Tracking Winter League baseball is quickly becoming the hardest part of this gig. But I couldn't make myself take a day off, because my calendar says it's Health & Sports Day in Japan.

In Arizona: Taylor Green went 1-for-4 with 2 strikeouts in the Javelina's 7-5 loss to the Saguaros on Friday. Box Score

Then, on Saturday, Brae Wright pitched a scoreless inning while giving up two walks and a hit (Hold, 2), and Omar Aguilar pitched a scoreless inning around a hit and a walk, but the Javelinas lost to the Saguaros again, 5-2.

Elsewhere in Arizona, Lou Palmisano, on loan to the Mesa Solar Sox until the Phillies' season is over, went 1-for-3 with a double in Mesa's 2-1 loss to Surprise.

The AFL was off yesterday, presumably so everyone could watch football.

In Hawaii: Logan Schafer and Caleb Gindl both went 0-for-4 Friday, and Mike Ramlow struck out three and gave up 3 hits in 3 innings of scoreless relief as the CaneFires fell to Waikiki, 2-1. Box Score

Saturday, no Brewers played and Waikiki dominated the CaneFires, 13-3. Box Score

Sunday, Caleb Gindl and Logan Schafer went 0-for-4 each again, but Chris Cody allowed just one run on one hit and one walk over five innings as the CaneFires tied Waikiki 1-1 in 10 innings.

In the Mexican Pacific League: Erasmo Ramirez made his winter ball debut last night, giving up two runs on three hits and two strikeouts in just one inning of work, as the Algodoneros de Guasave (Guasave Cottongrowers) defeated Mochis, 11-3. Box Score

Today, the Javelinas play at Phoenix at 2:35 Central time, the Algodoneros play in Mochis at 6 pm Central, and the CaneFires are off.

Possibly the highest-profile Brewer still playing, 2008 first round pick Brett Lawrie is profiled over at The Official Site as he works to transition from Team Canada to instructional league.

Of course, one other player who spent time in the Brewers organization is still active: Gabe Gross. The Brewers probably could have used Gross down the stretch, but no worries, they got Josh Butler for him, and he scorched his way to a 5.36 ERA with a WHIP over 1.5 in Brevard County.

View From Bernie's Chalet has an offseason to-do list for the Brewers, including his thoughts on Ben Sheets, CC Sabathia, Prince Fielder and J.J. Hardy.

Speaking of Sheets, The Hardball Times estimates he'll get either four or five years and between $55 and $65 million as a free agent.

And speaking of Sabathia, here's today's Sabathia Smorgasbord: John Shea of the SF Gate gives the Brewers a 10-to-1 shot at retaining him. That's better than the 100-1 odds posted last week. John Brattain of Baseball Digest Daily says the Players Union may play a role in deciding where Sabathia will pitch next season.

And speaking of Hardy, Baseball by Paul ranked him as the eighth best shortstop for 2009.

It should come as no surprise that Joe Maddon won Beyond the Box Score's AL Manager of the Year award. What is surprising, however, is Ned Yost's appearance on four NL ballots, tying him for fifth place. Dale Sveum also appeared on two ballots and took ninth.

Every now and then TheJay notices something I would never have seen. Today, for example, he notes that Carlos Villanueva is one of just 12 pitchers since 2000 to wear a uniform number lower than 13.

Todd Coffey, on the other hand, was the only Brewer to walk into a railing while staring down Jeff Brantley.

On the hot stove: The Giants added three pitchers to the market over the weekend, removing Tyler Walker, Kevin Correia and Brad Hennessey from their 40-man roster.

This Philly.com story about the interesting paths some Phillies took to the majors is an interesting read. It made me wonder how many near-misses are out there. Could there be 10, 20 or more Jamie Moyers out there who never got a chance? (h/t Baseball Musings)

Should Ron Santo be in the Hall of Fame? Don Ehrke of Dugout Central makes the case against him.

Oh, and even the lobsters are catching Rays Fever in Tampa. Not the Rally Lobster, though.

Drink up.

I missed most of last night's game, but when I got home, I liked what I saw.  Another clutch bomb from Prince (against a lefty, no less), some stylish defense from Ryan Braun, and an inning without pain courtesy of Eric Gagne.  The Cubs are in Washington playing the NL East team that actually does suck, so we're still two games back.

The regulars:

• FanGraphs Win Probability chart
• BR Box Score
• BDD Daily Recap
• BP Postseason Odds:  84.7 wins and 22% chance of the division.

Before we get to some articles, I'd like to present to you a photo essay in four clicks that is guaranteed to put a smile on your face:

1. Carlos!
2. Ryan!
3. Prince!
4. Gagne!

The Junkball Blues looks at the efficiency of our starting pitching --that is, how many innings are they getting out of the pitches they throw?  The conclusions aren't surprising, but the degree to which Parra is working for his number of frames might be.

Ben Sheets threw yesterday and said, "It felt good."   I would've given this top billing, but you all know as well as I do how little Sheets updates can mean sometimes.

At The Book Blog, MGL tries to rate pitching coaches.   I had considered doing something very similar to this, so I'm glad he did.  As he acknowledges, it's a very difficult effect to nail down, but as it turns out, Mike Maddux appears to have been a positive influence--though not overwhelmingly so--over the last five years.

Some injuries:

• Scott Baker left his start last night with a groin strain , leaving the Twins wondering if they'll have any starting pitching left by June, and dejectedly realizing that the Rangers have Sidney Ponson this year.
• Kevin Correia got all of one out before leaving with a back injury.   Ouch.
• Kerwin Danley got hit.   Hard.  (Link has video.)

In former Brewers news, it's a big day to be a part of the old Brewers-Braves trade.  Dan Kolb (yes, that Dan Kolb) was released by the Red Sox, and Jose Capellan (yes, that Jose Capellan) was promoted by the Rockies.

Speaking of the Rockies, somebody had to go to make room for Capellan, and that someone was...Jayson Nix .  Doug: Gyt oyn thy phoyne, immydyatly!

The Pirates are bad.  Charlie at Bucs Dugout sums it all up in one brilliant post.

I'm guessing most of you haven't heard of Danny Ray Herrera, but he's a great story.  He was part of the Josh Hamilton trade in the offseason, and he just made a successful debut in Triple-A.   For the whole Herrera tale, from being a too-short-for-the-scouts college pitcher to a surprise success in A ball, click here.  (It's a great article.)

That's it for today...at least for the next two hours, until game time.