I read 246 baseball blogs and websites this morning, and all I got was this lousy collection of links.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

So apparently, for seven innings last night, the game wasn't big enough for the Cardinals. A home win and moving up in the Wild Card standings. Then Carlos Villanueva wiggled off the hook and got excited. Does anyone really believe that's what "woke up" the Cardinals? Tom H., Jim Powell and Big League Stew seem to think so. Defensive Indifference says the Brewers went 10-5 against the Cards this season because they waited until the final game to wake Pujols up.

Maybe before next season, we can all purchase t-shirts designed specifically for untucking so we can further perpetuate this inconceivable slight to all great things in the history of baseball and mankind. Or the people who complain about such things will get a life.

Moving on. Jon Heyman weighs in on how teams will handle players with options for next season. He predicts the Brewers will exercise their option on Mike Cameron. The fact that he's hitting .431/.491/.824 over his last 14 games has moved that option from a question mark to a lock.

Mat Gamel hit his first AAA home run yesterday, but amazingly enough, it wasn't the game's biggest story: Tony Gwynn Jr. hit a walk-off home run to win it.

The Brewers held steady at 7th in the most recent Bugs and Cranks power rankings.

Finally, Viva Cerveceros wrote a touching coming-of-age tale about friendship, sacrifice...and bobbleheads.

On injuries:

Mets IF Ramon Castro has been placed on the DL with a quad injury.
Josh Hamilton was scratched from Wednesday's lineup with an abscessed tooth that will require a root canal.

Today, once again, we have reason to rejoice in the fact that the Brewers didn't draft a Scott Boras client in the first round. Hyzdu Headquarters has a pretty good summary of the situation involving the Pirates and their first round pick, Pedro Alvarez, and his agent, (who else?) Scott Boras. Alvarez has yet to report to the Pirates, and Boras is claiming his contract was approved too late to be valid. Under baseball's rules, this should mean Alvarez didn't sign and sits out a year...but Boras is trying to wiggle into getting the Pirates to offer more money. Baseball Digest Daily has a message for Pedro Alvarez, but I think the broader message needs to be sent out to every prospective draftee for 2009: If you want to play baseball, find a different agent.

Four former Brewers are on the move, all covered within this link:

• The Braves signed Elmer Dessens.
• The Orioles activated Greg Aquino off the DL yesterday and designated him for assignment.
• The Mets recalled Robinson Cancel and Nelson Figueroa.

Oh, and the Rays won their 80th game last night, in front of a home crowd of 12,678.

Drink up.

Major League Baseball doesn't care about me, so for a day I didn't care about Major League Baseball.

Living in Iowa, I don't get to see the Brewers on TV very often. So I was pretty excited for yesterday's game on TBS. I planned my day around it. At 3, my commitments were done, the dog had been walked and I was on the couch waiting to catch game 3 of the Brewers-Dodgers series. Except I couldn't.

You see, I live in Iowa. And even though I'm hundreds of miles from Milwaukee, Iowa is technically part of the Brewers' "home market." So yesterday's game on TBS? Blacked out. Major League Baseball does this to encourage me to watch the game on FSN Wisconsin. But I don't live in Wisconsin.

All I wanted yesterday was to see a rare national television broadcast involving a team I listen to everyday but have only actually seen about a dozen times in 2008. Major League Baseball took the possibility away from me. So I skipped the game. I didn't watch it, obviously. I didn't listen to it. I didn't watch the highlights. This morning while preparing the Mug I heard it was an exciting game. I would've liked to see it.

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

The biggest weekend news is injury related. As noted in the fanshots, Rickie Weeks sprained his (surgically repaired) left thumb yesterday. I'm assuming an MRI is in the not-so-distant future, but he hasn't been DL'ed yet, so there must be a possibility it's a minor problem. Of course, there are some that would suggest that keeping Weeks from playing isn't a problem at all.

Furthermore, Salomon Torres was pulled from Saturday night's extra-inning extravaganza after one inning of work due to stiffness in his groin. If it lasts more than 4 hours, he should call a doctor.

All of these injuries are, of course, retribution for the Brewers' consistence on continuing to commit baseball's greatest atrocity: the untucking of shirts. Go ahead and click that link, if for no other reason than to look at the look on Ned's face while he's "congratulating" Prince.

I'm a few days behind on this one, but In-Between Hops was upset over Ned's decision to bat Laynce Nix third in Thursday's lineup. I was upset over how dumb it made me look for predicting Nix wouldn't get a single at-bat as a Brewer just hours before the lineup was announced.

The Hopster also took a moment to point out that if Mike Rivera kept up his current production and had been given Jason Kendall's playing time, he'd have 35 more hits and 65 more RBI.

Over the weekend, John Sickels reviewed his preseason Top 20 Prospects for the Brewers. Turns out he hit the nail on the head on most position players, but there's still pretty much no pitching in the pipeline.

After watching Saturday night's back and forth exchange during the final few innings, Adam Charles of Bugs and Cranks thinks the Brewers are showing signs of bipolar disorder. Also at Bugs and Cranks, Tyler Maas commemorates the one-millionth article on Prince Fielder's vegetarianism.

Worth noting: Of all 30 Major League Baseball franchises, the Brewers charge the lowest "convenience fees" for ordering advance tickets. They're still too high.

The Brewers rank 8th in Phil Rogers' most recent Power Rankings, seven spots behind the Cubs and five spots behind Scott Boras.

Jon Heyman has predicted the contracts some upcoming free agents will receive this winter. For Sabathia: six years, $150 million. For Sheets: three years, $51 million.

Apparently Ted Simmons likes art, but doesn't want to talk about it.

Marc Hulet of Fangraphs compares Jeremy Jeffress' drug situation to that of Josh Hamilton. Maybe I'm missing something, but last I heard Jeffress likes pot and has been suspended one time, right? That's a bit different from having to go back to living with your grandmother while recovering from cocaine addiction.

On injuries:

Chris Carpenter is back on the DL with a posterior shoulder strain.
Tom Glavine is on the DL with a strained elbow.
Angels SS Maicer Izturis is done for the season with a torn ligament in his thumb.
Jeff Kent is going to get hurt if he keeps talking trash about Vin Scully. (h/t Jim Powell)
Kazuo Matsui is on the DL with an irritated disc in his back.
Carlos Silva is on the DL with triceps tendinitis.

The Mets pulled off a trade over the weekend, acquiring reliver Luis Ayala from the Nationals. Just when you think the trades are over, there's another one. And the Nats, never one to miss an opportunity to make things worse, followed up the trade by failing to sign their first-round pick.

Three former Brewers in the news today: the Yankees DFA'd Richie Sexson after he hit .250/.371/.393 in 35 plate appearances. Gary Glover is back in the big leagues with the Tigers, and R.A. Dickey tied a major league record with 4 wild pitches in one inning.

Oh, and do you need a new tailgating grill? go win one here.

Drink up.

Ok, let's be honest, there's really not a lot going on today, but someone needed to write a post to bump Roguejim's New Kids on the Block post off the top spot.

Sadly, there's not a win expectancy graph or BR Box Score for the Home Run Derby.

Since not much has changed in 24 hours, we're still talking about the rotation platoon idea. Between the Green Pillars takes a look at the potential availability of the non-starter in the platoon and argues the platoon would effectively waste a roster spot.

On injuries:

Jerry Hairston Jr. has a mild hamstring strain and will be re-evaluated on Thursday.
Nats OF Wily Mo Pena has a slight tear in his rotator cuff and fraying of his labrum and will undergo surgery.

I had an unexpected moment yesterday. Since I'm officially back from vacation and not overwhelmed with other stuff, I'm back to casting a weekly ballot in the blogpoll for postseason awards. This week I sat down with a spreadsheet, put in all the numbers, added bonuses for playing on winning teams, playing a premium defensive position, playing everyday...and my AL MVP turned out to be Ian Kinsler. He likely won't even be the leading vote-getter on the Rangers, but he's my AL MVP. And in a strange coincidence, he's also profiled today at Beyond the Box Score.

So Josh Hamilton started out with all kinds of talent, found cocaine and heroin, spent years working to clean up his life, found God, turned it around and hit 28 home runs in 38 swings last night at Yankee Stadium. All of this prompted Rick Reilly to say "It's a lousy night to be an atheist." It seems to me like being an atheist would be pretty much the same every day.

On the other hand, the combination of a booing crowd and a mic he didn't know was live prompted Chase Utley to drop an F. bomb. Oops.

Jose Capellan is on the move again, this time signing with the Royals and heading to AAA Omaha. It's the right Jose Capellan this time, right? I don't even know which one to tag, so both get it.

Tangotiger takes a look at payroll distribution among teams. About 43.2% of the average team's payroll is spent on pitching. You can see the breakdown by position via the link.

Oh, and if you're looking for work, this job with the Cardinals looks like a nice starting point in the front office/player development field. I've been watching the team jobs boards for a while now and jobs like this don't pop up very often.

Drink up.

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

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

Poll

Who will win the Home Run Derby?

3%

Dan Uggla

7 votes

8%

Lance Berkman

16 votes

4%

Chase Utley

8 votes

38%

Ryan Braun

70 votes

1%

Grady Sizemore

2 votes

1%

Evan Longoria

3 votes

22%

Josh Hamilton

41 votes

16%

Justin Morneau

30 votes

3%

Erik Komatsu

7 votes

184 votes | Poll has closed

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

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On injuries:

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

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

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

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

Drink up.

So, at least Corey Hart and Rickie Weeks are heating up, right?

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

There's not much out there this morning that I (or someone else) haven't already told you about. We've covered that Gagne has biceps tendinitis and won't throw again until at least Sunday.

We've also covered that Ned is still here, even though Dayn Perry thinks he should be fired, Scott Miller of CBS Sportsline lists him second (behind Willie Randolph) on his list of managers on the hot seat, and some guy named Eli lists him second on his list of managers to be fired, behind M's manager John McLaren.

So, since it's a slow news day, here's a stat to think about instead:

Johnny Estrada, April 2007: .312/.346/.455
Johnny Estrada, May 2007: .236/.244/.449

Jason Kendall, April 2008: .301/.366/.398
Jason Kendall, May 2008: .224/.314/.290

On injuries:

Moises Alou is back on the DL with a strained calf, meaning Raul Casanova is back in the big leagues.
Twins SS Adam Everett has been placed on the DL with a strained shoulder.
Nats OF Austin Kearns is out 3-4 weeks after surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow.
Phillies OF Jayson Werth left last night's game with an oblique strain.
Padres P Chris Young has been placed on the DL with a broken nose after being hit by a line drive Wednesday.

The results from the most recent Baseball Happenings blogpoll have been posted. Josh Hamilton takes home the AL MVP this week, with Cliff Lee winning the AL Cy Young and Jacoby Ellsbury winning Rookie of the Year. Full results here. Here's the ballot I cast:

MVP:
1. Josh Hamilton
2. Kevin Youkilis
3. Carlos Quentin

Cy Young:
1. Cliff Lee
2. Daisuke Matsuzaka
3. Shaun Marcum

Rookies:
1. Greg Smith
2. Jacoby Ellsbury
3. David Murphy

Maybe I'm just an NL guy, but I think the NL Rookie of the Year race is far more interesting, with Fukudome, Geovany Soto and Jair Jurrjens, who Braves beat writer Dave O'Brien thinks might be the best rookie of them all.

Astros 3B Ty Wigginton is tough. But can his toughness be matched by a Houston Chronicle writer? Click here to find out!

Oh, and here's a story about the inaugral "All-you-can-eat day" at the Metrodome.

The Mug is off tomorrow, Sunday and Monday for the holiday weekend. Drink up.

Looks like I didn't miss much this weekend.

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

Saturday's Win Expectancy Graph (Game 1)
Saturday's BR Box Score (Game 1)
Saturday's Win Expectancy Graph (Game 2)
Saturday's BR Box Score (Game 2)
Saturday's BDD Recaps
Friday's BDD Recaps

By now, I was hoping to have breaking news: Rumors were circulating last night that Ned Yost was going to be fired today. This morning, however, Tom H. is reporting no decision has been made.

As noted in the fanposts, Ryan Braun spoke out after yesterday's loss, saying the team didn't expect to win this weekend. Beyond the Green Pillars doesn't like the way he did it, speaking out in the press instead of to his teammates, but I like that he's being honest. At least one person is done saying "it's early."

Jim Powell's most recent blog has a bad pun in the title and covers the series at Fenway, Mark Difelice, the Red Sox radio team, Johnny Pesky, Chip Caray and Ryan Braun's contract.

The Red Sox are unveiling solar panels at Fenway today to help heat water and save energy at the ballpark. They didn't need them over the weekend because all the power was supplied by Brewer pitchers and Ryan Braun. Related link

Here's a year-by-year breakdown of what the Brewers are paying for Braun's power, btw.

Bucs Dugout doesn't understand why the Brewers aren't hitting. Me either.

On injuries:

Rangers OF Josh Hamilton has bumps and bruises all over the place from a dive Friday, and has played sparingly over the weekend.
Felix Hernandez was pulled from his start after the fifth yesterday with tightness in his calf.
Rich Hill, who the Cubs had sent to AAA, missed a start down there with a stiff back.
Jason Isringhausen has been placed on the DL after an encounter with THE SPAZZOSAURUS!
Jake Peavy will miss today's scheduled start and have an MRI to determine the source of his elbow soreness.

The Junkball Blues is doing some interesting work on the development of a new stat for relief pitchers.

And, by the way, one former Brewer and the father of a current Brewer are in the top 20 all-time for most plate appearances without a sacrifice.

Drink up.