raise the possibility that the White Sox will decline his option for 2009, creating the possibility that the Mariners could have both the return of Ken Griffey and MLB's first female GM in 2009. That's about as much positive publicity as you can get during the offseason without actually improving your odds of winning.

The Nationals had a problem this season that might seem familiar. Their position players seemed to constantly come down with injuries that were deemed "day-to-day" before being rediagnosed as something more serious. Yesterday, their medical director resigned. There's likely an opening on the Brewers' staff for him.

We're less than two months away from the Rule 5 Draft, scheduled for December 11 at the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas. Baseball Analysts has a review of the Draft in 2007-Play in 2008 draft. Still wondering if anyone has a list of Brewer players who will be eligible.

Oh, and the Rays have proven once and for all that long ball is better than small ball.

Drink up.

Even if the Brewers lost 162 games next year, even if I lost everything and my fiancee left me and Gorman peed in my bed everyday, I would still take pride in not being a competitive eater.

In Arizona: Taylor Green went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk, Lorenzo Cain went 1-for-3 with a stolen base and scored a run in his AFL debut, and David Welch pitched a scoreless inning with 2 K's as the Javelinas fell to Phoenix, 3-2. Box Score The Javelinas have lost 3 straight, but are still tied for the lead in the AFL National Division.

In Mexico: No Brewers played yesterday, and the Algodoneros were no-hit by Guasave, 2-0. Coincidence? Perhaps not. Box Score

Also, Battlekow has a roundup of Brewers stats from the first two weeks of winter league action.

The Javelinas host Phoenix today at 2:35 Central time, West Oahu hosts Honolulu at 8, and Guasave travels to Hermosillo at 8:30.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Doug Melvin has flown to Arizona to meet with Dale Sveum to discuss removing one of two tags from his title: either the "interim" one or the "manager" one. Chuckie Hacks wondered aloud if managers matter. He also notes that Bobby Valentine might be interested in the Brewers' job.

If you surf the web, the Brewers have your email address or an employee of the organization knows where you hid the spare key for your house, you've probably seen the open letter Mark A. sent out to fans. Nothing earth-shattering here, but it's a slow news day. Even the West Oahu CaneFires had the day off.

Maybe CC Sabathia won't be the highest-paid free agent this offseason after all. Rowland's Office says Mark Teixiera is seeking 10 years and $200 million. They call him "Poor man's A-Rod." Apparently making $52 million less than A-Rod makes you poor.

Albert Pujols had elbow surgery yesterday, but not the Tommy John surgery he reportedly needed. The words used here included "decompression" and "transposition," but not "reconstruction" or "removal." No word on whether or not they brought in Carlos Villanueva to "wake the sleeping giant" when it was over.

On the coaching carousel: Former Brewer Kevin Seitzer is the new hitting coach in Kansas City. Click the link for a story about how he helped legendary Brewer underachiever Dave Krynzel with his swing without even watching. The Royals also hired former Blue Jays manager John Gibbons to be their bench coach.

Say what you will about the MLB playoff system, but at least it's not confusing. I'm pretty sure no one would have a clue what's going on if MLB adopted the Japanese model.

It's quickly becoming the job no one wants: Red Sox Assistant GM Jed Hoyer is the fifth candidate to remove himself from consideration for the Mariners' GM position.

What do Hack Wilson, Hal Chase, Red Faber and Enrique Cruz all have in common? They were all Rule 5 Draft Picks. The first three turned out ok.

Oh, and you don't wear the pantyhose, the pantyhose wears you.

Drink up.

Some things to read while you're waiting for John Hodgman's new book to come out.

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

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

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

Notable by his absence over the weekend: Mike Cameron, who missed Saturday and Sunday's games with a sore knee. Of course, no one expects it to be serious, etc, etc.

Also notable by its absence: Prince Fielder's power. It's now been 21 games since he's hit a HR. He's hitting .167/.272/.179 during that stretch, and has more HBP (2) than doubles (1).

And of course, the days immediately after he gave up a first inning grand slam are an easy time to say you never believed in Dave Bush.

But then again, some Brewers performed pretty well this weekend. Ben Sheets, for one, fulfilled the prophecy posted at In-Between Hops. And Brian Shouse earned a new immortalization as well. (h/t Bugs & Cranks)

Not everyone is happy with the way Sheets was used on Saturday, however. Baseball Musings has been especially down on Ned Yost this weekend, criticizing him here for leaving Sheets in to throw 120 pitches on Saturday immediately following an injury, and here for both allowing Gagne to blow the save Friday night and asking Corey Hart to bunt in the 10th.

But, as Baseball Analysts note, the entire NL Central is scuffling. Perhaps the Brewers need to hear "The Kids Are All Right," their Hardball Times-assigned team theme song.

Ken Rosenthal says, among other things, that Ryan Braun could win the NL MVP if the Brewers get hot down the stretch and Albert Pujols' performance doesn't hold up.

Also from Rosenthal, via MLB Trade Rumors: the Brewers could look to trade Prince or J.J. Hardy this offseason to bolster their pitching staff. Unless a fantastic deal comes along, I'm opposed to either or both moves.

Despite what I think everyone would call a pretty rough week, the Brewers moved up to third in the most recent Whatifsports power rankings. The Crew dropped a spot from fifth to sixth in Phil Rogers' rankings.

Mat Gamel and Alcides Escobar have both been named to Baseball America's Minor League All Star Team, joining former teammate Matt LaPorta.

In another minor note, Brewerfan.net has the updated list of Brewer prospects headed to the Arizona Fall League and Hawaiian Winter League.

And finally, in an even more minor note, the Brewers signed Mike Lamb. Still not sure why.

On injuries:

Mariners C Jeff Clement is done for 2008 and will have surgery to repair a torn meniscus.
Padres OF Jody Gerut strained a ligament in his middle finger almost 2 weeks ago, but it's not healing.
Nate McLouth was struck near his left eye while diving for a ball in the fourth inning yesterday and required stitches.
Mariners FA bust SP Carlos Silva was scratched from yesterday's scheduled start with a stiff back.
Indians SP Jake Westbrook is done for the season after undergoing surgery on his hip. He'll be on crutches for 4 weeks.

If you skipped over the Nate McLouth link above, you may also not know that McLouth is only the seventh Pirate in the 126-year history of the franchise to hit 20 HR and steal 20 bases. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to keep the Pirates from ensuring their 16th straight losing season.

Perhaps the most unusual batting line of the season occured Friday night when the A's played the Orioles. Rajai Davis entered the game as a pinch runner in the 8th, but later came up to bat again and hit a grand slam.

Oh, and the digital TV transition might have some unexpected effects in prisons.

Drink up.

I drank another Nutrisoda yesterday. And the Brewers won. I'm going to need more Nutrisoda.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

After losing 2 of 3 to the Brewers, the Astros are just one game over .500, 8.5 games behind the Brewers (and behind four other teams) for the Wild Card, and BP Postseason Odds has them at .13%, or about 1 in 756 to make the playoffs. But Crawfish Boxes wants you to know that if the Astros sweep 4 games from the Mets and the Brewers lose 4 in a row, they'll only be 4.5 games back.

Rickie Weeks was back in the lineup yesterday, and went 0-1 with 3 walks and scored 3 times. Al says he's the best leadoff hitter the Brewers have had since Paul Molitor. That's a study waiting to be done.

This much is for sure: Weeks did give J.J. Hardy a high-five following the home run that more or less sealed yesterday's game.

Prince Fielder hit two sac flies yesterday and leads the NL with 10.

Will Ben Sheets be the next injury-prone but dominant-when-healthy SP to sign a big deal with the Blue Jays? The Southpaw is hearing rumors that the Jays will make a run at Sheets this winter, but Jordan Bastian says the Jays likely won't look to replace pitching via free agency. Next spring only one of them will be right.

If the Jays would like a headstart, they could overspend on Brewer pitchers right now by picking up the contracts of Eric Gagne and David Riske, who both cleared waivers.

CC Sabathia is making the NL better one start at a time. Not only did CC Sabathia pitch his fifth complete game Monday, he also inspired Pirates SP Ian Snell, who watched footage of Sabathia on his iPhone, translated some things over to his delivery and dominated the Cardinals.

Ken Rosenthal seems to think the Brewers will exercise their $10 million option on Mike Cameron for next season. I guess the Eric Gagne experiment has shown us that there are worse ways to spend $10 million.

Jeff Moore at Dugout Central considered both Ryan Braun and CC Sabathia for NL MVP before deciding the only real candidate is Albert Pujols.

Yesterday, I took a quick look at Brewers who have hit 20 home runs and stolen 20 bases. Corey Hart needs one home run to become the first Brewer ever to do it twice. Today, Recondite Baseball takes a look at a more dubious 20/20 club: players who committed 20 errors and grounded into 20 double plays. No Brewer has ever made this list. None will in 2008, either.

Dayn Perry says the Brewers' biggest weakness is right handed middle relief. I can live with that.

On injuries:

A's SP Sean Gallagher has a tired arm and will miss his next start.
Rockies RP Matt Herges has been placed on the DL with lower back stiffness.
Hanley Ramirez will likely miss a day or two after bruising his thumb stealing a base last night.
Jim Thome was scratched from last night's game with slight soreness in his leg.
White Sox CF DeWayne Wise left last night's game with a strained abductor muscle.

Dixieflatline is everywhere these days. Today, he's posting at new SBN affiliate Driveline Mechanics about the stuff of Jeff Samardzija, whose name I still can't spell. That's the only name I've ever written, looked at and thought, "shouldn't there be another z in there?"

Finally, The Griddle handicaps the race between the Mariners and Nationals to be the first team mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. Another look at the BP Postseason Odds shows that the Royals, Mariners, Nationals, Pirates and Reds have already been all but eliminated, with the Padres holding onto a slim .00005% (1 in 2 million) chance.

I filtered out 6 unnecessary commas from the original draft of today's Mug to make it smooth and add drinkability. Drink up.

No, the Brewers did not just draft right-handed pitchers; there are a few position players salting the draft haul. One of the more intriguing of the bunch is East Carolina catcher Corey Kemp. Kemp hit .341/.444/.628 for the Pirates and was named second-team All-America for his trouble. Hits well and plays catcher? Sounds good to me.

BCB: Are you in Arizona now?

CK: Yes I am.

BCB: I hear the weather is brutal.

CK: True, thank God we practice in the morning.

BCB: So, did you know the Brewers were interested in drafting you before they did?

CK: Yes I did. [Brewers’ scout] Dan Nellum was in contact a lot.

BCB: What other teams talked to you?

CK: The Reds, Cardinals, and Cubs were the most interested.

BCB: Were you surprised at where you were drafted? Were you expecting to go higher or lower?

CK: I wasn’t sure really, I was told anywhere from [round] 8 to 20. I was happy to go in the 14th.

BCB: Did you know they were interested in your teammate, [42nd-round pick, shortstop] Ryan Wood, too?

CK: Yeah, probably more so than me.

BCB: Oh, really? Did they discover you while scouting him?

CK: Yeah, Ryan is a stud; no one knows how he fell so far. Not real sure really.

BCB: Signability? Do you think he'll sign?

CK: Might be, be but he said he would sign anywhere before the 15th [round]. He was my two-year roommate.

BCB: So you're pretty good buddies with him then?

CK: Great friends.

BCB: So if the Brewers are willing to give him top 15-round money, he might be interested?

CK: I'm pretty sure.

BCB: How's his defense at short? You think he'll be able to stick there?

CK: For sure. Cannon for an arm.

BCB: How are you defensively behind the plate?

CK: I'm okay, I suppose; I still have a lot to learn.

BCB: Did you just recently take up catching?

CK: Full-time, last year.

BCB: What did you play before that?

CK: Third base, but I was back and forth for about five years, just never really focused on catching till this year.

BCB: What are your strengths as a player?

CK: Work ethic and love for the game. I also believe I bring positive energy to a team.

BCB: Do you know yet whether you'll go to Helena when their season begins?

CK: Not real sure; we'll find out in the next day or two.

BCB: Do you know anyone in the organization?

CK: Sam Narron, who is in AAA, is from ECU, and I’ve talked to him on a few occasions. Great guy.

BCB: I'm rooting for him to make it back to the big leagues, just because the one game he was up with Texas a few years ago was so terrible.

CK: Yeah, he had a tough outing, but that happens. That's baseball.

BCB: As an African-American, does the presence of so many young black talents on the big league club make you more comfortable in the organization than you might otherwise be?

CK: I mean, that's great to see. I don't know if that makes me more comfortable--I've always been the minority on every team; mostly I was the only black kid.

BCB: Did you ever see being the only black kid on the team as a problem?

CK: No, not really. I didn't really ever focus on it, but I definitely always noticed.

BCB: Is that a problem to be fixed, or is just one of those things?

CK: I’m not sure. Baseball can get very expensive to play competitively; some summer teams charge $1000 to play in the summer.

BCB: How did you get into baseball?

CK: Most of my family is from St. Louis, so as a young kid I spent summers in St. Louis dressing in Cardinal red. Went to my first game and didn't eat for three hours, which was a record for me, and I begged my dad to sign me up. From that, game on.

BCB: Oh so you're a Cardinals fan? Well, better than the Cubs, I suppose.

CK: (laughs) Yeah, that's true.

BCB: Is there a Major Leaguer you pattern your game after?

CK: I really love watching Manny [Ramirez] and Big Albert [Pujols] hit, and I love to watch Yadier Molina and [Brian] McCann catch.

BCB: Molina is primarily known for his defense, while McCann is mostly known for offense. Who do you identify with more?

CK: That's why I love to watch both--mixing the two makes the perfect catcher, and McCann's defensive skills are underrated.

BCB: So when you make it to the big leagues, we'll call you McYadi, yeah?

CK: Sure, great comparison. (laughs)

BCB: Do you have any favorite baseball books?

CK: Moneyball was interesting. That and Ball Four.

BCB: What did you take away as the message of Moneyball?

CK: Just that this is a business now, and that there is a whole other side to the game that is very statistical.

BCB: Do you get into statistical analysis at all?

CK: Nah, I just play the game as hard as possible.

BCB: Fans can’t ask for anything more. We appreciate the time, and we’ll be cheering for you.

CK: Thanks.

The Cup would be longer today, but I'm suffering from repetitive stress injuries and am listed as day-to-day.

• BR Box Score
• FanGraphs Win Probability Chart

It's not the biggest injury in the NL Central now, or even in the Brewers middle infield, but JJ Hardy is unlikely to play today after tweaking the shoulder he had surgery on earlier in the year.

It wouldn't be a Plastic Cup without an unwanted mention of the lineup, so: Corey's happy that he could run more in the leadoff spot.  The highlight of the article is this Ned sighting:

"Why would it open up his running game? His running game is already open," Yost said. "The only guarantee he is going to have is an open base is the first inning, so, no. The law of averages say that he is going to be on base as many times with guys on as with guys not on."

I think Ned is trying to say something intelligent here, and getting closer than we'd expect, but still not very close.  Hart may not lead off every inning he bats, but the odds are pretty high that, coming up after the #8 and #9 hitters, he'll have no one ahead of him on the basepaths.

Mike Fast posted an interesting Pitch f/x study at The Hardball Times this morning.  He looks at the effects of pitchers working quickly.  One unsurprising side note: Ben Sheets is the fastest worker on the Brewers staff.  Mike doesn't give us a complete list, but it looks like Sheets is one of the fastest in the majors, too.

And speaking of Pitch f/x, Josh has published his web-based pitch tool with 2008 data.  Now you can look at all kinds of cool matchup stuff.  I'm sure you can do something cooler than what I just came up with, but here are the locations of the five pitches from LHPs that Prince cranked out of the park.

Now, on to the carnage in the NL Central.

Alfonso Soriano has a broken hand, and will likely be out for six weeks.  It may or may not be Murton time, but it will definitely be downgrade time.  Cwyers looks at the projected difference.

Also at Goat Riders, Colin points out the trade rumors that the Cubs could go after Sabathia.  The Brewers have been linked with Sabathia before, too, though I think that was purely speculation.  I would imagine that as the Indians fall in the standings, every team above .500 will be linked with Sabathia.  But I'm with Olney here (it's sentences like that that aggravate my RSI)--it wouldn't surprise me if Jim Hendry is willing to be the highest bidder.

As you probably know, Albert Pujols is now on the DL, too.  I'm not sure what's worse--losing your star for 6 weeks, or losing your star for an unknown period of time.  At least Soriano ought to be healed on schedule and shouldn't have lingering effects; Pujols is another story.  Cardinals Diaspora reflects on the surprising season in St. Louis so far, and wonders if this news is the end of it.

I'm playing injured, and you still got a full-length Cup.  How's that for GRIT?

Game time today is 1:05 CT, and if you check back after the game, there will be another draft pick interview courtesy of intrepid BCB reporter-in-the-field Battlekow.