Some things to read while considering a defensive shift of a different order ...
G'morning, cats and kittens. KL is off enjoying a well-deserved birthday weekend, so I'm pulling double duty today. If you missed the notes about the NL Central this morning -- including the fallout from the Reds' 19-inning marathon in Philly -- check 'em out here. If you're more interested in the goings-on with the Crew, soldier on:
The off day was a quiet one for the Crew, with one notable exception: needing to open a spot on the 25-man roster for the recently-acquired Josh Wilson, the Brewers outrighted OF Brandon Boggs to AAA Nashville for the third time this season (FanShot). Once again, Boggs has the option to refuse the assignment and become a free agent -- and, based on reports that Boggs was going to decline his previous assignment until Tony Plush busted a digit and landed on the DL, I think we've probably seen the last of Boggs in a Brewer uniform.
Speaking of T Dot: Nyjer Morgan is also set to rejoin the team today (at least, that's how I'm interpreting this tweet from yesterday) after a successful stint at extended spring training, which will necessitate another roster move this afternoon. Could this be the end of the Wil Nieves era in Milwaukee, or is Mike Rivera's stay in the bigs coming to an end? Stay tuned.
The Brewers welcome the snakebitten Giants to town tonight to kick off a three-game series. San Francisco lost three players to the DL yesterday, but the biggest blow, obviously, is the devastating loss of budding superstar Buster Posey, who's likely out for the year with a broken leg and strained ankle ligaments suffered in a home plate collision on Wednesday night. Injuries are part of the game, of course, but losing one of the faces of your franchise in such horrific fashion is a stomach punch of the highest order. At Baseball Nation, Grant Bisbee sums up the situation thusly:
If Giants fans had come up with a nickname for Posey, then, it should have been something like "The Essence Of Everything Good About Baseball And This Guy Is The Best Thing Ever About Baseball And Oh Please Please Stay Healthy Forever And Ever." If that was too clunky, TEOEGABATGITBTEABAOPPSHFAE would have worked just fine.
Now Giants fans have a year or so to hope he'll be the same player when he returns. Injuries are inherent in sports. But cripes, this one stings. This one stings a lot.
In case you missed it yesterday, of MLB.com has a preview of tonight's Marcum vs. Lincecum matchup. If my notes are right, we should have our preview of the series early this afternoon. If not, you can blame Noah.
Reaction continues to roll shrug in regarding the Crew's acquisition of Wilson, and the Internet can barely contain the collective "meh" emanating from the Brewer blogosphere:
- At the Brewers Bar, Jaymes writes that the addition of Wilson doesn't do anything to address the Brewers' problem at shortstop.
- Toby Harrmann's debut column at Disciples of Uecker echoed those thoughts, observing that Wilson "can play anywhere on the infield at a not terrible, replacement-ish level defensively."
- Gord Ash joined Doug Russell on 1250 WSSP this morning to talk about Manny Parra's injury, Nyjer's rehab, and the addition of Wilson to the club. I need to check the archives, but I believe this interview marks the first time in the history of history that the glass-batted Wilson has been referred to as a "weapon."
While we're talking about the burgeoning stable of writers at Jack Moore's excellent site: Jordan gets down with FIP and notes that the Brewers rotation is off to a very impressive start to the season. Over at the Journal Sentinel, Tom Haudricourt has a link to Buster Olney's column on Zack Greinke's improved slider, which has contributed to Greinke's preposterous early-season K/BB ratio. Meanwhile, back at the Brewers Bar, Jaymes has collected visual evidence that Greinke is, in fact, capable of smiling.
Elsewhere around the Internets: at CBSSports.com, Scott Miller says he loves that the Brewers have pushed all their chips to the center of the table in what's expected to be Prince Fielder's final season in the Brew City. Miller calls Fielder "one of the most enigmatic, productive and huggable players ever to walk down East Wisconsin Ave."
Today in the Roses from Manure Files: it appears that some good has finally come of the GnomeNappings earlier this week with the news that the young lady who drew the ire of Brewer Nation by swiping thirty-five Bernies donated half of 'em to Dave and Carole's Miracle Marathon on 96.5 WKLH. Dave and Carole put the ornaments on sale for $500 a pop, and they sold out within minutes, raising $8500 for Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. That figure was matched by Kohl's, which means that seventeen lawn ornaments raised $17,000 for sick kids. That's pretty awesome, if you ask me.
I don't keep very good track of what's happening in the Brewers' minor league system, so you have Supertramp to thank for these notes on the farm:
- Nashville split a doubleheader last night, Huntsville was rained out, and Wisconsin lost a game that was suspended on Tuesday plus its regularly-scheduled contest last night. morinek0's got notes on the action here.
- Outfielder Logan Schafer and infielder Hunter Morris have swapped spots in the organization, with Schafer bumped up to AA Huntsville and Morris demoted to Brevard County. (h/t battlekow)
- Kevin Goldstein fielded questions on Twitter yesterday, and, among other things, he shared his thoughts on Khris Davis and D'Vontrey Richardson.
- Florida Today's Mark DeCotis writes that Brevard County pitcher Nick Bucci is opening some eyes with his performance for the Manatees.
Around the Show:
Angels: placed INF Howie Kendrick (hamstring) on 15-day disabled list to open a roster spot for 3TO Russell Branyan
Cubs: traded minor-league LHP Ryan Butcher to Atlanta for RHP Rodrigo Lopez
Giants: placed C Buster Posey, INF Mike Fontenot, and OF Darren Ford on disabled list; recalled C Chris Stewart, INF Brandon Crawford, and OF Brandon Belt
Phillies: activated RHP Jose Contreras from the disabled list and optioned RHP David Herndon to AAA Lehigh Valley
Red Sox: placed OF Darnell McDonald (quadriceps) on 15-day disabled list; recalled OF Josh Reddick from AAA Pawtucket
Reds: placed LHP Matt Maloney (rib cage) on 15-day disabled list; recalled RHP Daryl Thompson from AA Carolina
Yesterday, the Rangers canned their new play-by-play announcer, John Rhadigan, after just two months on the job. Word out of Dallas is that the Rangers were rebuffed in their attempts to talk to Brewer announcer Brian Anderson about taking the Rangers job. (h/t @BerniesCrew)
You might remember that there was a spate of drunk driving arrests of MLB players during spring training this year, which led to howls of protest when the players weren't immediately suspended by their teams or the league. At least in one case, though, waiting for the process to play out was probably the right move: yesterday, we learned that the drunk driving charges against Braves pitcher were tossed out because prosecutors didn't have enough evidence that Lowe was impaired on the night he was arrested.
That's all I've got this morning. Unless you'd like to help me pick an adjective again.
Drink up.