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.

So, barring a change of plans, Salomon Torres is gone and the Brewers are not planning to pursue a high-profile free agent reliever like Francisco Rodriguez or Brian Fuentes.

Salomon Torres, who saved 28 games for the Crew last season, retired yesterday. Brian Shouse, Eric Gagne and Guillermo Mota are free agents and might not be back.

Assuming Doug Melvin's comments linked above mean he also won't want to risk big money on Kerry Wood, Japanese import Koji Uehara or Trevor Hoffman, that might mean the Brewers are headed into 2009 with a bullpen that's tweaked around the edges, if it gets modified at all. Let's take a look at what that might mean for the Brewers in 2009:

CANDIDATES FOR CLOSER:

Seth McClung: I'm not sure if all Brewer fans love Seth McClung or if the infatuation is limited to this corner of the internet. But when Grant Balfour was 0-2 with a 20.25 ERA in his first three outings as a Brewer, if Doug Melvin had publicly said, "I'm going to flip him to Tampa for a guy that'll throw 105 slightly above average innings next season," we might have thrown the Mustache a parade. McClung has the stuff to make hitters look overmatched when he's on. If he's not needed in the rotation, he might be the best fit to close.

2008, as a reliever: 25 G, 41.2 IP, 3.67 ERA, 26 BB, 37 K
Career, as a reliever: 87 G, 109.1 IP, 5.19 ERA, 80 BB, 93 K

Carlos Villanueva: Got an opportunity to start in 2008, but did not perform well. When reverted to the bullpen he showed improvement the rest of the way. Villy has said in the past that he'd prefer to start, but he's much more valuable to the Crew in the bullpen, and one would suspect that getting high profile innings as the closer of a good team might be exciting for him too.

2008, as a reliever: 38 G, 59.1 IP, 2.12 ERA, 14 BB, 62 K
Career, as a reliever: 95 G, 155.2 IP, 3.58 ERA, 52 BB, 149 K

David Riske:  After getting a long-term deal after the 2007 season, Riske had an injury riddled and ineffective 2008 season that I'm sure most of you will remember. A lot can change in a year...a year ago at this time we were talking about David Riske as the setup man for Derrick Turnbow. 2008 aside, though, Riske had been very consistent throughout most of his eight year career before coming to Milwaukee, posting an ERA+ over 115 in six of his last seven seasons, over 190 in three of the same seven. If he comes into spring training healthy, he could be ready to bounce back in a big way.

2008, as a reliever: 45 G, 42.1 IP, 5.31 ERA, 25 BB, 27 K
Career, as a reliever: 438 G, 473.1 IP, 3.57 ERA, 204 BB, 425 K

OTHERS THAT WILL LIKELY CONTRIBUTE:

Mitch Stetter: As things stand right now, he's the only lefty I see with a guaranteed spot in the bullpen, and even that guarantee isn't 100%. I don't think one can hope for Stetter to be as effective as Shouse was, but if Shouse returns, having Stetter and Shouse in the bullpen could give Ken Macha lots of opportunity to play matchups late in games. Stetter's walk numbers from 2008 are inflated by three outings in May where he was left out to hang and walked 8 batters in an inning.

2008, as a reliever: 30 G, 25.1 IP, 3.20 ERA, 19 BB, 31 K
Career, as a reliever: 36 G, 30.1 IP, 3.26 ERA, 21 BB, 35 K

Tim Dillard: The Brewers didn't use Tim Dillard a lot in 2008 (just 14.1 innings), and they didn't use him often in wins (3-10 record in his appearances), but when they did use him he didn't embarrass himself. Dillard led off his big league career with five scoreless outings where he only allowed one hit and two walks in 5.2 innings, and he only had one outing all season where he gave up more than one earned run. Not once in my life have I said "Oh good, Tim Dillard's coming in." But with that said, he was only slightly below league average (ERA+ of 98) in his games this season, and if the Brewers released him he could be on about 15-20 teams' rosters on Opening Day.

2008 (and career) as a reliever: 13 G, 14.1 IP, 4.40 ERA, 6 BB, 5 K

Todd Coffey: Seemingly an afterthought when Doug Melvin picked him up, Coffey threw 7.1 scoreless innings over nine appearances as a Brewer in 2008, dropping his 2008 ERA from 6.05 as a Red to 4.39 overall, which is close to his career mark of 4.46. For some reason, I thought he was much older: Coffey turned 28 in September. He's had two above average and two below average seasons in his career, but even the below average seasons were disappointments, not implosions. He can contribute to a staff somewhere, if not in Milwaukee.

2008 as a reliever: 26 G, 26.2 IP, 4.39 ERA, 8 BB, 15 K
Career as a reliever: 222 G, 213.2 IP, 4.46 ERA, 65 BB, 144 K

Mark DiFelice: DiFelice made his big league debut at age 31 in May, and his debut didn't suggest he'd stay long: DiFelice gave up three runs on five hits in an inning in one of the losses during the Brewers' disastrous sweep in Boston that was supposed to cost Ned Yost his job. After that, all DiFelice did was post a 1.50 ERA in 18 innings over his next 14 appearances. Like Dillard, he didn't pitch in a lot of Brewer wins (the team was 4-11 in his appearances), but he pitched effectively when called upon. And while he made his debut at 31 and turned 32 in August, he's still likely got a few seasons in the tank, if not more.

2008 (and career) as a reliever: 15 G, 19 IP, 2.84 ERA, 4 BB, 20 K

OTHERS THAT COULD BE CALLED UPON:

It's worth noting that at this point, without re-signing Shouse, Gagne or Mota, without Torres unretiring and without any free agent additions to the bullpen, the Brewers have 7 relievers and, assuming a five-man rotation, 12 pitchers overall. But if they need more, these guys are waiting for a shot:

Joe Bateman: A 28-year-old righty, Bateman tripped somewhere on the ladder to the big leagues and spent 2 years in AA with the Giants before splitting this season between AA and AAA with the Brewers, despite the fact that he's posted an ERA under 3 each of the last two seasons and posted a 1.60 ERA in 33.2 innings in half a season in Nashville in 2008. He's struck out 200 and only walked 66 over 175.2 innings over the last three seasons. This winter, he's pitching for Este in the Dominican Winter League, and is 3-0 with a 3.21 ERA in 14 innings.

Chris Narveson: Last spring, he didn't miss making the Brewer roster by all that much, and made Doug Melvin comfortable enough to cut the cord on Claudio Vargas. Narveson will come into camp at 27 years old and, despite having a disappointing season in AAA (6-13, 5.43 ERA in 136 innings, primarily as a starter), he could get a shot to reinvent himself as a lefty who throws strikes out of the bullpen. Narveson has walked just 168 hitters over his last 406.2 innings over four seasons in AAA, and struck out 311 in that time. And did I mention he's left handed? Narveson is spending the winter pitching for Hermosillo in Mexico, where he recently picked up his second straight win, and is 2-2 with a 3.67 ERA in 34.1 innings (6 starts).

Luis Pena: In 2007, Pena climbed the ladder quickly, going 5-4 with a 2.63 ERA and 18 saves between Brevard County and Huntsville and earning himself a promotion to Nashville for 2008. He struggled with the Pacific Coast League, though, going 2-3 with a 6.93 ERA in 49.1 innings in 2008. Pena's meteoric rise in 2007 followed two seasons with an ERA over 4 in Brevard County, so it's possible his 2007 season was an aberration and not a trend. But it's also possible he could put it back together in 2008 and emerge as a contributor. He's spending the winter pitching for La Guaira in Venezuela, but has only appeared in three of the team's 23 games.

Sam Narron: Stop me if you've heard this one before: Narron is a 27-year-old lefty who has taken a little longer to develop than expected. He had a meteoric rise through the Rangers' organization, culminating in a 2004 season in which he went 6-0 in AA, 8-2 in AAA and made one start for the Rangers. After the season, the Brewers picked him up off waivers and Tommy John surgery cost him the entire 2005 season. Narron has worked his way back up the ladder and spent much of 2008 in AAA, where he struggled a bit to adjust and posted a 4.80 ERA in 120 innings. Like Joe Bateman, Narron is pitching for Este in the Dominican Winter League (Narron is starting, Bateman is relieving). So far he hasn't had much success in winter ball, going 0-3 with a 7.82 ERA in 12.2 innings, but again: he's still only 27, and he's lefthanded.

With those four, the Brewers will bring 11 potential bullpen arms to spring training, plus any free agents they may sign or re-sign. I don't think this bullpen is going to be as bad as some are saying it will be. What do you think?

Some things to read while pondering the silver lining of the economic situation.

So the NL Cy Young Award will be announced today. Landon Evanson of Bugs & Cranks and Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch both list the argument for CC Sabathia among their points to consider. Goold's post includes a poll, if you're into such things. Baseball Musings has Sabathia third on their imaginary ballot.

Speaking of Sabathia, the JS asked a sports economist at Vanderbilt to estimate how much money Sabathia will get this offseason. The guess: 5 years, $20-25 million. I fully expect the Yankees to have blown that figure out of the water by Friday afternoon, and the Angels and Dodgers could do it as well. Meanwhile, CC is packing up his stuff and waiting to see where he's headed next.

Yesterday, Geovany Soto and Evan Longoria won the NL and AL Rookie of the Year Awards, respectively. As they do annually, the BBWAA did something to lead us to believe they're incapable of handling this task. This year, three writers put Reds SP Edinson Volquez on their ballot despite the fact that he's not a rookie.

The Junkball Blues has six questions about young players on the Brewers and their ability to stop regression in 2009.

Two of those young players, J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun, made Beyond the Box Score's list of the top 50 players in 2008. Hardy is also the subject of very vague trade mumblings involving the Twins.

Another one of those young players is Corey Hart, who rated slightly below average as a defensive right fielder. The Brewers ranked 18th as a team in right field defense.

Baseball Digest Daily says the Brewers have had the fourth best offseason so far. Apparently acquiring Casey McGehee carries a lot of weight. Hiring Bruce Seid as the new amateur scouting director wasn't mentioned.

So two weeks ago, Rick Peterson was mentioned as a possible candidate for the Brewers' pitching coach vacancy, but later dismissed as an option and the team hired Bill Castro from within. Buried, literally in the last paragraph of this Ken Rosenthal column, is a note that sheds some light on the situation:

It's been a few days, I guess, since we've talked about Gabe Kapler. For those of you who felt Kapler could have been a cheap option to replace Mike Cameron, here's something worth noting: Beyond the Box Score estimates his value for 2009 at $6.69 million. I doubt he'll get that, but $4-5 million wouldn't surprise me at all.

Two other awards to announce today: Chris Cody, who split the season between West Virginia and Brevard County and now is pitching in Hawai'i, has been named the Brewers Organizational Pitcher of the Year. Also, Doug Melvin will receive the Nice Guy Award at the annual Red Smith banquet in January in Appleton.

Speaking of Appleton, Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio is already getting excited about the projected Timber Rattlers roster for 2009.

In hot stove news, two trades went through yesterday. First, the A's acquired Matt Holliday from the Rockies for a package including Huston Street, SP Greg Smith and OF Carlos Gonzalez. The A's are now allowed to ring-rang a dong for Matt Holliday. Meanwhile, the Rockies may be looking to flip Huston Street.

Also, the Marlins traded Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham to the Nationals for infielder Emilio Bonifacio and two young prospects.

Elsewhere on the stove:

Angels: Have reportedly decided not to pursue free agent Francisco Rodriguez.
D-Backs: Are reportedly expressing interest in former Astro (and Brewer) Mark Loretta.
Padres: Reportedly withdrew their offer to Trevor Hoffman.

In other news, the Mariners have scheduled initial interviews with seven candidates for their vacant managerial position. Neither Ned Yost nor Willie Randolph are on the list. That could mean they're not candidates, but Chuckie Hacks wonders if Yost is getting a first round bye since he's worked with Zduriencik before. The same thing is possible for Willie Randolph, who interviewed with the Brewers while Zduriencik was still there.

Oh, and Friday is Make Someone Feel Uncomfortable Day. If you really want to do a good job, you should probably start preparing now.

Drink up.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh, and be careful with #3 pencils.

Drink up. And go vote!

While reading this morning's Mug, be sure to reload this page every few minutes to see if the Large Hadron Supercollider has destroyed the Earth yet.

Win Probability Graph
BR Box Score

So apparently Corey Hart doesn't like the fan interaction at home. I'll admit there's been a lot of booing lately. But realistically, I think the problem can be limited to one source. Here's the full list of things I've booed at Miller Park in 2008. I think there's a notable pattern:

A) Milwaukee Brewers manager Ned Yost.
B) Bad decisions made by Milwaukee Brewers manager Ned Yost.
C) Negative outcomes immediately stemming from bad decisions made by Milwaukee Brewers manager Ned Yost.

The pattern is subtle, but I think the solution to the problem is pretty obvious.

Adam Charles from Bugs & Cranks has some advice for Corey.

Getting back to Yost for a moment: I think I've figured out what we're doing wrong. When it became clear that management of the Milwaukee Brewers was headed in the wrong direction, one of us created Fire Ned Yost, but didn't specify a timetable. As an example of a better solution, behold one of my new favorite Dodger blogs: Fire Ned Coletti Now.

As I write this, you've got about an hour and 15 minutes (before 10 am) to go vote for the Brewers call of the coin flip to determine home-field advantage in tiebreaker games. Baseball Musings says if the vote ends up tied, Doug Melvin should just flip a coin. (Also noted in the Fanshots)

So Prince finally hit a home run yesterday. Unfortunately, with the Brewer loss the 5-way tie scenario for the NL Wild Card is still in play.

Gabe Kapler is likely done for the season. I guess this means Tony Gwynn is our last option in center, but I'm hoping Joe Dillon would get the AB's if a corner OF was needed.

Mike Greenberg wants to give the NL MVP to CC Sabathia. His second choice? Manny Ramirez. Mike Greenberg should not be allowed to vote for MVP.

It's a day late, but since there's still 3 games left in the series, here's Brewerfan.net's Brewers-Phillies series preview.

On injuries:

A's 2B Mark Ellis will require surgery to repair cartilage damage in his shoulder, but should be ready for spring training 2009.
Braves SP Charlie Morton is done for the year with pain in his shoulder blade.
Tigers OF Clete Thomas is out for the season and some of 2009 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

The Angels backed into a save situation last night, leading 7-0 in the 8th but allowing the Mariners back into it. That save situation, though, allowed Francisco Rodriguez to tie the single season saves record. Congratulations to him.

Yesterday I mentioned that Dusty Baker doesn't want to play the Reds' September call ups. Today, Redlegs Rundown asks if it's possible Dusty's long track record with pitchers has a new victim: Aaron Harang.

Oddly enough, one of baseball's younger managers doesn't want to play one of his September callups either: Royals rookie manager Trey Hillman isn't finding any playing time for fan favorite Kila Ka'aihue.

Drink up.