Thursday's Frosty Mug: Christmas In February

Some things to read while chugging along.

Day ten of spring training has to feature a weather improvement over day nine, where Katie Krause snapped the picture above of Maryvale Baseball Park Salt River Fields in Scottsdale covered in what I believe to be hail snow. Jimmy Nelson was apparently out pitching in hail before the weather switched to snow.

One of the pitchers to throw BP yesterday was Chris Narveson, who continues to report no issues with his surgically repaired left shoulder. Michael Olmsted also threw yesterday, and the big righty drew a lot of positive reviews for his first time facing batters this spring. He's on Twitter, by the way.

Speaking of pitchers, the Brewers announced yesterday that Mike Fiers will get the ball for Saturday's exhibition opener against the A's. He'll face Jesse Chavez of Oakland for the first couple of innings.

It's time once again for our daily update on the first base situation:

• Ken Rosenthal reports that Lyle Overbay is no longer needed in Red Sox camp and may be moved to the Brewers.
  
• Nick Michalski of The Brewers Bar says we're overlooking Sean Halton in all the excitement over Hunter Morris.
• Meanwhile, Corey Hart told Tim Kurkijian of ESPN he'll be back on April 20.

Speaking of ESPN, Baseball Tonight had a camera crew in Maryvale yesterday for their annual visit to Brewer camp. You can see their report here, and Aaron Boone's interview with Rickie Weeks here.

Other notes from the field:

• Carlos Gomez talked to Adam McCalvy about the new carbon fiber helmets, which it appears you can't even break with a baseball bat in a tantrum after a poor at bat.
• McCalvy also has a profile of the Brewer shortstops, including new reluctant utilityman Alex Gonzalez.
• ASU student Justin Marshall of the JS has some pictures from a rainy day in Brewer camp.
• JP Cadorin of Time Warner Cable Sports 32 spotted Doug Melvin carrying a coffee mug with mustaches on it.
• ASU student John de Groote of the JS has a story on how various Brewers use Twitter to interact with fans, and some of the pitfalls of doing so.
• Bernie Brewer is on his way to Arizona for Saturday's game.

This spring's paper transactions are almost over: Adam McCalvy reports that Mike Fiers, Josh Stinson and Tyler Thornburg signed their 2013 contracts yesterday, presumably all for near the league minimum. That leaves Jean Segura and Jeff Bianchi as the last two unsigned.

It may be a feast-or-famine year for the Brewers' inexperienced rotation, but you can count one more vote for "feast." David Schoenfield of ESPN says the Brewers starters are underrated and will surprise.

Wily Peralta is one pitcher that could be poised for a breakout season. Noted leisured gentleman Carson Cistulli of FanGraphs noted that the site's fan projections have Peralta as baseball's third-best rookie pitcher.

With that said, the Brewers will need big seasons from Peralta and others to contend. Yesterday Bovada announced an 81.5 over/under for Brewer wins in 2013, and our BCB Tracking Poll showed that around 60% of you expect this team to win 84 games or less.

In the minors:

• World Baseball Classic games are nine days away from getting underway in Asia, so Hainley Statia was the first Brewer to leave the team to participate. He tweeted that he's landed in Taiwan yesterday. His Netherlands team opens play against Korea a week from Saturday.
• The Book of Gorman continued their look at the Brewers' top prospects with a post on Hunter Morris.

Looking ahead, FS Wisconsin announced their 2013 broadcast schedule yesterday. They'll cover 150 games this season, which leaves six weekday day games uncovered. The Brewer Nation has the list.

If you'd like more Brewer coverage today but you're sick of reading, Wednesday's edition of The Home Stretch Hangout is up and features Justin Hull and I talking about Rickie Weeks. We'll be back again this afternoon with more.

The transaction well is dry today, so our musical interlude will get you ready for Saturday's seventh inning stretch:

Today in former Brewers:

• Emma Span of Sports On Earth lists Ned Yost among nine MLB managers in the final year of their contract, and has him as the most likely to be fired.
• Yost, by the way, was back in Royals camp Wednesday less than 24 hours after having his gall bladder removed on Tuesday night.
• Dan Plesac has a picture of him and Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network waiting out the rain Wednesday. At the risk of spoiling the picture, I'll warn you that one of them is much taller than the other.

I've got a pair of favorite spring training stories from yesterday:

• The Phillies are likely to be one of baseball's oldest teams in 2013, and AARP Magazine had a camera crew in their camp Wednesday.
• Reds third baseman Todd Frazier opened a pack of 2013 Topps cards at his locker yesterday and found his own card on top.

Meanwhile, yesterday's scariest moment had to come in Marlins camp, where star outfielder Giancarlo Stanton had to leave for examination after being hit in the neck with a pitch from top prospect Jose Fernandez. He appears to be ok.

Today in baseball economics: MLB Trade Rumors has a look at the recent history of vesting options in contracts, and notes that seven of the last 24 contracts containing a vesting clause have actually vested. One that didn't was Alex Gonzalez's 2013 option.

It's a slow day in Brewer history, so today's edition of Brewers A-Z remembers the career and baseball cards of Jeff Cirillo. Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times notes that it's also been 1000 days since Corey Hart hit a walkoff home run against the Mets, snapping their pitchers' 35 inning scoreless streak. Today is also 1970-71 Brewer Ted Savage's 77th birthday, and Plunk Everyone notes that his eleven career HBP are the fifth most ever for a player born on February 21.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to teach this guy to play first base.

Drink up.