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Monday's Frosty Mug

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Some things to read instead of hanging out with The Least Interesting Man in the World.

Coming off another series loss that dropped their playoff chances to 4.9%, the Brewers have a day off today to travel home and get ready to resume play tomorrow. When they get there, they'll be joined by new Brewer David Weathers, who was acquired from the Reds for a PTBNL yesterday. Some notes on the move:
  • Jesus Colome was the 20th Brewer pitcher to appear in a game over the weekend, meaning Weathers will likely be the 21st sometime this week. Before the season, 88% of readers in the Over/Under contest said the Brewers would use more than 19.5 pitchers this season. Congratulations to all of you.
  • Ken Macha suggested Weathers will be used as an occasional fill in for Todd Coffey in the setup man role.
  • Weathers and his family don't sound too excited about leaving Cincinnati.
  • This move could be more than a rental: Weathers has a team option for next season. Exercising that option would be a nice way to get rid of $3.7 million without clogging a toilet.
Another day, another story about Jason Kendall's ineptitude: Mike Rivera got into a game on Saturday and responded by hitting a three run double as part of a night that saw him get on base three times. The Bucky Channel makes the case once again that Kendall should be sitting and Rivera should be playing more.

With that said, Kendall was hit by two pitches yesterday, the 240th and 241st of his career. Plunk Everyone has a bunch of statistical nuggets related to that.

Entering play tomorrow, Mike Cameron has been worth 2.8 Wins Above Replacement on the season, third most on the team. Should the Brewers make an offer to bring him back for next season? The Junkball Blues makes the case for it. Baseball Digest Daily says Cameron is the third best defensive outfielder in the NL.

In the minors:
  • Fifth round pick D'Vontrey Richardson signed his contract Friday night and is expected to report to Arizona to spend a few weeks with the Rookie Brewers before their season concludes.
  • Over at The Hardball Times, Jeff continues to look at the average age of minor league teams, and finds the Huntsville Stars are one of the oldest teams in AA. The average probably falls a bit if you remove Vinny Rottino, who is a Dodger now.
Around baseball:

Astros: Placed Doug Brocail on the DL with a strained shoulder.
A's: Released Jason Giambi.
Cubs: Placed Carlos Zambrano on the DL with back spasms.
Dodgers: Placed Jason Schmidt on the DL with shoulder trouble.
Mets: Acquired outfielder Jason Dubois from the Cubs.
Phillies: Released infielder Pablo Ozuna.
Pirates: Placed reliever Donnie Veal on the DL with a sprained index finger.
Rangers: Designated Vicente Padilla for assignment.
Rays: Acquired Gregg Zaun from the Orioles for a PTBNL or cash, claimed Russ Springer off waivers from the A's, and designated Joe Dillon, R.J. Swindle, reliever Jonathan Meloan and catcher Michel Hernandez for assignment.
Red Sox: Designated reliever Enrique Gonzalez and John Smoltz for assignment and placed Jed Lowrie on the DL with forearm irritation.
Yankees: Designated Josh Towers for assignment.

Yesterday's Brewer game wasn't the only one over the weekend impacted by poor umpiring. As is becoming customary, here's your Umpiring Roundup from the weekend: This morning's Mug is probably a little late because I got hooked on this story and ended up reading the whole thing: Gary Smith of Sports Illustrated has an incredible profile of Mpho "Gift" Ngoepe, the South African shortstop in the Pirates organization, and the incredible path he's traveling in an attempt to become the first African-born major leaguer. (h/t Bucs Dugout)

The economy may suck, but if you're the official manufacturer of baseballs for MLB, you'll probably always have a job. MLB Daily Dish estimates the major leagues will go through about 220,000 balls this season.

Playing a Timber Rattlers game at Miller Park seemed to work pretty well for all involved, so maybe the Brewers should try this: The Red Sox have an annual Futures at Fenway doubleheader, featuring games with two of the team's affiliates. I'd pay to see that.

On this day in 1987, Paul Molitor went 2-for-4 with two walks, extending his hit streak to 25 games as the Brewers beat the Rangers 4-3 in 12 innings.

Happy birthday today to Chuckie Carr, a 1996 Brewer and first-ballot entry into the "Don't Be That Guy" Hall of Fame, who turns 42 today.

Oh, and please, for your sake and ours, stop dressing up your cat.

Drink up.