Some things to read while taking it too far.
According to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi, the Brewers are one of four teams still interested in signing Doug Davis (h/t Tom Haudricourt). The Twins, Mets and Nationals are the other teams believed to be in the running, but the Mets reportedly are more interested in Joel Pineiro and the Nationals have prioritized second base first. Also, Jarrod Washburn is still on the market.
The more I think about it, the more I think the current situation is bad news for Dave Bush. Signing another starter would leave the Brewers with six for five slots (Gallardo, Wolf, Parra, Bush, Suppan and the new guy). Obviously, Suppan hasn't done much recently to prove he belongs in a major league rotation, but the Brewers don't gain anything financially by letting him go. Bush, on the other hand, could be kept around as injury insurance through spring training and then let go, with the Brewers only owing a fraction of his 2010 contract. It's the same hole Claudio Vargas fell into in 2008.
Today is also the day the Brewers are set to meet with Mark Mulder, and Rick Peterson says Mulder "feels great physically" and is "in tremendous shape." I know we've been saying a deal is imminent for months now, but I'd be surprised if it's not done by Monday.
The Brewers are firming up plans for their "Brewers On Deck" event at the end of the month, and have released a list of players expected to attend. With 29 players listed, it's actually easier to tell you who's not coming: Chuck Lofgren, Amaury Rivas, Mark Rogers, Cody Scarpetta, Angel Salome, Craig Counsell, Luis Cruz, Adam Heether and Lorenzo Cain are the only players on the 40 man roster not scheduled to appear. I'm wondering if Counsell was omitted by mistake: of all the players, he's the one I'd almost certainly expect to be there.
Speaking of Counsell, he's the subject of Baseball Musings' most recent Players A to Z post.
Ryan Braun's had a pretty good first three years as a major leaguer, but they'd be even more impressive if he had an MVP award to go with them: Brandon Isleib of The Hardball Times has a look at what might have happened if the AL's original rules regarding the award (no repeat winners) had remained in place, and Braun would have taken home the 2008 NL honor.
In the minors:
- If it's Thursday, it's time for a new episode of The Offseason starring the Timber Rattlers' front office staff.
- As of this writing, Angel Salome leads the trio of Lorenzo Cain, Kentrail Davis and Caleb Gindl by 48 votes in the race for the #8 spot in our BCB Community Prospect rankings. You have until 4 pm to vote.
Around baseball:
Astros: Designated Jason Bourgeois for assignment.
Blue Jays: Signed pitcher Willie Collazo, infielder Jesus Merchan and outfielders Jorge Padilla and Chris Lubanski to minor league deals.
Braves: Signed pitcher Chris Resop to a minor league deal.
Mariners: Re-signed Brad Nelson to a minor league deal.
Pirates: Signed pitcher D.J. Carrasco to a minor league deal.
Red Sox: Signed Brian Shouse to a minor league deal. (FanShot)
Tigers: Signed Joel Zumaya to a one year deal, avoiding arbitration.
The Shouse signing prompted Right Field Bleachers to note that the Red Sox have three recent former Brewers on their roster, with Mike Cameron, Bill Hall and Brian Shouse all having joined the team in the last few months. They also issued a reminder that Gabe Gross, Geoff Jenkins and Felipe Lopez are still available.
Elsewhere in former Brewer news:
- The Royals have hired Ned Yost to be a
gascan on the firespecial advisor to baseball operations (FanShot).
- Derrick Turnbow is preparing to audition for 16 teams in the hopes of finding a job for next season. He hasn't pitched in the majors since his final outing as a Brewer in April of 2008, and made just eight appearances in AAA for the Rangers last season, posting an 8.53 ERA in 6.1 innings.
- Braden Looper is still on the free agent market as well, but the Dodgers reportedly have expressed interest. At this point, he'd probably come pretty cheap, and it's hard to imagine he'd be as bad as he was last year.
Meanwhile, as noted in the picture above, Mark Attanasio is in Paradise Valley, Arizona this week for a meeting with Bud Selig and the other owners, and a planned conversation about arbitration offers has Craig Calcaterra wondering if collusion is on the agenda. That post also includes the best roundup I've seen of news coming from the meetings.
Things continue to go from bad to worse for the Mets. Yesterday news broke that Carlos Beltran had microfracture knee surgery, and will be out at least 12 weeks. The surgery was reportedly conducted without the Mets permission, which could lead to an interesting situation. Twelve weeks would already cost Beltran most or all of spring training, but The Disabled List Informer says "May or June seems to be a more reasonable scenario."
On this day in 2000, the Brewers traded Alex Ochoa to the Reds for outfielder/pinch hitter Mark Sweeney and a minor leaguer. Sweeney hit .241/.343/.383 in 190 plate appearances over two seasons as a Brewer before being involved in a trade with Alex Ochoa again.
Happy birthday today to Adam Heether, who turns 28.
That's all I've got for you today, unless you wanted to see a picture of Pirates reliever Charlie Morton's new puppy.
Drink up.