Friday's Frosty Mug

Some things to read while getting knocked out of the spelling bee.

On a pretty quiet off day, the biggest news was a minor transaction: The Brewers have sent outfielder Jeremy Reed to the Twins for cash considerations (FanShot). It's unlikely the Brewers got much in return for Reed, who was likely behind Brandon Boggs and perhaps others on the organizational depth chart. The Twins are Reed's fifth organization since Opening Day 2008, and he finishes his Brewer career having gone 0-for-7 in seven April games with the Crew.

The Brewers spent a day off in Miami yesterday and open a four game series with the Marlins tonight. Greg Schimmel of The Washington Post listed tonight's Randy Wolf-Ricky Nolasco matchup as the game of the day. Colin Fly, always a ray of sunshine, notes that the Brewers are 2-9 in their last 11 games at Dolphin Stadium.

Meanwhile, Matthew Pouliot of Hardball Talk is handing out awards for the first third of the MLB season, and he has three Brewers in the top ten for his NL MVP: Ryan Braun (2nd), Prince Fielder (7th) and Rickie Weeks (8th). Maybe if Braun has a good weekend he can pass Joey Votto in next week's Three-Eighths Awards.

Elsewhere in Rickie Weeks notes: His leadoff home run on Wednesday clocked in at 20.67 seconds.

Hopefully back-to-back days off helped Casey McGehee as he tries to work his way out of a slump. MLB Daily Dish notes that McGehee's .661 OPS is 20th among major league third basemen. Last year at this time McGehee was hitting .301/.363/.513.

It's probably safe to assume the day off didn't do much to help Yuniesky Betancourt. This week's BCB Tracking Poll shows that 81% of voters think the Brewers should be attempting to acquire a replacement at shortstop.

With 30 wins this season Ron Roenicke has already passed Jim Lefebvre for 15th place on the Brewers' managerial wins list, and now needs just 24 more to pass Jerry Royster. Tyler Maas of The AV Club has a look at how Roenicke compares to the Brewer managers of old.

In the minors:

• Mark DiFelice is still waiting for his callup to the majors, but the Brewers might have another role in mind for him: He's going to get the start tonight for Nashville in place of Chase Wright. It'll be his first professional start since 2008.
• Nick Bucci, Khris Davis and Scooter Gennett have all been selected to represent Brevard County in the Florida State League All Star Game.
• The affiliates went 2-2 last night, with Mat Gamel going 2-for-4 with a walk and a home run in Nashville's 15-11 win over Iowa. You can read about that and more in today's Minor League Notes.
  

Today in draft notes:

• Adam McCalvy and Colin Fly both have previews of Monday's draft.
• Toby Harrmann of Disciples of Uecker has some inside info regarding shortstop Javier Baez's private workout at Miller Park.
• Vince Caramela of The Hardball Times predicts the Brewers will select Texas pitcher Taylor Jungmann and Kentucky pitcher Alex Meyer.
  

Around baseball:

Diamondbacks: Signed pitcher Yhency Brazoban to a minor league deal.
Rangers: Signed pitcher Manny Delcarmen to a minor league deal.
Rockies: Claimed pitcher Josh Roenicke and infielder Ryan Rohlinger off waivers from the Blue Jays and Giants, respectively.

Brazoban requested and received his release from the Rangers earlier this week.

In division action last night the Giants picked up another victory over the Cardinals (12-7), allowing the idle Brewers, Reds and Cubs to all gain half a game in the standings. You already know that and much more if you've read this morning's edition of Around the NL Central.

Today in former Brewers: John Sickels of Minor League Ball featured Brett Lawrie as his Prospect of the Day. Lawrie is expected to be called up to the Blue Jays soon.

An ugly story has taken an uglier turn today. Giants catcher Buster Posey will miss the rest of the 2011 season following leg injuries suffered during a home plate collision and Posey's GM, Brian Sabean, went way over the top with his reaction, saying he hopes Marlins OF Scott Cousins never plays in the majors again and pledging retaliation. Larry Granillo of Wezen-ball notes that this isn't consistent with Sabean's reaction to similar plays over the years.

Today in baseball economics:

• The Chicago Tribune is reporting that nine major league teams are currently in violation of MLB's debt service rules, and most of them aren't the ones you'd expect. I don't think anyone will be surprised to discover that the Mets and Dodgers are in trouble, but the Cubs, Orioles, Tigers, Marlins, Phillies, Rangers and Nationals are also on the list.
• Monday's Attendance Tracker at The Biz of Baseball shows that five Memorial Day games (in Seattle, Tampa, Arizona, Kansas City and Toronto) all failed to draw 20,000 fans.
• The Biz of Baseball also notes that MLB attendance is down 1% from this point last season.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have planking to do.

Drink up.