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Monday's Frosty Mug: Make Way For Wooten

Minor league reliever Rob Wooten is the Brewers' 18th non-roster invitee for 2013, and we're talking about him and much more in today's daily news roundup.

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Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Some things to read while getting scouted.

We are 30 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Maryvale, and another reliever is packing his bags this morning: Longtime minor league pitcher Rob Wooten received his camp invite over the weekend. He's 27 years old and has a career 2.86 ERA in the minors with ten strikeouts per nine innings, but just reached AAA Nashville for the first time in 2012.

Wooten may be coming to camp to help fill the void created by these departures: John Axford and Jim Henderson (along with Taylor Green) will be leaving Brewer camp in March to represent Canada in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. The Brewers now have five players committed to the event, with Ryan Braun and Jonathan Lucroy playing for Team USA.

Full WBC rosters are expected to be announced on Thursday, when Team USA will unveil their selections at 9 am Central time and the rest of the world will name theirs at 3 pm.

Looking back to last week, Adam McCalvy has more details on Kelvim Escobar's minor league deal. He could earn up to $2.2 million in salary and incentives if he makes the team, and has a May 1 "out clause" in his contract if he doesn't.

Shaun Marcum is still on the market, but it's possible that could change soon. Jon Morosi reports that the Rangers, Padres and Pirates have all shown interest in the former Brewer. Meanwhile, FanGraphs would like your help projecting the 2013 seasons of the starting pitchers who remain with the Brewers.

Elsewhere in projections, badgernoonan of Ron Roenicke Stole My Baseball compared the Brewers' 2012 ZiPS projections to the recently-released 2013 version and notes that the system would suggest the NL's best offense in 2012 could be even better this season.

Looking further ahead, R.J. Anderson of Baseball Prospectus attempted to predict the rest of Ryan Braun's potential Hall of Fame career given his numbers to this point.

In the minors:

If you watched yesterday's NFL games, you might have noticed that Rickie Weeks (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) was in the crowd at the Falcons/Seahawks game.

Around baseball:

Angels: Signed pitcher Fernando Cabrera to a minor league deal.
Blue Jays
: Signed catcher Henry Blanco to a one-year, $750,000 deal and designated pitcher Tommy Hottovy for assignment.
Giants: Signed pitcher Mason Tobin to a minor league deal.
Indians: Released outfielder Thomas Neal.
Orioles: Avoided arbitration with outfielder Nolan Reimold (one year, $1 million).
Phillies: Signed pitcher Rodrigo Lopez to a minor league deal.
Yankees: Released outfielder Chris Dickerson.

In former Brewers:

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History marks the 37th anniversary of longtime outfielder Vada Pinson signing with the Brewers, the last stop of his career. Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times notes that it's also the eighth anniversary of the Brewers signing former 20 game winner Rick Helling.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to answer the phone.

Drink up.