Monday's Frosty Mug: Getting cleaned up

Some things to read while bringing it back.

With the 2013 season in the rear view mirror, now is the time to get your nagging injuries corrected and start looking ahead to Opening Day 2014. Carlos Gomez recently went under the knife to remove some loose bodies in his elbow, but the procedure was described as routine and he's expected to be ready when the Brewers report to Maryvale in February.

Speaking of Gomez, Tanya Bondurant of Pinstriped Bible used defensive metrics to argue that he should win the NL Gold Glove. All ten Pinstriped Bible writers also had him on their ballots for NL MVP. He finished fourth in that race.

Gomez is one of a handful of Brewers who almost certainly aren't going anywhere this winter. Yovani Gallardo is not, and David Schoenfield of ESPN has him on his list of big names that could be traded during the hot stove season. Gallardo is also one of three Brewers on Milwaukee's Own Brew Crew's list of players to trade before 2014.

Moving Gallardo might clear a space for Tyler Thornburg to join the 2014 rotation, but not everyone is optimistic about how that would work out. Ryan Connor of Reviewing the Brew has a look ahead with Thornburg and says, "he could be a back of the rotation starter, but he probably plays best in the bullpen where his stuff can play up, and there is less wear on his body."

Meanwhile, Wily Peralta has to be considered a near-lock for the 2014 roster. On Friday BCB readers selected him as 2013's ninth most valuable Brewer, and you can see his profile here. The voting for #10 will remain open until noon today. Peralta was also the lowest among three players recently assigned 2013 grades by Reviewing the Brew:

Today in free agency: Tim Lincecum is believed to be seeking a short-term deal this winter in an effort to rebuild his value for down the road.

In the minors:

• The Arizona Fall League is off on Sundays but Mitch Haniger's hot start continues to be one of the prospect league's top stories. He homered again on Saturday and remains among the league leaders in hits, runs and RBI.
• Further south, Dominican Winter League play opened on Friday and two 2013 Brewers, Sean Halton and Juan Francisco, made their debuts with Licey in the first game. We've got more on them and all the Brewers who have debuted in winter ball in that link.
• Halton and Francisco were both in the lineup and each went 1-for-3 yesterday in Licey's 5-3 win over Escogido. Here's the box score.

Back in Milwaukee, season ticket holders have already received their renewal information for the 2014 season and it includes a welcome surprise: The team is freezing ticket prices for season plan holders for next season. They're also planning on expanding the dynamic pricing system to all 81 home games for 2014 for at least some sections of the ballpark.

While most of us will not be rooting for the Cardinals when the World Series starts on Wednesday, I think we can all forgive one current Brewer for doing so: Mass Haas of Brewerfan.net notes that Michael Blazek is likely to receive at least a partial playoff share from the Cardinals, and its value will increase substantially if the Cardinals win.

If you weren't around the site over the weekend you might have missed JP's look at what we learned over the previous week. He had to scrape the bottom of the barrel a bit but did a great job rounding up the last seven days.

Around baseball:

Phillies: Infielder Michael Martinez has not actually re-signed with the team, as had been previously reported.
Tigers: Manager Jim Leyland is expected to step down today.

Today in former Brewers:

• Rumor has it baseball will strongly consider outlawing home plate collisions this winter, and Mike Matheny is one of the advocates for a change.
• Joel Sherman of the New York Post used Prince Fielder's postseason struggles as a jumping off point for an argument against giving big contracts to first basemen. (h/t @pgammo)
• Baseball Nation has a gif of one of Fielder's ill-advised belly flop slides.
• Marquis Grissom, Carlos Lee, Ray Durham, Dave Parker and Ted Simmons make up half of one FanGraphs user's list of the best players to be among the worst in baseball at one point in their careers.
• Halos Heaven rated Seattle Pilots first baseman Don Mincher as the 90th greatest Angel of all time.
• Devon White is on the ballot as Bluebird Banter asks fans to vote on the best center fielder in Blue Jays history.

Also, in former Milwaukee Braves, the JS has the details on Thursday's scheduled memorial service for Andy Pafko, who passed away a couple of weeks ago.

Like many of you, I'm more or less done with the 2013 postseason now that the Cardinals and Red Sox are in the World Series. If you're sticking with the playoffs, though, you have more of these to look forward to: Emma Span of Sports on Earth deconstructs some of the commercials you've seen over and over this fall. (h/t Hardball Talk)

If you live somewhere away from Milwaukee and you're looking for work for the 2014 season, this paragraph is just for you. Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball has a note on ten teams looking for stats stringers for next season. Both Chicago teams are among those looking for help.

Finally, today is Zack Greinke's 30th birthday, and Plunk Everyone notes that his 52 career hit batsmen are the most ever for a player born on October 21.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need a new head.

Drink up.