Here's a promise: The Frosty Mug will never be delayed to allow a half-hour national political ad. Ever.

In Arizona: Taylor Green went 1-for-4 with a walk, Lorenzo Cain went 2-for-5 but was caught stealing, Brae Wright struck out the side and pitched a perfect inning for his third hold, and David Welch retired the last batter to pick up his first save as the Javelinas defeated Mesa, 6-4. Lou Palmisano went 0-for-2 with a walk for the Solar Sox before being replaced by a pinch runner, caught Lorenzo Cain stealing and committed a throwing error.

The Javelinas host Mesa today at 2:35.

In Hawai'i: Logan Schafer went 0-for-2 with two walks, Caleb Gindl went 1-for-3 with a run scored and Mike Ramlow allowed two runs on two hits in one inning of work as the CaneFires defeated Honolulu 7-2 in 7 innings.

The CaneFires host Honolulu again at 8 tonight.

In Mexico: Erasmo Ramirez gave up a hit that allowed inherited runners to score and was credited with his second blown save, but he also pitched a scoreless third of an inning for his first win as the Algodoneros defeated Hermosillo, 7-6.

In Venezuela: Four Brewers debuted on Opening Day in the Liga Venezuela Beisbol Profesional. Amazingly, all of them have individual stats even though no one has a box score. Correction: These stats are from Tuesday's action. Wednesday's results will be in Friday's Frosty Mug. Have I mentioned I'm an idiot and I write the Mug before coffee? Brewer appearances Tuesday:

• Brendan Katin went 1-for-5 with his first HR for Zulia.
• Jay Gibbons went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts but walked and scored a run for Magallanes.
• Also for Magallanes, Tony Gwynn went 1-for-5 with a K.
• Hernan Iribarren went 1-for-2 with a double and two walks for Lara.

I feel like this is the 50th time I've said it shouldn't be long before the managerial situation is resolved. If it gets resolved yet this week and Doug Melvin finally agrees to an extension, items 1 and 2 will be crossed off the postseason to do list.

Welcome to day ten of another full offseason spent debating the merits of Rickie Weeks. Today, The Junkball Blues notes that Weeks turned about the number of double plays that would be expected from someone who spent the same number of innings at second base. That's fine, but the argument doesn't hold water because continued failure to convert routine double plays is something I can observe with my eyes.

Beyond the Box Score ranked Mike Cameron as the 12th best CF in 2008. Also worth noting from that article: I don't think I've ever seen anything, positive or negative, written about Nate McLouth's defense, but he somehow managed to cost the Pirates 16 runs in the field this season.

Would that be enough to keep him off the all-NM team? It's hard to say. Batter's Box Interactive has issued a challenge to build the best possible historical team using only players with the same syllables initials. (Related note: My IQ today is under 10.) Jay, this strikes me as being right in your wheelhouse.

I don't think an RY team would be very competitive, even if Seamheads did rank Robin Yount the fourth greatest shortstop of all time.

Bird Land has a poll to determine which four faces belong on the Cardinals' Mt. Rushmore. That got me thinking: are there four Brewers worthy of such an honor? Let's hear your nominees in the comments, and if there's interest I'll put a poll together at a later date.

No nominations will be accepted for Craig Counsell. FanGraphs thinks it's time for Craig Counsell to start working on the "future manager" part of his career.

Does any sport have more byzantine roster rules than baseball? I'm still trying to figure out who's eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, and now also trying to understand free agent quotas. The latter doesn't sound like it'll come into play this offseason, but it still belongs alongside Super 2's and the aforementioned Rule 5 Draft on the confusing rule Mt. Rushmore.

So the Mariners have named the three finalists for their GM position, meaning it's probably safe to assume we'll get to keep Jack Z. for at least another year.

Should the Brewers have sported mohawks for the NLDS? It's one of the many non-plausible explanations for the Rays' playoff success despite their lack of playoff experience. Lookout Landing has a post and some stats on players with (and without) playoff experience and their performances in 2008.

If you're getting a busy signal, that means three people are calling his phone at once: Josh Phelps is a free agent after being let go by the Cardinals yesterday. There are worse platoon guys out there.

Goat Riders of the Apocalypse thinks the Cubs should replace Kosuke Fukudome with Milton Bradley, who could combine with Carlos Zambrano to form some kind of hot-headed Voltron.

Leo Mazzone is back to looking for work as a pitching coach after taking 2008 off. Click the link to read a quote where he buries the Orioles organization.

Oh, and this story about Joe Posnanski's email being hacked is 15 minutes of your life you'll never want back.

Drink up.

This isn't where I'd hoped we'd be on Friday, but it's where we are, so let's make the best of it.

Game 1 Win Probability Graph
Game 1 BR Box Score

Game 2 Win Probability Graph
Game 2 BR Box Score

Ok, any idiot could write a gloom-and-doom Mug at this point, dismiss the Brewer season and spend the weekend picking apples or something. I might pick apples this weekend (I'm out), but I'm not giving up yet. Here are my reasons for optimism:

• The last time the Brewers were down 0-2 in a best of five series, they took the last three from the Angels in the 1982 ALCS.
• MLB Playoff Odds still gives the Brewers a 12.3% shot (about 1 in 8) at winning the NLDS and a 2.4% shot (about 1 in 40) at winning the World Series.
• FanGraphs released a list of baseball's ten worst relief pitchers, and there's not a single Brewer on it.
• Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun both know what they need to do.
• Prince has made enough toothpicks to last through the winter.
• Bob Uecker will throw out the first pitch tomorrow.
• And of course, we still have the Rally Lobster:

What else do you need?

The Brew Town Beat in encouraging you not to boo the Brewers this weekend. For once, I'm with him. We've waited 26 years for this moment, let's not waste it complaining about Corey Hart's .132/.159/.197 batting line since September 6.

The Journal Sentinel has a piece on Dale Sveum's "loyalty" to Rickie Weeks. Worth noting: Weeks is still splitting time, and while his game 1 error is permanently carved into Brewer lore, he also hit .281/.395/.547 in his last 20 games, which looks pretty good when compared to J.J. Hardy, Mike Cameron or even Ryan Braun's numbers over the same span.

It's time for today's Sabathia Smorgasbord. Today, Joe Posnanski asks if clutch pitching is more likely to be real than clutch hitting, MLB Trade Rumors suggests both Sabathia and Ben Sheets will be Type A free agents and The San Francisco Chronicle (via MLB Trade Rumors) says the Giants will make a run at signing him.

As noted in the FanShots, I made Sports Illustrated this week. I can't tell you how weird of a feeling it is to spend an entire season writing about a team, and make a nationally-known publication based on a throwaway line about pumpkin pie. Here's my pumpkin pie recipe. No, I don't make my own pie crust.

One injury note to pass along: Carlos Pena left last night's game with blurred vision, but it appears he'll be ok and ready to go for game 2.

In case you missed it, A Greek Orthodox priest exorcised the Cubs' dugout before last night's game. Carlos Zambrano was still there at game time, so apparently it didn't work.

So apparently the Mets are hoping to improve in 2009 by suck-proofing their bullpen. Brewer fans, above all others, should be able to tell them that "throwing a lot of money at it" and "suck-proofing" are two different things.

Via BBTF, I also learned that Lanny Frattare, voice of the Pirates since 1976, retired yesterday. I can't imagine retiring after so long when the team is this bad...it'd be like Uecker retiring in 2001.

On the coaching carousel: The Royals have fired their hitting coach. There's still not a single fired manager this offseason.

Oh, and if you need something to stare at while you spend the off-day spacing out, the Wikipedia Screen Saver works for me.

Drink up. And keep your chin up!

Looks like the Brewers could use an upgrade.

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

Sunday's (Game 1) Win Probability Graph
Sunday's (Game 1) BR Box Score

Sunday's (Yes, we lost Game 2 too) Win Expectancy Graph
Sunday's (The 2008 Brewers can be compared to 2004 Howard Dean) BR Box Score

Ok, let's just be honest with each other for a moment. You probably feel like reading about and re-living this weekend about as much as I feel like writing about and re-living this weekend, right? So let's just do bullet points and get back to enjoying a rare September day where the Brewers probably won't lose, because they're off.

• In-Between Hops noted on Friday that the Brewers had been held under 5 runs for 9 straight games. It's 12 now, longest streak since 1972.
• Chuckie Hacks is comparing this season to a Peanuts cartoon you'll recognize.
• Fire Ned Yost delivered the beatdown and Yost offers an explanation for why Brian Shouse was allowed to blow a game wide open this weekend.
• Shouse reacts.
• Ryan Braun called it a "complete and total disaster."
• Jim Powell was already worried on Friday.
• Al still blames the umpires.
• Ken Rosenthal says Yost is gone if the Brewers miss the playoffs. A rare silver lining.
• Already gone: Nashville manager Frank Kremblas.
• CC Sabathia may be an Angel next season.
• Phil Rogers ranked the Brewers 13th, down from sixth, and behind the accuracy of hurricane forecasts.
• Rod Barajas, Adrian Beltre, Mets OF Damian Easley, Tom Gorzelanny, Vlad Guerrero and Joel Zumaya got injured.
• Carlos Zambrano no-hit the Astros at Miller Park last night.
• Crawfish Boxes says Miller Park was the wrong place to play these games. Brian McTaggart says they should've played in Arlington.
• Micah Owings made his Reds debut yesterday, and beat the D-Backs, his former team, with a pinch hit in the 10th.
Drink up. Or just dump it on the ground.

Some things to read while I work on training Gorman to accurately predict the weather.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

Ok, let's start with the positive from last night: Manny Parra picked up a couple of doubles, meaning he's only a little more than 500 hits away from the all-time pitcher record.

Ok, done being positive. Brewed Sports noted that Eric Gagne has the highest HR/9 of any major league pitcher that hasn't been released. So why is he still pitching in high leverage, or really any, situation? The Official Site says Ned is trying so hard to get himself fired Gagne is staying in the eighth inning role.

Jayson Stark listed CC Sabathia as a top-three candidate for NL Cy Young, but decided Tim Lincecum deserves it more. Via The Hardball Times, I found Tim Marchman of the NY Sun, who argues that the sleeper candidate may be Ryan Dempster. That's probably a reach.

Others are still weighing in on Sabathia's near no-hitter. Hal McCoy thinks it was a hit. UmpBump doesn't like Doug Melvin's idea for a new official scoring system.

Manny Ramirez, Mark Teixeira, Adam Dunn...and Ray Durham? MLB Trade Rumors has a list of top upcoming free agents sorted by OBP. Ray Durham makes the top ten.

On injuries:

White Sox 3B Joe Crede left last night's game after 5 innings with tightness in his back.
Nats C Jesus Flores left last night's game on a stretcher, but preliminary reports say it was just an ankle sprain.
Ken Griffey missed his second straight game with a sore back.
Cards OF Joe Mather is done for the year with a broken hand.
White Sox OF Carlos Quentin was scratched from last night's game with forearm soreness.
Rangers C Jarrod Saltalamacchia is done for the year with a strained muscle in his forearm.
Carlos Zambrano left last night's game after five innings with arm trouble. He'll be re-examined today.

We're getting close to the window for teams to negotiate with potential minor league affiliates, and two stories today imply their could be some significant movement in AAA: The Indians are leaving Buffalo and will likely sign a deal with Columbus. Meanwhile, the Dodgers are reportedly moving from Las Vegas to Albuquerque.

Drink up.

So I've got a ton of links this morning. There were over 1300 unread in my reader this morning, plus a dozen or so I found before I decided to observe the holiday yesterday. So why did I spend 15 minutes reading Joe Posnanski's thoughts on candy bars?

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

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 Box Score

Ok, 3 1/2 days of links. Where does one start?

Everyone wants to talk about the game that was or wasn't a no-hitter on Sunday. This seems like a good time to bust out the bullet points:

• Tom H. has the official scorer's explanation.
• Chuckie Hacks says it wasn't a hit, but will settle for a 20-win month.
• In-Between Hops thinks we all have bigger things to worry about.
• The Brew Town Beat thinks MLB should reverse the call.
• Two Fisted Slopper also thinks it was the wrong call.
• Jim Powell says, and I quote: "We wuz robbed."
• Baseball Musings asked another official scorer for their opinion, and said it should be a hit.
• Bugs and Cranks wants to know what you think. Right now about 52% of voters are voting "error."
• Murray Chass wants his prune juice NOW!
• Peter Schmuck says MLB shouldn't change the call after the fact.

A couple of other notes on Sabathia: Beyond the Box Score is comparing Sabathia and...Ricky Nolasco? Also, MLB FanHouse thinks Sabathia is "flying under the radar" as a Cy Young candidate. How is that possible?

This is almost certainly bigger news: Ben Sheets left yesterday's game with tightness in his left groin. I haven't seen any updates on his condition yet, but obviously we'll be watching.

The rosters also expanded over the weekend. The JS has a quick profile of the ten players the Brewers have called up.

Looking ahead, The Brew Town Beat takes a look at today's Mets starter, Jon Niese, who will make his big league debut. TheJay has a FanPost on him too.

Could the Brewers play low-A ball in the Midwest League again next season? Via Al, I found this story that would suggest the Brewers and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are waiting for the MLB-sanctioned window to open negotiations.

On Power Rankings:

WhatifSports has the Brewers 4th.
Phil Rogers has the Brewers 5th.
The Whisnant Rankings have the Brewers 8th.

Two Brewer voices are up for consideration for the Ford Frick Award, getting them a place alongside Bob Uecker in the Hall of Fame. I'm not sure Jim Powell is quite ready for enshrinement yet. And Bill Schroeder? Really?

On injuries:

Padres OF Scott Hairston has a torn ligament in his thumb.
Jeff Kent will have surgery to repair a torn medial meniscus and is out for the season.
Rangers P Vicente Padilla is on the DL with a strained hamstring.

And, instead of linking it 3 times, I'll just tell you that The Disabled List Informer has injury news on Carlos Zambrano (shoulder fatigue), Kevin Gregg (left knee inflammation) and Wandy Rodriguez (oblique).

MLB Trade Rumors has sorted likely free agent pitchers by strikeout rate, giving us the first list of likely free agent pitchers that doesn't have CC Sabathia at the top. At the same time The Junkball Blues asks if free agent pitchers are worth it.

Cliff Lee won his 20th game yesterday, making him 20-2 for the 66-win Cleveland Indians. Baseball Musings is calling it the best pitching performance in the AL since Pedro Martinez in 1999.

Brandon Webb couldn't pick up his 20th win again yesterday. But the organization has stepped up behind him and acquired some grit.

I was looking for something offbeat and unrelated to post here in the close, then I realized I used the candy bar thing in the open. Please do not protest.

Drink up.

So, if the Brewers don't manage to win the next two and salvage a split of this series, will this be the most disappointing home series in Brewer history?

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

So Ben Sheets didn't have it last night. It happens. I was about ready to give Sheets and Yost the benefit of the doubt before Brewers Bar made me realize that Sheets' entire 6th inning meltdown last night took place without a single mound visit. This is your ace we're talking about, in the 6th inning. I can understand not wanting to pull him, since it is only the 6th with no outs, but he gave up 7 straight hits...don't you at least want to go calm him down?

Complaining about Cubs fans seems to be en vogue today, and they probably deserve it. Viva Cerveceros recounts a post-arrest story, and The Brew Town Beat missed an opportunity to prevent a moron from reproducing last night as well.

On the flip side, The View From the Bleachers doesn't like Ryan Braun, because he's smug and cocky. I was going to retaliate here by calling Carlos Zambrano a hotheaded dick, especially after he stared down Ray Durham going back to the dugout last night after a strikeout in an at-bat where Durham was injured on a foul ball. Classy.

But I've decided not to go that route, since Cub fans have been tortured enough. They've gone 100 years since they won a World Series, and there will be a World Series banner hanging in "Wrigley Field North" before there's one in the real thing.

Ray Durham left the game in the seventh and is day-to-day, by the way.

On to other things: CC Sabathia took out an ad in the Cleveland Plain Dealer to thank Indians fans for their support. If you click the link, you can see the full ad. It's a classy move.

And if you're sick of Brewer-Cub nonsense and would like to take a break for a few minutes before it resumes again tonight (or in the comments of this post momentarily), go read Battlekow's post ranking Brewer prospects. I routinely defeat Battlekow at Boggle, but he knows a lot more about prospects than I do, so it evens out.

On injuries:

Hank Blalock has been placed on the DL for the 3rd time this season, this time with shoulder inflammation.
Twins 2B Alexi Casilla has been placed on the DL with torn ligaments in his thumb.
Pirates 1B Adam LaRoche has been placed on the DL with a rib injury.
Mets SP John Maine has a strained rotator cuff but may make his next start anyway.
Scott Podsednik has hit the DL with a broken pinky finger.

Ichiro singled to lead off last night's Mariners game and now has 3,000 hits between Japan and MLB, with 1722 coming on this side of the Pacific. Plus, the M's won to reach eight games over .300.

Blue Jays C Gregg Zaun isn't getting to play as much as he'd like and is asking to be traded. He's only gotten 211 plate appearances in 2008. That's 168 more plate appearances than Mike Rivera.

Three Cardinal minor leaguers have been busted for PED use. Maybe every system has 3 users in it, or more, but how many guys busted from one system at one time before it becomes an organizational problem?

Oh, and if you missed it yesterday, apparently there's still a woot-off today.

Drink up.

I'm not quite ready for a full time return to the active roster quite yet, but I am home for a couple of days, so the Mug returns temporarily today and tomorrow, and hopefully for good in early July. Thanks to Jeff for filling in admirably during my extended absence. Without him, life might imitate Garfield minus Garfield. I'll be back full-time soon.

Win Probability Graph
BR Box Score

When I left on my mini-sabbatical, Prince had 8 home runs. Since then he's hit 8 more, including the one pictured here. If I go back on sabbatical and he hits 8 more, I'll be tempted to retire.

Also pictured: The biggest accomplishment of Jeff Suppan's weekend.

Matt LaPorta missed a couple of games last week after running into the outfield wall, then returned for one day before leaving the team again to be with his ailing grandfather. Best wishes go out to him and his family.

I hadn't updated my projection spreadsheets in a while, so this morning I updated the data and noticed that Russell Branyan is on pace to hit 42 HR in just 296 official AB's this season. Dave Cameron at Fangraphs notes that Branyan was called up on the same day (May 25) to play the same position (#5 on your scorecard) as Ryan Braun circa 2007. The similiarities pretty much end there, but they're interesting nonetheless. If you're looking for analysis of Branyan's hot start, though, dixieflatline's post from Friday is the best I've seen.

Speaking of Branyan: Weeks ago I bookmarked a link about him, then promptly forgot about it and went on vacation. Remember that 460-foot home run he hit into the Dew Deck on May 31? SensibleUnits.com says 460 feet is equal to 44 male African elephants standing on top of one another, 7.8 ten pin bowling lanes, 2.8 Olympic swimming pools, or 1.8 Airbus A380s side by side. Check out the link to get more.

Sometimes Phil Rogers gets a bum rap, and sometimes he deserves it: In his most recent power poll he ranks the Brewers, owners of a 21-10 record in their last 31 games, 16th. Thankfully, the Hardball blog has a little feature at the bottom where you can rate their posts. I'd encourage you to go give him one star. Sadly, it's the lowest option available.

Even Eli acknowledges it's unlikely to become a story, but the Phillies reportedly had a scout in town to watch Ben Sheets recently.

Mark DiFelice is starting to climb up an interesting list: By making his first ten big league appearances without issuing a walk, Recondite Baseball notes that DiFelice has tied the eighth longest streak of all time to start a career. There's seven names you likely won't recognize on the all-time list in front of him. Still, though, it's a pretty nice claim to fame for a guy most of us never expected to get out of the minors in the first place. On injuries:

Marlins P Burke Badenhop has been placed on the DL with right shoulder tendinitis.
Erik Bedard left his start Friday with back spasms.
Adrian Beltre missed this weekend's action with a bruised index finger but could return as soon as today.
Reds SS Jolbert Cabrera injured his hand sliding into second Friday, making him the fourth Reds SS to get injured this season.
Pirates SP Phil Dumatrait has been placed on the DL with rotator cuff tendinitis.
Yankees RP Kyle Farnsworth left Sunday's game after being struck in the hand by a ground ball. He needed 3 stitches.
Cards SS Cesar Izturis is on the DL with a strained hamstring.
Reed Johnson is having back spasms and may have to go on the DL.
Rangers C Gerald Laird is on the DL with a strained hamstring.
Blue Jays SP Shaun Marcum has been placed on the DL with elbow soreness.
Rangers RP Doug Mathis has been placed on the DL with shoulder inflammation.
Pirates SP Ian Snell will have an arthrogram (a what?) today to determine the source of his right elbow irritation.
Red Sox RP Mike Timlin has been placed on the DL with tendinitis in his knee.
Jose Valentin has suffered multiple setbacks in his rehab and will be out for the season.
Carlos Zambrano's shoulder has landed him on the DL. They're still calling it precautionary.
Barry Zito isn't hurt, but The Giants Baseball Blog is bringing up the possibility of taking a drastic step and having him undergo Tommy John surgery anyway.

Comedy legend George Carlin passed away over the weekend. Here's one of his all-time great preformances, highlighting the differences between baseball and football.

Here's a performance that's not exactly an all-time great: After a nearly unprecedented 3 managerial firings in 4 days, Scott Miller of CBS Sports wants to make sure we know we shouldn't expect it again. I guess I thought that was implied when phrases like "nearly unprecedented" are being used.

It doesn't look like Rich Hill will be back to help the Cubs anytime soon. On Friday, he threw 45 pitches and only got two outs in AAA.

Are we still talking about free pitchers the Brewers may or may not be interested in as bullpen help? If we are, can I interest you in Kiko Calero or Denny Bautista?

Chipper Jones' chances of hitting .400 continue to lurk at about 1 in 5000.

If you're looking for summer reading material and my links in the Mug aren't long enough, you might consider picking up a book or two off of The Klaw 100. Speaking of books, I picked up "Shoeless Joe" after reading Jeff's post this spring on must-read baseball books, where he didn't actually recommend it. But I loved it and if you haven't read it, you should pick it up.

On a chance encounter this weekend I happened to meet "kindie" rock star Justin Roberts. I wasn't familiar with his work but after hearing him perform "Henrietta's Hair" and noting his new CD is titled "Pop Fly," I'd recommend him to anyone out there who has kids, and maybe even some of you who don't.

That's all for today. Drink up.

Last night's game was fun.  I liked this, and I also liked this.

• BR Box Score
• FanGraphs Win Probability Chart

Yesterday was better for the NL--the senior circuit won 6 of 14 interleague matchups.  For the second day in a row, though, the Brewers were the only Central team to win.  That moves us 3 back of the Cards and 6.5 back of the Cubs.

Speaking of the Cubs, you may have heard that Carlos Zambrano left with some kind of injury last night.  Jim Edmonds left too.  No word yet on what's going on with Z, but we do know he's getting an MRI.

David Riske will rejoin the team for the finale today.  He was in Milwaukee yesterday, but having pitched an inning in Nashville on Tuesday, the club decided not to activate him until today.

I haven't seen any hints about who will go to make room, but I looked up the Brewers relief stats for the last 14 days.  DiFelice has thrown the most innings out of the pen, with a 2.70 ERA and a 8/0 K/BB ratio.  Dillard has thrown the fewest (2 innings).  Julian Tavarez has a 13.50 ERA in 4 frames in that stretch.  Not that we need an extra arm, but as I said yesterday, I wouldn't be surprised if Iribarren goes back down and we end up with 13 pitchers.

Russell Branyan is very good against righties.  Bill Hall is very good against lefties.  Neither of them is very good against same-side pitchers.  Please remember this if you are at a game and are tempted to boo when Hall pinch-hits for Branyan with a lefty on the mound and no one warming in the bullpen.

Battlekow fanshotted it, but I figured it deserved a spot in the Cup as well: This summer, you'll be drinking Robinade Old School Lemonade.  So this is why Robin Yount didn't want to be on the coaching staff anymore.

Richie Sexson has been a disaster for the Mariners, but I didn't think it would come to this: The Mariners may just release him.  That would be the most serious condemnation of Bavasi's tenure--I don't have time to track down a link, but I believe that either Will Carroll or Ken Rosenthal reported last July that someone claimed Sexson off of waivers, meaning that the Mariners could have just dumped his contract for nothing.  Speaking of Bavasi, it's worth a few minutes to listen to Dan Szymborski's audio tribute.

Finally, here's the last installment of Geoff Young's interview with Sandy Alderson.

Day game today, so see you back here around 1 CT.

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.

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.