Some things to read while getting back in line.
We're only 85 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training but, as you might imagine, not much happened around the Brewers on Thanksgiving Day. One of today's top stories is John Axford running away from a skunk. Even this isn't true.
The coaching carousel might be on the verge of starting up again: Yesterday I mentioned that new Cubs manager Dale Sveum had requested permission to talk to Nashville pitching coach Chris Bosio, and today The Sporting News says he might also be interested in talking to Craig Counsell if he decides to retire. Sveum is being allowed to build his own staff, and to this point retained hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo is the assistant he's named.
If Bosio does leave, Nashville's next pitching coach will be the team's third in less than a year: Bosio stepped in on an interim basis when Rich Gale resigned this summer. John Curtis has been Huntsville's pitching coach for the last three seasons, so he'd probably be the top internal candidate to take the job. With that said, he was passed over when both Gale and Bosio were hired.
Bluebird Banter has an interesting and extended post this morning scouting Shaun Marcum. There's an extended look at his stuff and how it's changed over time in there, and a case being made that he could be worth as much as $15-17 million per year (!) on the free agent market. That's probably a tad high, but it certainly makes 3/$30mm look better by comparison.
Elsewhere in Canada, Earle Couper of BCLocalNews.com has a great story on the party the Comox Valley Baseball Association threw for Taylor Green this week. Follow the link to see what Green said about his first major league hit and Ron Roenicke eating a live scorpion.
If you weren't around the site yesterday you might have missed this week's Thursday Thinker, which asks you to name the Brewers whose first and/or last name started with T. You might also have missed yesterday's Frosty Mug, which contained much more news than today's.
Around baseball:
Yankees: Re-signed pitcher Freddy Garcia to a one year, $5 million deal.
Today in baseball economics: Tom Tango of The Book Blog put some numbers to an argument that makes sense: Teams tend to get a better return on their investment when they sign their own players than they do when they pick up others on the free agent market.
Now, if you'll excuse me, my hat is unbuckled.
Drink up.