So, it's no surprise, of course, that Braun and Fielder are leading the team in home runs.  Anyone want to guess who's in third place?  Corey Hart?  JJ Hardy?

It's none other than Mike Cameron!  Quietly, he's put up 19 home runs in 3 1/2 months, after missing most of April.    At this pace, he should finish the season with 25-30.

In fact, he and fan fave Corey Hart have been virtually the same player this season: .323 OBP/.498 SLG for Corey, .328 OBP/.488 SLG for Cam.  The difference is batting average: Corey laps him with a 52 point BA advantage, though Cameron's 17 more walks give him the edge in OBP.

Against the rest of the NL centerfielders, Cameron is holding his own: 3rd in SLG, 3rd in HRs, 6th in OPS.

It's interesting to consider why he is often the forgotten man when thinking about the Brewers' successes this season.  One reason is the batting average, of course: of our regulars, only Rickie Weeks and Bill E. Hall are hitting with less frequency.  A second is the strikeouts, where he has as many Ks as Prince Fielder despite 140 fewer ABs. 

Moreover, as evidenced by a 1 for 12 performance against the Nationals last week, Cameron does not seem to like Miller Park.  His OPS is more than 300 points better on the road than at home (.943-.640), and he strikes out more at home despite 50 fewer ABs.  If you've gone to a home game or two, chances are good that you left not feeling particularly impressed.

(It's worth mentioning that his BA is a bit lower than his career numbers: he's a .250 career hitter, and that's when his home park was a pitcher park, like Petco.  Having his home park be a pitcher's park might explain why he's been better on the road in his career, too, though his career difference is 60 points, not 300.)

Given our options at center coming into the season (TG Jr., currently with a .651 OPS in AAA; the still-out-of-baseball Kenny Lofton), Mike Cameron has been a pretty good solution for the Brewers this season.  The question becomes, do you want to keep him for 2009?  It'll cost you a cool $10 million if you do, though buying out his option will run you $750,000.  If he can keep hitting against relatively weak competition as the season plays out, I'll bet you a nickel we pick up his option.

All this talk about trading JJ got me wondering: who is going to be here in 2009?  Let's go to Cot's and Rotoworld for players whose contracts end after this season:

• Ben Sheets (2008: $11 mil)
  
• CC Sabathia (2008: Brewers on the hook for ~$4 mil)
  
• Eric Gagne (2008: $10 mil)
  
• Ray Durham (2008: Brewers on the hook for ~$3 mil)
  
• Mike Cameron (2008: $5 mil; $10 mil club option for 2009)
• Guillermo Mota (2008: $3.2 mil)
  
• Salomon Torres (2008: $3.2 mil; $3.75 mil club option for 2009)
• Craig Counsell (2008: $2.8 mil; $3.4 mil club option for 2009)
• Brian Shouse (2008: $2 mil)
  
• Gabe Kapler (2008: $800,000)
  
• Russell Branyan (2008: $400,000, I guess)
  
• Joltin' Joe Dillon (2008: $400,000)
  
• Derrick Turnbow (2008: $3.2 million)
• Chris Capuano (2008: $3.75 million)
• Plus $900,000 we're paying Claudio Vargas to not suck for us.

(I excluded Jason Kendall, whose 2009 contract becomes vested if he catches 6 more games.)

That should be somewhere around $46 million we're purging off the books (excluding Torres, whose option I'd think we'd pick up in a heartbeat).  Painfully, we're paying $8.3 million to guys who are currently not on the team.  Ouch.

Right now, though, our starting rotation is going to be Gallardo, Parra, Suppan, Bush, and McClung.  Fielder needs to be more gentle with Manny Parra --- if Gallardo has any sort of setback, Manny would be our #1 starter next season!  Also, we'd have to commit some of the cash to an outfielder to replace Cameron (or Hart, if we move him to centerfield), as well as to make up for the losses of gritty veteran backups, relievers, etc.

Perhaps it's a coincidence that it's right after last night's late inning loss, but the Brewers have again been linked with relievers Huston Street on the As and Seattle's Arthur Rhodes (whom we apparently were scouting last night).

Although Street sounds a lot more tantalizing, Rhodes seems to generate more interest---if only because he would demand less in a trade.  For Street, the Brewers have only "checked in," and that's pretty vague.  Moreover, as recently as last Thursday, Moustache said he saw trading for a reliever --- and giving up more top prospects --- as unlikely.

We'll see if anything develops.  I suppose if worse comes to worst and we don't land either Street or Rhodes, we can try to trade for Larry Culdesac or Henry Boulevard.

[Note by battlekow, 07/29/08 10:26 PM CDT ] We're scouting Eddie Guardado apparently, too. This is getting pretty stupid.

Allegedly, the Brewers may be kicking the tires of Wisconsin's own Jarrod Washburn, currently serving the third year of a four-year sentence with the Mariners:

The Yankees, Cardinals, White Sox and maybe even the Brewers are among the clubs believed to have talked to the Mariners about Washburn, who has a 2.65 ERA over his past eight starts, even if his record during that span is just 2-2 because of meager offensive support.

[snip]

Washburn probably would most like to go to Milwaukee, his hometown. It's just not clear the Brewers have the ability to add another pitcher after having already traded for CC Sabathia.

The lefty LaCrosse native is owed a smidge more than $10 million in 2009, the last year of his contract. Any team trading for him next week would owe him about $4 million for the rest of 2008.

Keep in mind that the 2.65 ERA covers his last 8 starts, but his season ERA is 4.75, and that only once since 2002 has he posted an ERA under 4 for the season.  His complete stats are here.

He can veto a trade to some teams, including the Brewers, but it sounds like he'd waive it if it meant a chance to reach the playoffs.  The trading deadline is next Thursday.

TheJay's blog, Recondite Baseball, turns one year old in a scant three weeks.   (The odds of my remembering  on the day itself are pretty slim, so I thought I'd do this now.  Leaves everyone enough time to buy a present.)

No small feat, that:

Several studies indicate that most blogs are abandoned soon after creation (with 60% to 80% abandoned within one month, depending on whose figures you choose to believe) and that few are regularly updated.

[snip]

The Perseus report noted above indicates that 66.0% of surveyed blogs had not been updated in two months, "representing 2.72 million blogs that have been either permanently or temporarily abandoned".

Anyway, here's my present:

In the brief history of Miller Park, only six players have recorded five or more hits in one game.  Of those six, only one was a Brewer, although a future (and now ex-) Brewer also accomplished the feat.   (Feel free to guess who those two were; click the link to see the full data.)

Only one out of the six, Geoff Blum, did not have a home run as one of his five hits.  This was fortunate for the Brewers, as Blum was the only player in the list to get five hits yet lose the game. The Astros lost 3-2, and not once did Blum come around to score.

Some things in life are just so transcendent, that they require posting here, even though they have nothing to do with the Brewers.  This is such an occurrence. (Oh hush, it's the All-Star Break.  You're not missing anything.) 

The New Kids on the Block Are Back!

New single, tour dates, album due out next month.

The mind just reels. What have NKOTB been up to since breaking up in 1994?

The oldest "Kid," Jonathan Knight, now a real estate developer, will turn 40 later this year. Since the band's demise, former members Donnie Wahlberg, 38, and Joey McIntyre, 35, have seen acting success, while Danny Wood, 38, has worked as a music producer and Knight's brother, Jordan, 37, has continued to record.

A 40-year-old New Kid on the Block, singing "Hangin' Tough?"  In between real estate development deals?

If that weren't enough, here are some fan reaction from the Rolling Stone site, including by someone with Great Taste in Music!  And a Master's degree!  And a husband!

So, as crazy as it sounds, I’m a 30 year old with a master’s degree, a husband and great taste in music (both old school and new). I respect what KRS One did for Hip Hop and what Miles Davis did for Jazz. The first concert I ever went to was an Aretha Franklin show and these days I’m likely to be front row center at Howie Day. That being said, I couldn’t be more excited for this reunion! Say what you will about The New Kids on the Block, at the peak of their fame they had ten singles make it into the Top 10 on the Billboard chart and topped the Forbes list of Highest paid entertainers. So far this reunion has generated positive buzz. Their new single Summertime is sitting firmly at a respectable 57 on the Billboard chart and they have SOLD OUT shows including Toronto’s Air Canada Center and Boston’s TD Northbank Garden to name a few. They were not the first but they paved the way for a critical link in Pop Culture history, The Boy Band and I’m not the only girl who is grateful!

I can’t wait to see the concert! I owned almost everything that they sold when I was a kid, and saw them in seattle. And I’m not fat, nor do I have 3 kids!

And most disturbingly...

Great video, and my wife and I love the new single! Can’t wait to see them in concert! I will be downloading the new album for sure when it comes out this fall!! Welcome back guys!!!

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

I just was told by a reliable club source that the Brewers have a deal in place with Cleveland for left-hander C.C. Sabathia, contingent on the paperwork being done and medical records exchanged.

But believe me, folks, that's a deal. All that other stuff is formality.

All I know so far is that top prospect Matt LaPorta is in the deal. I was told two lower-level minor leaguers also are included. The Brewers refused to include another top prospect such as Alcides Escobar or Mat Gamel.

Look for Sabathia to make his debut for the Brewers Tuesday night at Miller Park against Colorado.