I'd sure like to hear that Bill Hall is about to sign a multi-year deal, but apart from that, we're in the middle of the slowest part of the baseball year. Still a few things to talk about, though:

• Martin Gandy writes about the the Suppan signing alongside the Gil Meche signing at Baseball Digest Daily. In short: he thinks it's stupid. I guess you can object to low-budget teams playing with the free-agent market, but as far as free agent signings go, Suppan actually came below-market. Maybe the Brewers should've rolled the dice with Carlos Villanueva and Zach Jackson, but the Suppan signing just isn't that crippling. Especially compared to Meche: at least with Jeff, we can be pretty sure we're getting 180+ league-average-ish innings a year. There's plenty of value in that. Regardless of what you or I think it's worth, the market this offseason priced it at $10-$12M per year.
  
  
• Dayn Perry ranks the general managers. Melvin is #14, but 2nd to Mark Shapiro among those who haven't made the playoffs with their current team. We may think Melvin's smart and savvy, but it's tough to make an argument for a higher position until the team cracks .500.
  
  
• Former Brewers prospect Luis Martinez has signed with the Nats. Turns out he's been in Japan. Either I didn't know that, or I had completely forgotten.
  
  
• Our new TV guy compares Ned Yost to Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs. Anderson has definitely mastered the art of positive spin, but it's a nice read nonetheless.
  
  
• Tomo Ohka isn't going to sign with the Pirates. Apparently he's now seeking a one-year deal instead of a two-year deal, since he hasn't been offered any three-year deals. (Say that ten times fast!) Seems like a smart move--if Ohka turns in 30 league-average starts this year, as he's done in the past, he could cash in next offseason.
  
  
• For Beyond the Boxscore, I'm going to be writing team previews for all 30 teams. I started the series this morning with a preview for the Devil Rays. Enjoy!