What we learned: January 23, 2015

Brewers News and Analysis

• A big rumor came out late last night that the Brewers are working on a trade with the Phillies to acquire reliever Jonathan Papelbon. The rumor has been moving along quickly, with follow-up rumors suggesting that Papelbon will waive his no-trade clause and that the last remaining factor is to figure out how much money the Phillies will have to contribute.
• The Brewer Nation blog has a timeline of tweets in the Papelbon rumors so far. They suggest that talks are ongoing, but nothing is set yet.
• Beyond the Papelbon rumors, the Brewers were looking at other potential bullpen upgrades as well. Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors breaks down the other options the Brewers are looking at.
• There's a lot of criticism about the Brewers talent entering the 2015 season, but Derek breaks down why the Brewers are better than you think.
• Can you name all of the longest tenured pitchers in baseball? That's what Kyle asked you to do in his Thursday Thinker yesterday.
• Noah comments that the Brewers don't understand how the game of Scrabble works.
• The Brewers added to their radio broadcast team yesterday with the hiring of Jeff Levering to a dual role as play-by-play announcer and contributor to Brewers.com. The Brewer Nation blog has a profile of the new addition.
• Jimmy Nelson hasn't put together a complete full season of great pitching yet, and Adam McCalvy of Brewers.com looks at Nelson's struggle to pitch well in both halves of the season.
• Over on The First Out at Third Blog, Justin Schultz has his take on the Yovani Gallardo trade.
• Nicholas Zettel of Disciples of Uecker looks at the legacy of Yovani Gallardo.
• The Brewer Nation blog has a list of all of the non-roster invitees coming to spring training so far.
• MLB released complete game times for all of their regular season games yesterday, and Cait Covers the Bases has some highlights from the Brewers schedule.
• David Schoenfield of ESPN.com lists the Brewers as one of the five least improved teams.
• Kyle Lesniewski of Reviewing the Brew notes that the Brewers had a workout for Cuban outfielder Yoan Moncada earlier this week.

Around Baseball

• The Braves signed outfielder Jonny Gomes to a one-year deal worth $4 million, with a vesting option for 2016.
• The White Sox signed catcher Geovany Soto and reliever Jesse Crain to minor-league deals with invites to spring training.