What We Learned: One more day until spring games begin

Links from BCB

• The countdown to Opening Day is at 34 days. Today's post focuses on Aaron Hill, who is turning 34 this month.
• Week 2 of BCB Community Fan Posts is here, and this week's assignment focuses on success in 2016. Derek has the full details on what to write about this week.
• The new alternate uniforms for the Brewers were a little more exciting for Fred, who had a nice reminder of the past with this design. He wrote about what the new jerseys mean to him based on his life experience.
• One of the popular theories on Twitter is that Hank the Ballpark Pup was replaced at some point with a lookalike, who has been making the appearances lately. Travis addressed this theory yesterday and provided his evidence about why he thinks it's true.

Other Brewers News and Notes

• Isan Diaz is in minor-league camp this year, but could be up in the majors within a few years, though his position could be blocked by Orlando Arcia. Adam McCalvy of Brewers.com notes that Diaz is open to a change in positions if that is what is best for the team.
• Also in the minor-league camp is pitcher Nathan Kirby and outfielder Monte Harrison, who are both recovering from severe injuries. Adam McCalvy has injury updates for both players.
• The first few starters in spring training games have been announced. Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports that Taylor Jungmann will get the first start on Wednesday against UWM, with Chase Anderson and Zach Davies getting starts on Thursday.
• Nine Brewers are trying to win the starting center field job, and it's going to be one of the biggest competitions this spring. Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel looks at the brewing battle for center field.
• One player competing for the center field job is Michael Reed, who could be at a disadvantage due to his option status. Tom Haudricourt spoke with Reed about his approach to spring training this year.
• New pitching coach Derek Johnson has a lot of work ahead of him, but he's trying to not let it overwhelm his pitchers. Brian Bergner Jr. of the Associated Press writes that Johnson's message to the pitchers is to keep it simple.
• It's common knowledge that Jonathan Lucroy's contract is team-friendly, but exactly how friendly is it? Julien Assouline of BP Milwaukee analyzes exactly how good the contract has been for the Brewers.
• Over on Disciples of Uecker, Steve Altstadt argues that David Stearns is taking a big gamble by holding onto Lucroy and not trading him sooner.
• Brett Phillips has become one of the stars of camp thanks to his unique laugh that has gone viral. In response to that, Will Smith decided to test out some of his mom's corniest jokes on Phillips. Cait Covers the Bases recorded the results of the experiment.

Around Baseball

• With the signing of Ian Desmond, the draft order for the 2016 draft has been set. Michael Bradburn of MLB Daily Dish has the full order for this year's draft.
• Bovada's over/under win totals are out, and they are a little more pessimistic than the first predictions from Vegas. Bovada set the Brewers over/under at 69.5, third worst in all of baseball.
• With collective bargaining negotiations coming up this year, one topic on the table will be tanking. Jayson Stark of ESPN.com writes that tanking will be addressed in negotiations with the union.
• The Red Sox signed outfielder David Murphy to a minor-league contract.