Wednesday's Frosty Mug: Good, But Not Golden

Some things to read while embracing the trend.

The Brewers extended their streak to 30 consecutive years without a Gold Glover last night as two Brewer nominees (Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez) were passed over in favor of Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez and Padres third baseman Chase Headley. The Brewers are the only team in baseball with a Gold Glove drought longer than six years.

With Braun and Ramirez getting shut out yesterday, the following sentence remains true: 1970s Brewer first baseman George Scott (5) has more Gold Gloves than the combined total of every other Brewer in franchise history (4). Scott, by the way, will be honored with a bobblehead on Sunday, April 21 when the Brewers host the Cubs..

Maybe someday Martin Maldonado will be the catcher to break the Brewers' Gold Gloveless streak. Yesterday we introduced him as the first honorable mention in our 2012 MVBrewers series, and you can see his profile here. We'll unveil another one at 2 today.

Today in free agency: Noted leisured gentleman Carson Cistulli of FanGraphs wants your help crowdsourcing a prediction for Shaun Marcum's next contract.

It seems likely the Brewers will use the free agent market to add a little depth to their infield this winter. Nick Michalski of The Brewers Bar has a look at their relative lack of internal options on the bench.

In the minors: Hunter Morris went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles yesterday but it wasn't enough as Phoenix lost 7-5 to Mesa in the Arizona Fall League. You can read about that and much more in today's Winter League Recap.

If you'd like more Brewer content today but you're sick of reading, I'll be appearing on The Watercooler with Jimmie Kaska on Sports Radio 1400 in Eau Claire at 5:15. Also, my appearances on The Home Stretch with Justin Hull on 95.3 FM/AM 1570 The Score in Appleton and The Mike Heller Show on The Big 1070 in Madison from yesterday have been archived.

Around baseball:

Astros: Designated infielder Matt Downs for assignment.
Athletics: Pitchers Dallas Braden and Joey Devine have refused outright assignments and are now free agents.
Braves: Exercised 2013 club options for catcher Brian McCann ($12 million) and pitchers Tim Hudson ($9 million) and Paul Maholm ($6.5 million).
Cubs: Pitcher Justin Germano has refused an outright assignment to the minors and is now a free agent.
Dodgers: Signed reliever Brandon League to a three year, $22.5 million contract with a vesting option for 2016.
Mets: Exercised contract options for 2013 for third baseman David Wright ($16 million) and pitcher R.A. Dickey ($5 million).
Rangers: Declined contract options for pitchers Scott Feldman and Yoshinori Tateyama.
Rays: Exercised club options for pitchers James Shields ($10.25 million) and Fernando Rodney ($2.5 million) and catcher Jose Molina ($1.8 million).
Tigers: Exercised contract options for 2013 for shortstop Jhonny Peralta ($6 million) and reliever Octavio Dotel ($3.5 million).
White Sox: Signed pitcher Jake Peavy to a two year, $29 million contract extension with a vesting option for 2015.
Yankees: Reliever Rafael Soriano is expected to opt out of his contract and become a free agent.

Going 0-for-2 last night in the Gold Glove Awards was bad enough, but it certainly could have been worse: The Reds had six nominees last night but took home no hardware.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to see if this is on Netflix.

Drink up.