Some things to read, then read again in reverse.
This morning's big story is on the managerial front, once again: The Brewers have requested and received permission from the Nationals to interview Pat Listach for their managerial vacancy (FanShot). Listach is spending the offseason managing Ponce in Puerto Rico, but will fly into Milwaukee on Tuesday for an interview. Last week we took a look at Listach as part of our Candidate Collection series.
Meanwhile, one candidate is off the market: Former Indians manager Eric Wedge has reportedly agreed to terms with the Mariners (FanShot).
It appears Bobby Valentine is still a dark horse candidate for the job. Valentine told XM Radio he's had preliminary conversations with the Brewers and that the two sides could talk again. Jaymes Langrehr of The Brewers Bar says the Brewers shouldn't be wasting their time with him.
In the minors:
- Seven Brewer farmhands were active in the Arizona Fall League and in Mexico this weekend: You can check out their performances in this morning's AFL/Winter League Update.
- Meanwhile, Brevard County catcher Shawn Zarraga is headed to Taiwan with the Dutch National Team. They're competing in the Inter Continental Cup.
- Baseball America has a story on Brewer Minor League Player of the Year Erik Komatsu, but it's subscriber-only.
If you're still looking for closure on the 2010 season, John Steinmiller might have some help for you: He's making the team's End of Season Notes and Wrap Up available to fans for the first time.
If you skipped out early for the weekend, you might have missed the first post of TheJay's new weekly "Brewers Numerical History" series. If you did miss it, go back and check it out.
Around baseball:
Dodgers: Have reportedly agreed to a three year contract extension with pitcher Ted Lilly.
It's a good thing the Brewers don't appear to be relying on the free agent market for pitching this offseason, because the market may close before it opens. In addition to Lilly's new deal with the Dodgers, the Cardinals and Rockies are reportedly negotiating new deals with Jake Westbrook and Jorge De La Rosa, respectively.
While the free agent pitching market might be drying up, a big fish was just thrown into the trade market: The Royals are reportedly considering offers to trade Zack Greinke this offseason. Greinke has two years left on his current deal and is scheduled to make $13.5 million in each of those seasons.
If you had told me that a Brewer released this spring would go on to make an impact for a team this postseason, I would not have guessed that Brewer would be Matt Treanor. Nonetheless, at one point this weekend Treanor had reached base five times in six plate appearances for the Rangers. I guess you never know.
Speaking of the postseason: The lyrics are clearly NSFW, but this song about Tim Lincecum might be my favorite development this October.
He's been gone as a Brewer for a year now but J.J. Hardy remains a hot topic on occasion, so I thought some of you might find this interesting: Parker Hageman of TwinsCentric notes that Hardy was among the league leaders once again this season in defensive plays made outside of the expected zone, and says Hardy plays deeper and uses above average positioning to make up for the fact that he's abnormally slow. If nothing else, there are some decent jokes in there about Hardy's lack of speed.
Elsewhere in former Brewer notes:
- The Diamondbacks have hired Eric Young to coach first base next season.
- As noted by Zeyes and TheJay in Friday's Mug comments, three former Brewers made Baseball America's Independent League All Star team this season: Catcher Lou Palmisano and pitchers Dan Reichert and Jorge Julio.
There are certain corners of the web where this news could be the forerunner of much rejoicing: Hardball Talk notes that ESPN has yet to re-sign longtime Sunday Night Baseball commentators Jon Miller and Joe Morgan for next season.
Happy birthday over the weekend to:
- Brevard County Manatee Matt Cline, who turns 25 today.
- 2002 Brewer manager Jerry Royster, who turns 58 today.
- Plover, WI native Walt Wilmot, who would have turned 147 today. Wilmot played ten major league seasons between 1888 and 1898 with the Cubs and two other teams.
- Nashville Sound Ben Johnson, who turned 29 Sunday.
- 1986-90 Brewer Glenn Braggs, who turned 48 on Sunday.
- 1994 Brewer Brian Harper, who turned 51 on Saturday.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm out of donuts. (h/t Ben Badler)
Drink up.