For McGehee, giving thanks is personal
November 28, 2009As a breakthrough season on the baseball field makes way for a quiet holiday season at home, Brewers infielder Casey McGehee doesn't have to look far to see what he's most thankful for.
Don’t like the Hardy/Gomez trade?
November 27, 2009Then don't read this:
Barring a major surprise, the Blue Jays' signing of free-agent shortstop Alex Gonzalez leaves the Red Sox with virtually no choice but to sign Marco Scutaro.
No quality shortstops are known to be available in trade, and the free-agent market is thin on quality defenders at the position.
Originally, the Red Sox balked at our request for young, top-of-the-line pitching. However, when your only choice is to sign an inferior, Type A free agent, maybe you're a little more amenable to the Brewers' offer of J.J. Hardy.
At the very least, it sure looks like we didn't help ourselves by trading Hardy so quickly.
Friday’s Frosty Mug
November 27, 2009Some things to read while having Twilight explained to you.
And I'm back. I hope everyone had a great holiday. If you weren't around the web yesterday (and the site stats would suggest you weren't), here's some of the Thanksgiving stuff you missed from around the web:
- Wisconsin Sports Tap has a list of Wisconsin sports people and things they're thankful for, including Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Miller Park and Doug Melvin.
- The Ghost of Moonlight Graham says Brewer fans should be thankful for Mark Attanasio, and he's absolutely right. Mark A. probably deserves more credit than anyone for creating a winning culture in Milwaukee.
- Meanwhile, I had three posts here, with two things I'm thankful for and a Thursday Thinker.
It's a slow day for Brewer news coming off the holiday, but there are a couple of things I missed this week. First of all, Adam McCalvy had a conversation with John Halama about his attempted return to the major leagues, which Roguejim also noted in this FanPost. Halama is spending the offseason pitching for Licey in the Dominican Winter League, so hopefully we'll be able to monitor his progress in future Winter League Updates.
Earlier in the week, McCalvy also had notes on two pitchers the Brewers might pursue: Justin Duchscherer and Kevin Correia. The Grand National Championships has weighed in in favor of those moves, and says they would go a long way towards restoring his trust in Doug Melvin.
Apparently I'm going to mention McCalvy in every paragraph today: He also has a great look at Brewer Charities under the leadership of new executive director Cecilia Gore.
Speaking of Brewer charities, a while back I mentioned the Brewer Wives' 2010 Pet Calendar, but we weren't sure if it would be available online. It is, as it turns out, so you can help support the Wisconsin Humane Society, even if you can't make it to Milwaukee.
Around baseball:
Blue Jays: Signed shortstops Alex Gonzalez and John Mcdonald to deals for 2010.
Mariners: Infielder Josh Wilson has refused an outright assignment to the minor leagues and is now a free agent.
Red Sox: Acquired infielder Tug Hulett from the Royals for a PTBNL or cash.
His name doesn't come up as often as the likes of Doug Davis or Jarrod Washburn, but Erik Bedard is another pitcher the Brewers might be pursuing this offseason. If they do decide to make an offer, though, they might be competing with the Orioles for his service. Baseball Musings has a look at what could be a great move for the Orioles: trading two years of Bedard for five players, then getting him back before they were ready to contend anyway.
If you're ready to start filling out a wish list for the Rule 5 Draft at the Winter Meetings, BuccoFans.com has scouting reports of available players from 23 teams. (h/t Crawfish Boxes)
I couldn't find a Brewer birthday today (it's a surprisingly slow day for baseball birthdays overall), so instead I'll wish an early happy birthday to Carlos Villanueva, who turns 26 tomorrow.
Oh, and I do my best to stay as baseball-relevant as possible here, but one fact remains: If you serve mac and cheese at Thanksgiving, and you post a picture, you make the Mug.
Drink up.
Fall/Winter League Update for 11/27/2009
November 27, 2009It's been a week since I've done one of these, so all stats are from Friday-present, unless otherwise noted.
In Arizona: Jonathan Lucroy went 1-for-4 and scored a run and Zach Braddock pitched a scoreless inning of relief, allowing two hits and striking out the side, as the Javelinas came from behind to beat Phoenix 5-4, winning the AFL Championship.
In Venezuela:
- Alcides Escobar has gone 5-for-21 with two doubles, three walks, two RBI and three runs scored for Lara.
- After sitting out nearly a week, Hernan Iribarren returned to the lineup on Tuesday and has gone 2-for-9 with four strikeouts and two stolen bases since then.
In the Dominican Republic:
- Erick Almonte has gone 8-for-22 over the last week with a double, a home run and eight walks, scoring three runs and driving in four. He's now reached base safely in 20 consecutive games, and his .462 OBP overall is the second best in the DWL.
- Carlos Gomez has a hit in each of his last four games, going 8-for-15 with a double, a home run, a walk and a stolen base. He also scored four runs (he's scored a run in five straight games) and drove in five.
- Juan Sandoval pitched an inning on Saturday, allowing a run on three hits and a walk.
In Mexico: David Welch has made two starts in the last week, picking up two losses as he allowed seven runs on 15 hits in 9.2 innings, walking four and striking out three. He allowed three home runs in his five innings of work last night.
In Puerto Rico:
- Martin Maldonado went 1-for-9 with a walk for Mayaguez.
- Hiram Burgos started on Wednesday and went 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out two.
Another Thing I’m Thankful For: Baseball Reference
November 26, 2009
Even before I started writing about the Brewers, I used Baseball Reference a fair amount. Now, though, I use it every day. During the season, I probably use it five or more times each day. If you've ever looked up a stat or refreshed your memory on the history of a player, odds are you've used B-Ref too. B-Ref and some of the other reference sites out there have done an incredible job of taking information that would have taken days or weeks to compile in the past and making it available at your fingertips.
So I'd like to take a moment today to say thank you to B-Ref, and encourage you to do the same. There are a couple of ways to do it:
Subscribe to the BRef Play Index. Easily the single most powerful baseball research tool on the web. Want to know how many Brewer catchers have hit two home runs in a game since the team moved to the NL? They've got it. Or which Brewer team had the most position players with an OPS+ over 100? Got that too. I use Play Index to put together the Thursday Thinker every week. You can have access to that too for $29 annually, and help support B-Ref in the process.
Sponsor a page. If you have a blog to promote, want to help promote this one or simply like making jokes about players, sponsoring a page may be the opportunity you've been waiting for. BCB sponsors a few: Ryan Braun, Yovani Gallardo and Claudio Vargas so far. If you're looking to pick up a page of your own, here's a list of 2009 Brewers who are currently available, sorted by price:
$30
$25
$10
- David Riske
- Jesus Colome
- Jorge Julio
- Chris Smith
- Chris Narveson
- Mike Burns
- Carlos Villanueva
- Manny Parra
- Chris Duffy
The Thanksgiving Thinker: Not taking a day off
November 26, 2009
It may be a holiday, but you can't make the Thinker take a week off.
Actually, players who don't take days off are today's featured topic. Ten players have appeared in at least 160 games in a season as a Brewer. How many can you name in five minutes?
Again, here are the rules: Post your score in the comments, but do not comment on any specific answer until after 6 pm Central time, so everyone gets a chance to try it out without having it spoiled for them. And, of course, there's no reason to cheat here, because there's no prizes.
There are a handful of gimmes in here, but I'd be surprised if anyone gets them all: there's one name on the list I never would have thought of. If you manage to get them all, though, post your time along with your score in the comments.
Have fun, and don't forget to post your score in the comments!
Feeding my 13 week old her first THanksgiving meal! I thank god everyday her! Happy thanksgiving 2…
November 26, 2009Feeding my 13 week old her first THanksgiving meal! I thank god everyday her! Happy thanksgiving 2 you all.let the big guy know ur thankful
Seth McClung's Thanksgiving Tweet. It's hard not to like Son of Clung, although the Todd Coffey allusion is a bit of a non sequitur.
Things To Be Thankful For: My favorite Brewer reads
November 26, 2009About this time most weekday mornings, I post the Frosty Mug in this space. The Mug is my claim to fame and the single thing I'm most frequently complimented on when it comes to this site. With that said, the quality of the daily Mugs is largely due to the wide variety of quality Brewer and baseball sites out there. I wouldn't be able to write the Mug without them, so I wanted to take a moment today to thank some of my favorites and Mug mainstays:
Brewer beat writers:
Other Brewer bloggers:
- The Daily Drink
- In-Between Hops
- Miller Park Drunk
- Quevedo at the Buffet (I actually posted there last night)
- Rattler Radio
- View From Bernie's Chalet
- Wisconsin Sports Tap
Follow the jump for a larger list of non-Brewer specific journalists and bloggers. And of course, thanks to all of you for reading! The Mug returns in its normal time and format tomorrow, but be sure to check back later today for more holiday content.
- Aaron Gleeman
- Baseball America
- Baseball Musings
- Beyond the Box Score
- Big League Stew
- The Book Blog
- Circling the Bases
- FanGraphs
- Garrett Broshuis
- The Ghost of Moonlight Graham
- The Hardball Times
- Joe Posnanski
- Jonathan Mayo
- Keith Law
- Minor League Ball
- MLB Trade Rumors
- Plunk Everyone
- Project Prospect
- Rob Neyer
- Wezen-Ball
Wednesday’s Late and Brief Frosty Mug
November 25, 2009
Some things to read while finding eternal life.
Thanks for bearing with me this week. The Mug will return to its normal format and schedule on Friday. In the meantime, here's the crash-course version of today's notes:
- Adam McCalvy has two more names for you to consider as the Brewers head into hot stove season: Justin Duchscherer and Kevin Correia. Meanwhile, ESPN has a story about clinical depression that Duchscherer has battled in the past. I don't think the depression has anything to do with the fact that his name is impossible to spell.
- Caitlin Moyer has a look at the offseason work of Brewer Grounds Crew leader Gary Vanden Berg, who recently finished putting Miller Park's field to bed for 2009.
- Mike Cameron might be one of the best free agent position players on the market this offseason, but Bleed Cubbie Blue is comparing him to Marlon Byrd.
- In the minors, Baseball America used Pitch F/x to gather average and max fastball speeds for pitchers that appeared in the Arizona Fall League. Zach Braddock, Mark Rogers, Josh Butler and Omar Aguilar all check in somewhere in the low-mid 90's.
- In transactions: the Padres claimed starting pitcher Radhames Liz off waivers from the Orioles.
- The White Sox signed Andruw Jones to a one year deal.
- Shelley Duncan elected for free agency after the Yankees outrighted him off their 40-man roster.
- I'm still hoping the Brewers will sign Yorvit Torrealba, but the Blue Jays are also rumored to have interest.
- Today's Faces feature over at Lookout Landing features another former Brewer: Ben Ford.
- Yesterday I mentioned a few of them, but Royals Review has a look at the five dumbest NL MVP votes.
- Speaking of awards: on this day in 1969, Lou Piniella won the AL Rookie of the Year. Piniella started the season as a Seattle Pilot, but was traded on April 1 for pitcher John Gelnar and OF Steve Whitaker. Gelnar posted a 3.78 ERA over three seasons as a Pilot and Brewer. Whitaker spent one season with the Piolts and was done in the majors by 1971.
- On this day in 1981, Rollie Fingers became the first relief pitcher ever to win the AL MVP. Fingers picked up 15 of the 28 first place votes and edged out Rickey Henderson by 11 points.
- I wasn't able to find a Brewer birthday today, so we'll have to settle for wishing a happy birthday to Tony Brewer, who turns 52.
- Oh, and if you're looking for something to do tonight, Keith Law has updated his list of the top ten board games.
Drink up.
Hoffman leads six-pack into TYIB Awards
November 25, 2009Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman is in the running for a This Year in Baseball Award for Closer of the Year, but he needs some help from the fans.