St. Patrick's Day Frosty Mug

Hey, what better way to start St. Patrick's Day than with a drink from a green 169-ounce frosty mug?

ESPN's Steve Phillips' NL Central preview is here. He says...well, he says the same thing everyone else says when they get it wrong.

Jim Powell's first blog of the spring is up, as well. He comes off as down on blogging, blogs, and spring training, all at the same time. Hopefully he'll cheer up before opening day.

Ryan Braun is still going to miss a day or two with his sore Achilles. It's been five days. I'm starting to worry.

Baseball Digest Daily has apparently stopped doing the daily recaps, but today they do have this: Baseball's top 100 prospects. LaPorta is 44. Manny Parra, who is pitching his way into a spot in the rotation is 75. Jeremy Jeffress, who is smoking his way out of the future, is just two spots behind him at 77. Really?

Speaking of prospects, BrewersNation notes that Alcides Escobar has drawn some pretty high praise this spring.

Hire Jim Essian wants to know: Which manager will cost his team more games this season, Dusty Baker or Ned Yost? The results may surprise you.

Beyond the Box Score ranks the 2007 Brewers just below the middle of the pack in outfield speed. That should improve this season.

Batter's Box Interactive takes a look at NL franchises' lifetime records. The Brewers franchise hasn't been over .500 since the Seattle Pilots were 3-2, and would have to go 162-0 for back to back seasons to reach .500 again.

Alphabetical injury reports in one line or less:

Garrett Anderson was scratched over the weekend with inflammation in his knee.
Josh Beckett's bad back will keep him off the trip to Japan.
Cubs SS Alex Cintron is back in camp after being hit in the face with a foul ball Friday.
Carlos Delgado needed 4 stitches after being impaled on Brady Clark's bat.
Travis Hafner was a Mathlete.
Rangers P Jason Jennings is struggling to regain velocity following elbow surgery.
Scott Kazmir is being bothered by an elbow strain and now will miss opening day.
John Lackey has a triceps strain and will miss opening day.
Kaz Matsui's hemorrhoids are bad enough to require surgery. He'll be out 2 weeks.
Nats OF Wily Mo Pena has a torn oblique and is out at least 4 weeks.
Mark Prior may be able to pitch by May or June. He may also be back on the DL in August.
Jason Schmidt is still experiencing pain in his shoulder but has been told to pitch through it.

Today's Fangraphs "Get to Know a Stat" is Runs Created. Check it out if you're not familiar with it.

Also, if you're looking for a timekiller today and this post isn't enough, go play with this new tool, which lists pitch percentages and average speeds for pitchers.

Here's another "The Cubs are doing what?" story, by my count at least the third this spring: They're passing over guys with better stuff and better health and naming Kerry Wood their closer.

On a former Brewer note: Scott Podsednik is getting hot in Rockies camp and may be on the opening day roster. Would any of us have predicted that?

Jim Leyland doesn't want to hear about team chemistry. Usually, when someone is that defensive about chemistry, that means it's an issue.

Sam Mellinger has started a Royals-related over-under contest. I like the idea. Anyone want to put something similar together for the Brewers?

Here's another thing I'd like to see someone do: River Ave Blues has inflation-adjusted Yankee ticket prices. I'd like to see what that chart would look like for the Brewers.

Seamheads has a great post up on the history of 300 game winners, with a list of the ten active pitchers most likely to reach the milestone.

Ryan Braun projects as the more likely candidate, but Cecil Cooper seems to think Miguel Cabrera can win the triple crown.

There's nothing at all Brewer-related about it, but this is still a great read: Faith and Fear in Flushing recounts one of the most unlikely events in baseball history: An Al Leiter triple.

I think I'm going to stop here before my computer melts down. Happy St. Patrick's Day. Drink up.