Some things to read while digging out your guitar.

We're still five short days away from Brewer pitchers and catchers reporting to Maryvale, but we're already talking about "visa issues:" John Axford's trip to Arizona over the weekend was delayed when homeland security wouldn't allow his young son into the country. I'd assume this will be resolved in plenty of time for Axford to make it to the first scheduled workout, but as of yesterday it was still an issue.

Elsewhere in delays, Ryan Braun's appeal process continues to drag out. The arbitration panel's 25 day window to render a judgment expires today but Tom Haudricourt says no announcement is expected, meaning they've likely asked for (and inexplicably been granted) more time. Ken Rosenthal makes the case that a Braun suspension would be a good thing for baseball as it would remove any doubts about favoritism in the system.

Meanwhile, the Brewers are still facing the challenge of preparing for the season without knowing if the reigning NL MVP will be available on Opening Day. Matthew Pouliot of Hardball Talk has projections for the Brewer starting lineup with and without Braun. Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports says "the onus will be on the pitching staff" to cover the offensive production gap left with Prince Fielder gone and Braun potentially suspended.

Regardless of how the Braun situation plays out, the Brewers' best chance to win in the next few years is probably 2012. Adam McCalvy addressed the perception that this is an "all-in" year in his spring training preview. Tyler Lockman of Fox Sports Arizona also has a camp preview.

I find it hard to believe the Brewers are still active on the free agent market at this point, but Jon Heyman lists them as one of three teams that could be a good fit for veteran shortstop Edgar Renteria. Renteria is 35 and hit .251/.306/.348 in 96 games for the Reds last season, playing almost exclusively at short and making $2.1 million. UZR/150 says he's been a league average or above shortstop defensively each of the last three seasons.

I still think it's possible, however, that the Brewers could work out an extension with Zack Greinke in the coming days. Keep Turning Up The Heat! says the team needs to make extending Greinke their first priority.

It'll be interesting to see how Nyjer Morgan handles his second season in Milwaukee following his meteoric rise to stardom in year one. No matter what happens, though, he'll always have this: Sully Baseball notes that he's one of just 24 players that have ended a postseason series with a walkoff hit. Morgan also hit a home run off a 61.2 mph Tim Wakefield knuckleball last season, and Baseball Nation says it was the slowest pitch hit out all year.

Carlos Gomez projects to spend most of 2012 as the other half of Nyjer Morgan's platoon in center field. Jack Moore of Disciples of Uecker uses heat maps to make a compelling case that Gomez should be standing a little closer to the plate while batting.

Ron Roenicke is getting ready for his second season as a major league manager, and the JS (behind the paywall) has a Q&A with him. Topics discussed include Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Johnny Narron, Doug Melvin, Mat Gamel and more.

Roenicke's rookie campaign will be a tough act to follow: Brewers 101 wonders if the 2011 Brewers were the best team in franchise history.

In the minors:

• Seedlings To Stars compiled several top 100 prospect rankings and used them to rank the Brewer farm system 24th in all of baseball.
• Speaking of top 100 lists, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus has Wily Peralta #92 on his. Peralta is the only Brewer mentioned.
• Cream City Cables has profiles of Peralta and Taylor Jungmann, while Brewer Nation has a look at Caleb Gindl.
  
• BCB Community Prospect #3 Tyler Thornburg is now on Twitter. He's been added to the list.

Your first opportunity to start earning free 2012 tickets is upon us: The Brewers and BP are bringing back the "C'mon Back Card" promotion this season.

Around baseball:

Cardinals: Signed reliever Scott Linebrink to a minor league deal.
Indians: Signed shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera to a one year, $4.55 million deal to avoid arbitration and signed pitcher Jon Garland to a minor league deal.
Orioles: Signed reliever Luis Ayala to a one year deal with a club option for 2013 and designated outfielder Matt Angle for assignment.
Rangers: Signed catcher Mike Napoli to a one year, $9.4 million deal to avoid arbitration.

If you'd like a recap of this winter's free agent movement, Flip Flop Fly Ball has a great graphic showing when and where players signed this offseason.

The Brewer spring training countdown still has a few days left, but Mariner pitchers and catchers have already reported to Arizona and held their first workout yesterday. (h/t Baseball Musings) Lookout Landing is on top of it and already has their first evaluation of a player haircut.

Today in baseball economics: A rumor surfaced over the weekend that the Padres' new TV deal will be worth $75 million per season, although Gaslamp Ball was quick to throw some cold water on it. Regardless, Baseball Nation has a look at how surging local TV revenue could impact the game going forward.

In case you'd forgotten, here's a reminder that relief pitcher usage has changed dramatically in the last 50 years: High Heat Stats notes that Warren Spahn had more career complete games (382) than wins (363). The Brewer career record for complete games is 81, held by Mike Caldwell. Ben Sheets (18) and CC Sabathia (7) are the only Brewers to collect more than 5 since 2000.

You may also have forgotten that at one point in history we relied pretty heavily on pay phones. Larry Granillo of Baseball Prospectus unearthed an old listing of pay phone numbers one could call to get an update on the score at various ballparks.

This might be my favorite post from the weekend, and it's a cautionary tale for all of us: If you're getting your picture taken with your favorite player, make sure the person taking the picture knows what they're doing.

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History celebrates Matt Mieske's 44th birthday. Today is also Sal Bando's birthday, as celebrated over at The Platoon Advantage. Bando was hit by 75 pitches in his career, the most ever for a player born on February 13. Ben Oglivie celebrated his birthday on Saturday, and his 35 HBP are the third most ever for a player born on February 11.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to tampering.

Drink up.

Some things to read while staying in.

We're eight days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Maryvale, but we still may not be any closer to closure regarding Ryan Braun. The arbitrator's 25-day window to render a decision expires on Monday, but Jon Heyman is reporting that they could ask for more time. Tom Haudricourt says they could be treating the opening of training camp as a goal.

It's time once again for a daily reminder that this entire process is absurd. I know there are a lot of moving parts in play here, but the fact that Major League Baseball needs more time to render a decision on something that happened five months ago should be embarrassing for all involved. 25 days should have been more than enough time to gather the facts in play and reach a decision. Instead, it looks like there's a strong chance we're going to spend at least another week in limbo.

Moving on, yesterday I mentioned that the Brewer equipment truck had departed for Arizona, a sure sign that spring is on the way. The Official Site has more (including video) from the festivities.

Once spring training opens a lot of eyes are going to be focused on Mat Gamel, entering spring training for the first time as a likely regular. Cream City Cables has a preview for his 2012 season. Gamel is also the subject of one of Wilber's Way's top five storylines of the spring.

It sounds like Kameron Loe is already in Arizona: One of his first posts on his new Twitter account mentioned throwing his first bullpen session of the spring.

Elsewhere in the bullpen, Francisco Rodriguez is the latest Brewer featured in Brewer Nation's "Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers" series.

Finally, the Brewers made a few minor transactions yesterday: Caleb Gindl, Brock Kjeldgaard, Amaury Rivas and Cody Scarpetta have all signed their 2012 contracts. All four players have less than three years of major league service time and will likely make the league minimum for any time spent on the big league roster.

In the minors:

• Disciples of Uecker finished their list of the Brewers' top 30 prospects by posting their top ten yesterday. Wily Peralta checks in at #1.
• Also at Disciples of Uecker, Ryan Topp has a look at the state of the farm.
  

If you'd like more Brewer content this morning but you're sick of reading, here are today's options:

• The Huntsville Stars have an interview with first baseman Hunter Morris.
• @Mass_Haas has links to archived audio from Logan Schafer and Brewer VP of Communications Tyler Barnes' appearances on WSSP.
• The View From Bernie's Chalet podcast is up and discusses top prospects and Zack Greinke.
  

Today in predictions and projections: Climbing Tal's Hill is picking the Brewers to finish third in the Central.

Around baseball:

Orioles: Won their arbitration case with pitcher Brad Bergesen (who will make $800,000 in 2012) and signed first baseman Nick Johnson to a minor league deal.
Rangers: Signed outfielder Nelson Cruz to a two year, $16 million deal to avoid arbitration.
Royals: Signed outfielder Alex Gordon to a one year, $4.8 million deal to avoid arbitration.
Twins: Claimed outfielder Darin Mastroianni off waivers from the Blue Jays and designated pitcher Esmerling Vasquez for assignment.

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History remembers a 1971 trade that sent future 20 game winner Al Dowling to the Dodgers for journeyman outfielder Andy Kosco. Today is also Cesar Izturis' 32nd birthday, and Plunk Everyone notes that his 22 HBP are the fourth most all time for a batter born on February 10.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get this fixed.

Drink up.

Some things to read while reverse engineering.

We're nine days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, and we've officially reached Truck Day: Bernie Brewer has a picture of the Racing Sausages being loaded onto the truck headed for Maryvale, which Howie Magner says hit the road at 8:15 this morning.

Meanwhile, the Brewers unveiled their spring training broadcast schedule yesterday, featuring six televised games and 14 broadcasts on WTMJ (FanShot). As has been the case for a couple of years now, we'll have coverage via TV, radio or internet stream for nearly every spring game.

This could be a story to watch over the next few days: Doug Melvin told MLB Network Radio that he's had discussions with Zack Greinke about possibly working out a long term deal to remain in Milwaukee. Greinke is currently serving as his own agent, so if there's a deal to be made it'd probably need to be done before he reports to spring training. (h/t MLBTR)

Another day, another reminder that we still don't know what's happening regarding Ryan Braun. Miller Park Drunk has a two part post considering the potential reactions if Braun is found guilty or innocent. In theory we're supposed to have a final decision by Monday, but who knows if that's actually going to happen.

If Braun is suspended for Opening Day, then it could leave a roster spot open for someone like Brooks Conrad. Jack Moore of Disciples of Uecker makes the case for Conrad as a potential impact player this season.

Got some cash burning a hole in your pocket this spring? Ron Roenicke Stole My Baseball has a look at various Baseball Reference pages available from sponsorship, ranging from Ryan Braun ($705) to Taylor Green ($50). RRSMB, by the way, is now the proud sponsor of Russell Branyan. If you still have money to spend but are looking for a more tangible investment, Baseball Nation found a Seattle Pilots ceramic coin bank on Ebay.

Of course, you should probably save some of your money for actual Brewer tickets. Single game tickets will go on sale February 25.

The Opening Day bullpen doesn't appear to have a spot for Mike McClendon at this point, but anything could happen. The Brewer Nation has a look at McClendon as part of their "Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers" series.

In the minors:

• We're coming down to the wire in the voting for the 17th and final spot in our Community Prospect Rankings: As of this writing Hunter Morris leads D' Vontrey Richardson by one vote and Jimmy Nelson by two. You have until 1 pm today to help us decide this.
• It's still much too early to seriously think about things like this, but Minor League Rundown has the Brewers drafting California high school third baseman/pitcher Rio Ruiz and TCU catcher Josh Elander with the 27th and 28th overall picks in their 2012 mock draft.
  

Major League Baseball has narrowed the list of candidates down to 50 for the 2012 MLB Fan Cave, and is now asking for your help to select a winner. I won't tell you how to vote, but I will mention that two Brewer fans made the ballot.

If you'd like more from me today but you're sick of reading, my appearance on The Home Stretch with Justin Hull from yesterday is archived online. We spent most of an hour discussing all things Brewers, and it looks like I'll be back making weekly appearances on the show again this season.

Finally, thanks again to Nicole for filling in for me yesterday while I was at the dentist. Go back and check out yesterday's Frozen Margarita, if you haven't already.

Around baseball:

Astros: Signed shortstop Jed Lowrie to a one year, $1.15 million deal to avoid arbitration.
Diamondbacks: Signed pitcher Craig Breslow to a one year, $1.795 million deal to avoid arbitration.
Giants: Designated outfielder Justin Christian for assignment.
Marlins: Lost their arbitration case with outfielder Emilio Bonifacio, who will make $2.2 million in 2012.
Padres: Signed pitcher Jeff Suppan to a minor league deal.
Rangers: Signed shortstop Elvis Andrus to a three year, $14.4 million contract extension.
Reds: Designated pitcher Carlos Fisher for assignment.
Yankees: Signed infielders Bill Hall and Russell Branyan to minor league deals.

In former Brewers:

• High Heat Stats has a look at how hitters' walk rates change as they approach both the end of their career and 3000 hits, but finds little conclusive evidence to suggest hitters become more swing-happy as they near the milestone. Robin Yount's walk rate actually went up during his last three years.
• High Heat Stats also lists Bob Hamelin and Tom Brunansky among 27 major leaguers who posted an OPS+ above 125 in their first or second major league season, but finished their career below 110.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I've reached my limit.

Drink up.

Kyle's off being cooler than us, so you're stuck with me today. Blame Kyle.

Let's start with news destined to make me stabby, CBS Sports has unveiled a fantasy baseball app aimed at women called The Baseball Boyfriend. Not only does it dumb down fantasy baseball to just one player for women, since we're clearly not smart enough to handle a whole roster-full, but it's full of doodle hearts and other ridiculousness, including lots of typos. Seriously, be happy this entire Mug wasn't just me ranting about this crap.

The mini rant is that this, at its base, is actually a pretty good idea - simplifying fantasy sports to make them appeal to a broader audience (of ALL genders.) Unfortunately for CBSSports (who let's be honest, no one uses for Fantasy Sports except when it comes time to fill out a March Madness bracket) they took it in a ridiculous direction, meaning other sites will take the basic idea and run with it while they're stuck being the laughingstock for treating women like they're mindless 13-year-old girls.

Ok, on with the rest of the Margarita...

Brewers news first:

Doug Melvin will be inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. Here's the Brewers.com article. (SgtClueLs is not impressed)

Speaking of our exhalted GM, he was on WSSP. You can hear the full interview here, but the gem is probably him saying that the "Brewers and Shaun Marcum were "a minute and a half away" from arbitration hearing. (h/t @Mass_Haas

Over at The Official Site there is a look at the Brewers Top 20 prospects. Looks like its focusing on Wily Peralta. They also made an All-NL Prospect List. Peralta's the only Brewer on the list.

FanGraphs has their list of Top 10 Worst Transactions of the Winter and the Brewers signing of Aramis Ramirez checks in at #7.

MLB FanCave has announced a Top 50 finalists and is starting online voting. There are two Brewers representatives in the Top 50.

Disciples of Uecker started a series ranking the Brewers organization's Top 30 prospects. Yesterday's post of players 21-30 can be found here. I'm pretty surprised they have Brock Kjelgaard all the way down at 28. And here's 11-20.

The Brewers hired a new groundskeeper to take over the job after the passing of Gary Vanden Berg. Justin Scott comes from Kansas City and - my favorite part - has a BS in Plant Science/Turfgrass Management from Missouri.

The Brewer Nation is doing a countdown to Opening Day by jersey number. Today's highlights John Axford.

It's Insider, so I didn't get to read the whole thing, but Buster Olney is saying that Doug Melvin reiterated that the team is committed to giving Mat Gamel at first.

John Sickels is an authority on minor league players and he's taking the time to go back and look at how successful some of the pitchers he rated have become. He's narrowed down the parameters and overall, he did a pretty damn good job. Relevant to realize you should probably put stock in his projections. Both Zach Greinke and K-Rod make the list.

Bradley Woodrum at FanGraphs categorized MLB teams based on his opinion of their SABR leanings - he says the Brewers are an "In-Between Organization."

I'm not sure if Kyle posted this already, but here's a pretty interesting look at Racine native Chad Harbach, author of The Art of Fielding.

It probably says a lot about the rest of the unsigned arbitration-eligible players that one of the top ten most prominent cases left is the Brewers case with Jose Veras. (h/t MLB Trade Rumors)

If you're a really big Ryan Braun's Graffito fan and you find yourself in Wellington, FL (outside West Palm Beach) you're in luck! There's apparently a new one there.

Today in former Brewers:

Bill Hall signed a minor-league contract with the New York Yankees. The contract comes with an invitation to Spring Training. If he makes the 40-man roster, he gets $600,000. He announced his singing on Twitter. Best reaction goes to @Brandon_Warne with his suggestion of how Hall might handle Yankees Roll Call.

Former Brewer minor-leaguer Brett Lawrie's tweets are apparently so difficult for Jays fans to understand that one of them has started a Twitter account to translate them for the greater public.

In today's obvious news is obvious, ESPN published a story that Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski is confident in Prince Fielder. As if the 9-year, $214 million contract was a sign of that.

Dodgers: Avoided arbitration with Clayton Kershaw as he agreed to a two-year, $19 million contract. That leaves his third arbitration-eligible.
Oakland: Extended general manager Billy Beane's contract through 2019. A's beat writer Susan Slusser thinks that's a sign the Athletics are getting a new stadium.
Rangers: Signed Elvis Andrus to a three-year, $15 million deal.
Red Sox: Signed 17-year-old Australian Daniel McGrath

And in the rest of interesting baseball news...

This is my must-read of the day: A 17-year-old is the front line of Negro League research and has been for a few years. He's making friends with former-players and helping them get their pensions.

FanGraphs has their list of the 10 Best Transactions of the Winter - the Brewers aren't on the list.

The example in this piece on The Book is about the Super Bowl, but the gist of the article looks at how to correctly use win-expectancy graphs. Interesting, IMO.

One of the most linked-to and talked about articles yesterday was this Hardball Times piece looking at how payroll and wins are tied together and gives you some historical perspective on it.

Also at Hardball Times is this David Wade piece explaining why he's against replay in baseball.

I can't be the only one who looks at this Angels billboard of Pujols and doesn't think the A stands for Albert.

Baseball Prospectus has released their 2012 PECOTA forecasts, and they've tweaked their formula slightly to give more weight to a player's history/performance and less to regression. The article breaks down all the changes and I have to admit that the math problems make my head hurt. But for those of you so inclined, I'm sure it will be super-interesting.

Given the story about Baseball Boyfriend - Smart move by SABR to take this opportunity to remind you that they have a Women in Baseball newsletter - archived here.

Some things to read while expanding your vocabulary.

We're 11 days from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, and one more Brewer minor leaguer received a late camp invitation yesterday: BCB Community Prospect #3 Tyler Thornburg will be in big league camp for the first time, wearing #70. Thornburg was a third round pick in 2010 and posted a 2.57 ERA over 156.2 innings between Wisconsin and Brevard County last season, striking out 10.5 batters per nine. He also appeared in three games in the Arizona Fall League.

After about a week of listening to gloom and doom from baseball's various national analysts, David Schoenfield of ESPN has turned the tide the other way a bit: He previewed the NL Central position-by-position and arrived with the Brewers as the best of its six teams. If you like your previews with less analysis and more haiku, Babes Love Baseball has exactly what you're looking for.

Zack Greinke (as #2 starter) was one of several Brewer pitchers to come up #1 in Schoenfield's position rankings. At Disciples of Uecker, Jack Moore compares the players the Brewers gave up to acquire Greinke to the hauls of talent the Cubs and Reds had to give up for Matt Garza and Mat Latos.

We still don't know the outcome of Ryan Braun's appeal, but we do know he'll be on the cover of the 2012 media guide along with Carlos Gomez and Nyjer Morgan. Apparently someone in the front office learned to use Photoshop this winter.

Speaking of Braun, his potential meeting with 2011 NY Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw and MVP runner-up Matt Kemp when the Brewers host the Dodgers on April 17 is one of John Schlegel of MLB.com's most intriguing moments of early 2012.

In the minors:

• Seedlings To Stars created an All-Prospect Team for the Brewers, and the picture isn't as grim as you'd expect.
• Three Brewer batters combined to go 0-for-9 last night, but at least Sergio Miranda walked twice in Puerto Rico's 4-3 win over Mexico. You can read about that and more in today's Winter League Notes.
• The Brewer Nation's "Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers" series continues with a profile of Wily Peralta.
• The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers borrowed a speech from "Miracle" for their latest video to promote their Opening Day bobbleheads.

As of this writing Zelous Wheeler has a ten vote lead on Nick Bucci and Jimmy Nelson for the #15 spot in our Community Prospect Rankings. Voting will remain open until 1 today, and the voting for the #16 spot will begin at 2.

Around baseball:

Astros: Signed outfielder Justin Ruggiano to a minor league deal.
Cardinals: Signed infielder Alex Cora to a minor league deal.
Cubs: Claimed infielder Adrian Cardenas off waivers from the Athletics and designated infielder Blake DeWitt for assignment.
Dodgers: Designated infielder Russ Mitchell for assignment.
Mariners: Signed pitchers Hong-Chih Kuo and Shawn Camp to one year deals and designated catcher Chris Gimenez and outfielder Mike Wilson for assignment.
Nationals: Signed third baseman Mark Teahen to a minor league deal.
Rangers: Signed first baseman/outfielder Conor Jackson and pitcher Joe Beimel to minor league deals.

In former Brewers:

• Chicken Friars is hoping Mark Kotsay can provide some veteran leadership for the Padres in 2012.
• Mitch Stetter says you should never trust a cat, including Frank Catalanotto.

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History remembers Jeff Cirillo's 2005 return to Milwaukee as a free agent. Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times notes that it's also been 4000 days since Devon White was traded to the Brewers and 20,000 days since Hank Aaron's worst game as a major leaguer.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm working on my flexibility.

Drink up.

Some things to read while demonstrating poor taste.

We're 12 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, and we're starting yet another week without any level of certainty regarding Ryan Braun's situation.Tom Haudricourt (behind the JS paywall) is reporting that the arbitration panel handling his case has a 25 day window to render a judgment, which expires a week from today.

The Brewers did cross one item off of their to-do list on Friday, signing Shaun Marcum to a one year, $7.725 million deal just before the two sides were scheduled for an arbitration hearing (FanShot). The deal represents the exact midpoint between the two sides and leaves Jose Veras as the Brewers' only potential case. Veras and the team are only $375,000 apart but the team is reporting no progress in negotiations. Adam McCalvy speculates that their hearing is likely sometime between today and the 18th, when pitchers and catchers report to Maryvale.

In less newsworthy transactions, the Brewers have also signed Frankie De La Cruz, Santo Manzanillo, Eric Farris, Mat Gamel, Taylor Green, Zelous Wheeler and Logan Schafer to 2012 contracts. All seven have less than three years of major league service time so they'll likely make near the league minimum (which is going up to $480,000 this season) for their time in the majors.

Coming into camp it looks like the Brewer bullpen will be more or less set, with John Axford, Francisco Rodriguez Kameron Loe, Zach Braddock, Manny Parra and Marco Estrada coming back and joined by Jose Veras. The situation may not be that simple, though, and Reviewing The Brew has a look at what could happen.

Speaking of bullpen candidates, The Brewer Nation continued their "Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers" series with profiles of Brandon Kintzler and Frankie De La Cruz.

They're not often credited as the reasons for the Brewers exceeding expectations in 2011, but Baseball Daily Digest notes that both Corey Hart and Yovani Gallardo outperformed their PECOTA projections last season by a fair amount.

Finally, the Brewers wrapped up last week's bobblehead announcements by naming Aramis Ramirez as the final honoree: His bobbles will be distributed against the Mets on September 16.

In the minors:

• Seedlings to Stars compiled the results of six top 100 prospect lists and noted that six Brewers made appearances on at least one, but no one appeared on more than three. They also say Wily Peralta might be "the most under-appreciated prospect in the game."
• Hiram Burgos allowed just one run on four hits and struck out six over five innings but was the tough luck-loser as Mexico beat Puerto Rico 7-0 in the Caribbean World Series. You can read about that and more in today's Winter League Notes.
• Cream City Cables has an interview with Nashville second baseman Eric Farris. (h/t @Mass_Haas)

It looks like voting for the #14 spot in our Community Prospect Rankings is going to come down to the wire, as Zelous Wheeler leads Orlando Arcia by one vote as of this writing. You have until 1 pm today to weigh in, and voting for #15 will open at 2.

Today's lone prediction/power ranking comes from The Baseball Index, who predicts the Brewers will finish third in the Central behind the Cardinals (division winner) and Reds (Wild Card).

Looking back, Jon Baas stopped by this weekend to offer an update on his Milwaukee Brewers Replay project, which has now used Baseball Mogul to re-simulate the 2011 season through June. This month's most significant development might be Mat Gamel's breakout performance.

Around baseball:

Dodgers: Signed pitcher Todd Coffey to a one year, $1.3 million deal with a club option for 2013.
Marlins: Lost their arbitration case with pitcher Anibal Sanchez, who will make $8 million in 2012.
Nationals: Re-signed outfielder Rick Ankiel to a minor league deal.
Orioles: Designated pitcher Clay Rapada for assignment and released pitcher Rick VandenHurk.
Pirates: Signed pitcher Brian Tallet to a minor league deal.
Rays: Won their arbitration case with pitcher Jeff Niemann, who will receive $2.75 million in 2012.
Red Sox: Signed pitcher Alfredo Aceves to a one year, $1.2 million deal to avoid arbitration.
Rockies: Acquired pitcher Jeremy Guthrie from the Orioles for pitchers Matt Lindstrom and Jason Hammel and signed reliever Matt Belisle to a one year contract extension that will pay him $4.3 million in 2013.

Last week I mentioned that 2012 could be a bad year for baseball in several cities, as nine teams are projected to have a 10% or better chance of losing 100 games. I guess it's only fair that I present this opposing view: Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports says 2012 could be the best season ever.

In former Brewers:

• The Cecil/Prince Fielder situation took another turn for the worse this weekend when Cecil said he was planning to "take the high road" while being inducted into the Ted Williams Hitters Hall of Fame, but then proceeded to publicly bash his son anyway.
• Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times has a great post today on one-hitters, which mentions that Jerry Hairston Jr. has provided the single hit in a game for three different teams. Follow the link for notes featuring Ben Oglivie, Paul Molitor, Charlie Moore and James Mouton.
• High Heat Stats also notes that Hairston's eighth inning HBP on September 26 was tied for the tenth most valuable plunk in all of baseball in 2011.
• Carson Cistulli of NotGraphs remembers the time Glenn Braggs broke a bat across his back.
• Baseball America has a story on Craig Counsell's transition to the front office, but it's subscriber-only.

Sunday's edition of Today In Brewer History celebrated Hank Aaron's 78th birthday, and Plunk Everyone notes that his 32 career HBP are the third most ever for a batter born on February 5. This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History celebrates Bob Wickman's 42nd birthday.

Now, if you'll excuse me, it's in my head again.

Drink up.

Some things to read while the dog thinks about killing you.

We're 15 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, and today the topic du jour is Zack Greinke. Jerry Crasnick of ESPN has a story on Greinke approaching free agency without an agent, Nick Prill of The Brewers Bar wonders if the Brewers can or should work out a long term deal with him, and David Golebiewski of Baseball Analytics has a look at the varying speeds of Greinke's curveball.

With a full season of Greinke on tap Matthew Pouliot of Hardball Talk has the Brewer starting five projected for a 3.81 ERA, which would be the eleventh best in baseball. Ryan Topp of Bernie's Crew has more on the topic behind the JS paywall.

The Brewers also announced two more 2012 bobbleheads yesterday: The team will give away Italian Sausage bobbles on July 1 and bobbles featuring Bob Uecker on July 29.

Earlier this week I mentioned a Bill Petti post at Beyond the Box Score showing that the Brewers have been the best team in baseball since 2002 at keeping below-replacement level players off the field. Yesterday he expanded upon that post with a great chart showing the distribution of players by team.

In the minors:

• Sergio Miranda went 0-for-3 but scored a run as Puerto Rico beat Venezuela 3-1 in the first game of the Caribbean Series. You can read more about that in today's Winter League Notes.
• The Janesville Gazette's "Peace and Glove" blog has a Twitter interview with 2011 Wisconsin outfielder Reggie Keen.
  

Meanwhile, Santo Manzanillo leads Orlando Arcia by just five votes and first and fifth place are separated by just eight ballots for the #13 spot in our Community Prospect Rankings. You have until 1 pm today to cast your vote, then stop back after 2 to vote for #14.

Congratulations are due out today to the Brewer marketing team, who received the National Sports Forum's Overall Award of Excellence. Follow that link for more on the honor.

If you'd like more Brewer content this morning but you're sick of reading, @Mass_Haas has links to Chris Narveson's appearance on WTMJ and Rickie Weeks' spot on WSSP from last night.

Around baseball:

Cubs: Signed pitcher Matt Garza to a one year, $9.5 million deal to avoid arbitration and signed pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith to a minor league deal.
Indians: Signed first baseman Casey Kotchman to a one year, $3 million deal, and signed pitcher Rafael Perez to a one year, $2 million deal to avoid arbitration.
Nationals: Signed pitcher Edwin Jackson to a one year, $11 million deal. Also, pitcher John Lannan lost his arbitration case and will receive $5 million this season.

Adam McCalvy says that Garza's deal should help clear the way for the Brewers to reach an agreement with Shaun Marcum, as Garza was one of the pitchers Marcum was being compared to.

Unfortunately today's top story around baseball involves Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, who was spotted drinking in a Dallas area bar Monday night in an apparent relapse of his drug and alcohol issues (FanShot). Until recently, Hamilton's "accountability partner" was new Brewer hitting coach Johnny Narron.

In former Brewers:

• Casey McGehee has reportedly lost 23 pounds this winter and cut his body fat percentage in half in preparation for his first season in Pittsburgh.
• As of this writing Russell Branyan is a distant third in the voting for the nickname "Stainless Steel Meat Hammer" at NotGraphs.
  

It should be a pretty exciting season to be a Brewer fan, but not every fan base is so lucky. Christina Kahrl of ESPN looks at the possibility that 2012 could see at least four teams lose 100 games. Dan Szymborski (in the sidebar of that article) says nine teams have a 10% or worse chance of triple digit losses.

Today in baseball economics:

• The Mets' search for new minority owners might be over. Comcast and Time Warner are reportedly coming together to fund sports network SNY's purchase of the last four remaining shares, valued at $80 million. If this goes through SNY will own 16% of the team.
• The Houston Business Journal used the late 90's Brewers as an example of an attendance boost the Astros might see when they switch leagues next season.

Preparations continue for Opening Day at the Marlins' new ballpark, including the installation of a massive aquarium in the fence behind home plate. My favorite story from yesterday was this one about the team inviting first baseman Gaby Sanchez to try to break the tank's glass with a baseball before they put fish in it. (h/t @bigleaguestew)

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History remembers the second anniversary of the Brewers claiming Marco Estrada off waivers from the Nationals. It's also 1998 Brewer Eric Owens' 41st birthday, and Plunk Everyone notes that his nine HBP are fifth all time among players born on February 3. Finally, Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times notes that it's been 1000 days since Zack Greinke lost a game 1-0 in 2009 and actually had his ERA go up.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to return Dan's coffee.

Drink up.

Some things to read while calling off the search.

We're 16 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, and yesterday was all Tony Plush all the time. While Nyjer Morgan was practicing with the San Jose Sharks (slideshow and video), the team announced that he'll be the subject of 2012's third bobblehead on June 10.

Elsewhere in hockey news, the Milwaukee Admirals will be wearing (retro) Brewer-themed jerseys for one night only on Friday. Adam McCalvy has more on the promotions and a picture of the jerseys.

Meanwhile, time is running out for the Brewers to reach a deal to avoid arbitration with their last two eligible players, Shaun Marcum and Jose Veras. Arbitration hearings started this week (John Lannan and the Nationals had their case heard yesterday, and Jeff Niemann and the Rays are scheduled for today), but Adam McCalvy says he hasn't heard when the two Brewers are scheduled.

Looking back, John Sickels of Minor League Ball has a post discussing how baseball's top 30 hitters in 2011 were viewed during their time in the minors. Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder were listed as A- prospects in 2007 and 2006, respectively. Here's a reminder of why Braun's prospect status was held back a bit: High Heat Stats says his 2007 rookie season at third base was the third worst defensive season of all time.

Speaking of Braun, Tom Haudricourt says he won't be surprised if this week goes by without any announcement regarding the status of his appeal. I feel like this almost has to be resolved before the Brewers report to spring training, but it might be close.

In the minors:

• Starting pitcher Jimmy Nelson was the subject of this week's edition of the Timber Rattlers' Interrogation Room.
• Nelson missed the cut on Wisconsin Sports Tap's list of the organization's top five starting pitching prospects. Wily Peralta was #1.
• Brewer Nation continued their "Brewers By the (Jersey) Numbers" series with a profile of Michael Fiers.
• Chris Mehring of Rattler Radio didn't have access to an actual groundhog, so he did the best he could with what he had available for this Groundhog Day post.

As of this writing Kentrail Davis leads Santo Manzanillo (and a closely grouped collection of others) by 33 votes in the race for the #12 spot in our Community Prospect Rankings. You have until 1 today to cast your vote, then stop back after 2 to vote for #13.

Today's power ranking note is another frustrating one: Sports Illustrated has the Brewers 17th.

Around baseball:

Blue Jays: Designated infielder Darin Mastroianni for assignment.
Mariners: Signed infielder Carlos Guillen to a minor league deal.
Nationals: Signed pitcher Chad Durbin to a minor league deal.
Padres: Signed pitcher Micah Owings to a one year, $1 million deal.
Pirates: Signed pitcher Juan Cruz to a minor league deal.
White Sox: Signed first baseman Dan Johnson to a minor league deal.

Today in former Brewers:

• Richard Barbieri of The Hardball Times has Hank Aaron starting in right field for his All-February birthday team.
• Bluebird Banter listed Paul Molitor as the 55th best Blue Jay of all time.

Here's my favorite sabermetric note from today: Matt Klaassen of FanGraphs considers the possibility that sluggers should bunt to the opposite field to beat the shift. Prince Fielder certainly could have picked up a lot of hits this way, but he also likely would have been left on first base after many of them.

And in baseball economics:

• Steve Cohen, who just paid $20 million to become a minority owner of the Mets, is also involved in the bidding to buy the Dodgers.
• D.J. Gallo of ESPN notes that Barry Bonds made $4.7 million as a Pirate in 1992, which is more than any Pirate will make this season.
  

Here's a reminder that hitting a baseball is really hard: The Biz of Baseball has an excellent infographic looking at the time a hitter has to identify, decide and swing at a 95 mph fastball.

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History wishes a happy 89th birthday to former Milwaukee Brave Red Schoendienst. Plunk Everyone notes that Schoendienst and 1970 Brewer Max Alvis are two of the top five most plunked batters born on February 2.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to sort and label my gurus.

Drink up.