Kyle's off doing fun useful stuff somewhere else, so I'm filling in for him today.
Another day, another morning of nearly zilcho news or analysis about our Milwaukee Brewers. We've got something in-house for you over in the FanShots, though; Cheeseandcorn's first look at the 2012 Brewers is worth reading. He calculated WAR based on the recently released ZiPS projections.
There is a new Major League Baseball Groundskeeper Hall of Fame; they're honoring late Brewers groundskeeper Gary Vanden Berg by naming their trophy for him.
I know we're all sick of that one Ryan Braun rumor, but a real doctor has now dropped some science on it. In short: no, the standard treatment doesn't increase testosterone. It does the opposite. (via HardballTalk)
Today in Prince Fielder:
- Steve Slowinski at FanGraphs looks into whether it's a good idea for the Nationals to sign Fielder due to his impact on the existing roster.
- ESPN's Jerry Crasnick discusses Scott Boras and his unemployed free agents, including Fielder.
In the minors:
- Scout.com has released their Top 100 2012 prospects list. Wily Peralta is #46, Taylor Jungmann #66 and Jed Bradley #73.
- Carson Cistulli of FanGraphs released his final SCOUT rankings for the Dominican Winter League; Erick Almonte finished 10th.
- Not exactly minor league notes as such, but Francisco Rodriguez struck out 3 in La Guaira's win over Aragua; that and a wee bit more in this morning's Winter League Notes.
Around baseball:
Cardinals: Pitching coach Dave Duncan is taking a leave of absence to be with his wife as she recovers from last year's brain surgery. No return date is set.
Dodgers: Re-signed reliever Mike MacDougal to a 1-year, $1 million contract with an option for 2013.
Mariners: Signed pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma to a 1-year, $1.5 million contract with $3.4 million of incentives.
Rangers: Reliever (and former Brewer) Mike Adams had hernia surgery and will miss part of spring training. The team has also hired Josh Hamilton's father-in-law to replace new Brewers hitting coach Johnny Narron as Hamilton's accountability partner.
Red Sox: Reliever Bobby Jenks won't be ready for spring training after having surgery to remove bone fragments from near a spinal nerve.
Rockies: Traded pitcher Greg Reynolds to Texas for minor league infielder Chad Tracy (not the ex-Cub; this one's Rockies manager Jim Tracy's son.)
Yankees: Fail to sign posted NPB shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima; he returns to the Seibu Lions for the 2012 season.
In former Brewers, minor and major:
- Baseball America's weekly minor league transactions report indicates that Wil Nieves signed with the Rockies, Adam Heether signed with the Angels, and R.J. Swindle signed with the Cardinals.
- In this interesting piece on players who drove in all of their team's runs in a game, we learn that Richie Sexson drove in all 7 of the Brewers' runs in a game in 2002.
I've got to go check my phone to see if I have any drunk texts by octopi, so I'll catch you later. Drink up (but don't drunk text the octopi back.)