I read 246 baseball blogs and websites this morning, and all I got was this lousy collection of links.
Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
So apparently, for seven innings last night, the game wasn't big enough for the Cardinals. A home win and moving up in the Wild Card standings. Then Carlos Villanueva wiggled off the hook and got excited. Does anyone really believe that's what "woke up" the Cardinals? Tom H., Jim Powell and Big League Stew seem to think so. Defensive Indifference says the Brewers went 10-5 against the Cards this season because they waited until the final game to wake Pujols up.
Maybe before next season, we can all purchase t-shirts designed specifically for untucking so we can further perpetuate this inconceivable slight to all great things in the history of baseball and mankind. Or the people who complain about such things will get a life.
Moving on. Jon Heyman weighs in on how teams will handle players with options for next season. He predicts the Brewers will exercise their option on Mike Cameron. The fact that he's hitting .431/.491/.824 over his last 14 games has moved that option from a question mark to a lock.
Mat Gamel hit his first AAA home run yesterday, but amazingly enough, it wasn't the game's biggest story: Tony Gwynn Jr. hit a walk-off home run to win it.
The Brewers held steady at 7th in the most recent Bugs and Cranks power rankings.
Finally, Viva Cerveceros wrote a touching coming-of-age tale about friendship, sacrifice...and bobbleheads.
On injuries:
Mets IF Ramon Castro has been placed on the DL with a quad injury.
Josh Hamilton was scratched from Wednesday's lineup with an abscessed tooth that will require a root canal.
Today, once again, we have reason to rejoice in the fact that the Brewers didn't draft a Scott Boras client in the first round. Hyzdu Headquarters has a pretty good summary of the situation involving the Pirates and their first round pick, Pedro Alvarez, and his agent, (who else?) Scott Boras. Alvarez has yet to report to the Pirates, and Boras is claiming his contract was approved too late to be valid. Under baseball's rules, this should mean Alvarez didn't sign and sits out a year...but Boras is trying to wiggle into getting the Pirates to offer more money. Baseball Digest Daily has a message for Pedro Alvarez, but I think the broader message needs to be sent out to every prospective draftee for 2009: If you want to play baseball, find a different agent.
Four former Brewers are on the move, all covered within this link:
- The Braves signed Elmer Dessens.
- The Orioles activated Greg Aquino off the DL yesterday and designated him for assignment.
- The Mets recalled Robinson Cancel and Nelson Figueroa.
Oh, and the Rays won their 80th game last night, in front of a home crowd of 12,678.
Drink up.