Monday's Frosty Mug

Some things to read while planning a road trip.

Before I get started, a quick side note: I'm off hunting this week, so the site schedule is going to be a little different than normal for the next few days, with an abbreviated Mug today, maybe tomorrow and Wednesday off. We will, however, still have feature stories running each day this week and other stuff as time permits. Thanks for understanding.

Of course, any Mug I wrote this morning would be abbreviated, because there's not much going on. I think today's stop story may be this FanGraphs study which shows that Ryan Braun takes more time between pitches than all but three major league hitters.

Here's a shocker: When you combine Anthony Witrado and WSSP, you get Brewer coverage that leaves something to be desired. The Brewers Bar noted that Witrado said it'd be "dumb" for the Brewers to hold onto Fielder.

Today in John Axford news:

• He'd really like you to check out his Movember page and donate for cancer research if you're able.
• His mustache grows faster than mine.

Elsewhere in charity: the Brewers are teaming up with several local organizations to deliver food baskets to 500 needy families this week. Kudos to them for pitching in.

If you missed it yesterday, Noah has the rest of this weekend's Brewer news in his Weekend Mug. Go check it out.

Around baseball:

Diamondbacks: Claimed pitcher Juan Jaime off waivers from the Nationals.
Mets: Are expected to hire former Angels manager Terry Collins as their new manager.
Orioles: Pitcher Armando Gabino rejected an outright assignment to the minors and is now a free agent.
Phillies: Signed pitcher Ryan Feierabend and outfielder Brandon Moss to minor league deals with invitations to spring training.

Meanwhile, here's a transaction that looks like it won't happen: The A's spent approximately $15 million for the rights to negotiate with Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma, but talks between the two sides have broken off and Iwakuma is believed to be seeking a contract similar to Barry Zito's with the Giants. If they can't work out a deal by December 7, the A's posting fee will be refunded and Iwakuma will return to Japan.

Today in former Brewers: 

• Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch listed Hank Aaron among his top ten living players.
• Dan Szymborski looked back at the trade that sent Gary Sheffield out of town years ago, and concludes that the Brewers got a pretty nice return.

Here's a cool promotion I wish the Brewers would pick up on: The Angels are allowing fans to get holiday pictures taken at home plate in exchange for an unwrapped toy to be donated to charity. I'd do that.

When teams send their players to winter leagues, they're usually hoping that player can get some extra at bats during the offseason to make up for lost time during the season or work on something new. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out that way: Phillies prospect Domonic Brown is spending the winter with Escogido in the Dominican Republic, but hasn't appeared in a game yet.

Last week I mentioned that I was caught off guard by baseball's decision to quickly implement a plan to add an extra playoff team in each league. I feel a little better about the fact that I was caught unaware now that I know that Carson Cistulli is similarly surprised and unimpressed. Follow that link to see his thoughts on camping, too.

Each day I find at least one story that no one else will probably care about, but intrigues me. This one raises the possibility that Cuba may relax its ban on allowing its athletes to play professional baseball outside the country. Even if they do, though, playing in the United States will continue to be banned.

On this day:

• In 1978, Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker beat out Paul Molitor for AL Rookie of the Year. Molitor hit .273/.301/.372 in 125 games in his rookie season.
• In 1992, Pat Listach was named Rookie of the Year. He hit .290/.352/.349 in his first season as a Brewer and stole 54 bases.

Happy birthday over the weekend to:

• 2007-09 Nashville Sound Lindsay Gulin, who turns 34 today.
• 1963-65 Milwaukee Brave Wade Blasingame, who turns 67 today.
• 1953-63 Milwaukee Brave Lew Burdette, who turns 84 today.
• 2003 Brewer Enrique Cruz, who turned 29 yesterday.
• 2001 Brewer Brandon Kolb, who turned 37 Saturday.
• Milwaukee native and 1901 Milwaukee Brewer George McBride, who would have turned 130 Saturday.

True story: While I was writing this morning's Mug TheJay and I had this conversation:

KL: BTW - today is Enrique Cruz's birthday. Did you celebrate accordingly?
TheJay: Ha no. Well, I sat around a lot with occasional bursts of activity so maybe.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need some advice.

Drink up.