A few players have switched teams for this playoff series. It's weird.

Plesac pitched seven seasons as a Brewer and made 365 appearances, 351 of them in relief. He posted an ERA under 3 in each of his first four seasons, making three consecutive All Star appearances (1987-89) along the way. By the time he left as a free agent following the 1992 season Plesac had accumulated 133 saves, a franchise record that stands to this day. He's the only Brewer with more than 100, and he's over 60 ahead of active franchise leader John Axford.

After leaving the Brewers, Plesac pitched eleven more seasons as a member of five teams before retiring after spending 2003 with the Phillies. His 1064 pitching appearances are the sixth most in MLB history.

Plesac is one of just two former Brewers born in Gary, Indiana. The other was another reliever: 2010-11 Brewer LaTroy Hawkins.

Plesac turns 50 today. With help from the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to:

• 2004 and 2006 Brewer Ben Hendrickson, who turns 31.
• 1982-83 Brewer Rob Picciolo, who turns 59.
• 1977 Brewer Steve Brye, who turns 63.

1. Wily Peralta
2. Taylor Jungmann
3. Tyler Thornburg
4. Taylor Green
5. Jed Bradley
6. Scooter Gennett
7. Logan Schafer
8. Michael Fiers
9. Jorge Lopez
10. Caleb Gindl
11. Cody Scarpetta
12. Kentrail Davis
13. Santo Manzanillo

The nominees for the #14 spot are:

Orlando Arcia
Nick Bucci
Khris Davis
Drew Gagnon
David Goforth
Hunter Morris
Jimmy Nelson
Michael Reed
D'Vontrey Richardson
Zelous Wheeler

Follow the jump for more on the candidates, then vote in the poll below.

Orlando Arcia
Age: 17
Top Level Reached In 2011: Dominican Summer League

2011 Stats:

Dominican Summer League: 254 PA, .294/.386/.459, 6 HR, 13 SB, 4 CS, 30 BB, 20 K

Other Rankings:

Nick Bucci, RHP
Age: 21
Top Level Reached in 2011: A+

2011 Stats:

Brevard County (A+): 150 IP, 3.84 ERA, 1.293 WHIP, 51 BB, 119 K

Other Rankings:

Khris Davis
Age: 24
Top Level Reached in 2011: AA

2011 Stats:

Brevard County (A+): 371 PA, .309/.415/.533, 15 HR, 10 SB, 5 CS, 51 BB, 70 K
Huntsville (AA): 136 PA, .210/.272/.331, 2 HR, 0 SB, 0 CS, 10 BB, 23 K

Other Rankings:

Drew Gagnon, RHP
Age: 21
Top Level Reached in 2011: Rookie

2011 Stats:

Helena (Rookie): 19 IP, 8.05 ERA, 1.842 WHIP, 10 BB, 27 K

Other Rankings:

David Goforth, RHP
Age: 23
Top Level Reached in 2011: Rookie

2011 Stats:

Helena (Rookie): 40.2 IP, 4.43 ERA, 1.328 WHIP, 10 BB, 42 K

Other Rankings:

Hunter Morris, 1B
Age: 23
Top Level Reached in 2011: AA

2011 Stats:

Brevard County (A+): 531 PA, .271/.299/.461, 19 HR, 7 SB, 3 CS, 18 BB, 84 K
Huntsville (AA): 17 PA, .353/.353/.706, 1 HR, 0 SB, 0 CS, 0 BB, 1 K

Other Rankings:

Jimmy Nelson, RHP
Age: 22
Top Level Reached in 2011: A

2011 Stats:

Wisconsin (A): 146 IP, 4.38 ERA, 1.445 WHIP, 65 BB, 120 K

Other Rankings:

Michael Reed, OF
Age: 19
Highest Level Reached in 2011: Rookie

2011 Stats:

Arizona (Rookie): 62 PA, .232/.295/.375, 0 HR, 1 SB, 0 CS, 5 BB, 17 K

Other Rankings:

D' Vontrey Richardson
Age: 23
Top Level Reached in 2011: A+

2011 Stats:

Brevard County (A+): 392 PA, .284/.327/.384, 3 HR, 9 SB, 13 CS, 22 BB, 70 K

Other Rankings:

Zelous Wheeler, 3B
Age: 25
Top Level Reached in 2011: AAA

2011 Stats:

Huntsville (AA): 268 PA, .272/.377/.465, 9 HR, 7 SB, 0 CS, 30 BB, 49 K
Nashville (AAA): 61 PA, .275/.383/.431, 1 HR, 0 SB, 0 CS, 9 BB, 8 K
Arizona Fall League: 66 PA, .276/.358/.397, 0 HR, 1 SB, 1 CS, 7 BB, 14 K

Other Rankings:

Some things to read while the dog thinks about killing you.

We're 15 days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, and today the topic du jour is Zack Greinke. Jerry Crasnick of ESPN has a story on Greinke approaching free agency without an agent, Nick Prill of The Brewers Bar wonders if the Brewers can or should work out a long term deal with him, and David Golebiewski of Baseball Analytics has a look at the varying speeds of Greinke's curveball.

With a full season of Greinke on tap Matthew Pouliot of Hardball Talk has the Brewer starting five projected for a 3.81 ERA, which would be the eleventh best in baseball. Ryan Topp of Bernie's Crew has more on the topic behind the JS paywall.

The Brewers also announced two more 2012 bobbleheads yesterday: The team will give away Italian Sausage bobbles on July 1 and bobbles featuring Bob Uecker on July 29.

Earlier this week I mentioned a Bill Petti post at Beyond the Box Score showing that the Brewers have been the best team in baseball since 2002 at keeping below-replacement level players off the field. Yesterday he expanded upon that post with a great chart showing the distribution of players by team.

In the minors:

• Sergio Miranda went 0-for-3 but scored a run as Puerto Rico beat Venezuela 3-1 in the first game of the Caribbean Series. You can read more about that in today's Winter League Notes.
• The Janesville Gazette's "Peace and Glove" blog has a Twitter interview with 2011 Wisconsin outfielder Reggie Keen.
  

Meanwhile, Santo Manzanillo leads Orlando Arcia by just five votes and first and fifth place are separated by just eight ballots for the #13 spot in our Community Prospect Rankings. You have until 1 pm today to cast your vote, then stop back after 2 to vote for #14.

Congratulations are due out today to the Brewer marketing team, who received the National Sports Forum's Overall Award of Excellence. Follow that link for more on the honor.

If you'd like more Brewer content this morning but you're sick of reading, @Mass_Haas has links to Chris Narveson's appearance on WTMJ and Rickie Weeks' spot on WSSP from last night.

Around baseball:

Cubs: Signed pitcher Matt Garza to a one year, $9.5 million deal to avoid arbitration and signed pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith to a minor league deal.
Indians: Signed first baseman Casey Kotchman to a one year, $3 million deal, and signed pitcher Rafael Perez to a one year, $2 million deal to avoid arbitration.
Nationals: Signed pitcher Edwin Jackson to a one year, $11 million deal. Also, pitcher John Lannan lost his arbitration case and will receive $5 million this season.

Adam McCalvy says that Garza's deal should help clear the way for the Brewers to reach an agreement with Shaun Marcum, as Garza was one of the pitchers Marcum was being compared to.

Unfortunately today's top story around baseball involves Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, who was spotted drinking in a Dallas area bar Monday night in an apparent relapse of his drug and alcohol issues (FanShot). Until recently, Hamilton's "accountability partner" was new Brewer hitting coach Johnny Narron.

In former Brewers:

• Casey McGehee has reportedly lost 23 pounds this winter and cut his body fat percentage in half in preparation for his first season in Pittsburgh.
• As of this writing Russell Branyan is a distant third in the voting for the nickname "Stainless Steel Meat Hammer" at NotGraphs.
  

It should be a pretty exciting season to be a Brewer fan, but not every fan base is so lucky. Christina Kahrl of ESPN looks at the possibility that 2012 could see at least four teams lose 100 games. Dan Szymborski (in the sidebar of that article) says nine teams have a 10% or worse chance of triple digit losses.

Today in baseball economics:

• The Mets' search for new minority owners might be over. Comcast and Time Warner are reportedly coming together to fund sports network SNY's purchase of the last four remaining shares, valued at $80 million. If this goes through SNY will own 16% of the team.
• The Houston Business Journal used the late 90's Brewers as an example of an attendance boost the Astros might see when they switch leagues next season.

Preparations continue for Opening Day at the Marlins' new ballpark, including the installation of a massive aquarium in the fence behind home plate. My favorite story from yesterday was this one about the team inviting first baseman Gaby Sanchez to try to break the tank's glass with a baseball before they put fish in it. (h/t @bigleaguestew)

This morning's edition of Today In Brewer History remembers the second anniversary of the Brewers claiming Marco Estrada off waivers from the Nationals. It's also 1998 Brewer Eric Owens' 41st birthday, and Plunk Everyone notes that his nine HBP are fifth all time among players born on February 3. Finally, Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times notes that it's been 1000 days since Zack Greinke lost a game 1-0 in 2009 and actually had his ERA go up.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to return Dan's coffee.

Drink up.

Estrada's first season as a Brewer, unfortunately, wasn't much different. He posted a 9.53 ERA over seven appearances and was likely best-remembered for an ill-fated start on zero days rest on May 23. He went on the DL shortly thereafter, and appeared likely to fade off into oblivion. The Brewers re-signed him as a minor league free agent that winter, but didn't invite him to major league camp.

It's amazing, though, how quickly things can change. Zack Greinke's rib injury opened up a spot in the 2011 starting rotation, and after Mark Rogers and others weren't able to win the job Estrada's great spring earned him the assignment. He did well enough in his four starts in place of Greinke to earn a spot on the roster for the rest of the season, and now he's a near lock to make the team again in 2012. He posted a 3.06 ERA and struck out 40 batters in 35.1 innings after the All Star break in 2011.

With help from the B-Ref Play Index, happy birthday today to:

• 1998 Brewer Eric Owens, who turns 41.
• Seattle Pilot and 1970 Brewer Wayne Comer, who turns 68.

1. Wily Peralta
2. Taylor Jungmann
3. Tyler Thornburg
4. Taylor Green
5. Jed Bradley
6. Scooter Gennett
7. Logan Schafer
8. Michael Fiers
9. Jorge Lopez
10. Caleb Gindl
11. Cody Scarpetta
12. Kentrail Davis

The nominees for the #13 spot are:

Orlando Arcia
Nick Bucci
Khris Davis
Drew Gagnon
David Goforth
Santo Manzanillo
Hunter Morris
Jimmy Nelson
Michael Reed
D'Vontrey Richardson

Follow the jump for more on the candidates, then vote in the poll below.

Orlando Arcia
Age: 17
Top Level Reached In 2011: Dominican Summer League

2011 Stats:

Dominican Summer League: 254 PA, .294/.386/.459, 6 HR, 13 SB, 4 CS, 30 BB, 20 K

Other Rankings:

Nick Bucci, RHP
Age: 21
Top Level Reached in 2011: A+

2011 Stats:

Brevard County (A+): 150 IP, 3.84 ERA, 1.293 WHIP, 51 BB, 119 K

Other Rankings:

Khris Davis
Age: 24
Top Level Reached in 2011: AA

2011 Stats:

Brevard County (A+): 371 PA, .309/.415/.533, 15 HR, 10 SB, 5 CS, 51 BB, 70 K
Huntsville (AA): 136 PA, .210/.272/.331, 2 HR, 0 SB, 0 CS, 10 BB, 23 K

Other Rankings:

Drew Gagnon, RHP
Age: 21
Top Level Reached in 2011: Rookie

2011 Stats:

Helena (Rookie): 19 IP, 8.05 ERA, 1.842 WHIP, 10 BB, 27 K

Other Rankings:

David Goforth, RHP
Age: 23
Top Level Reached in 2011: Rookie

2011 Stats:

Helena (Rookie): 40.2 IP, 4.43 ERA, 1.328 WHIP, 10 BB, 42 K

Other Rankings:

Santo Manzanillo, RHP
Age: 23
Top Level Reached in 2011: AA

2011 Stats:

Brevard County (A+): 41.1 IP, 1.52 ERA, 1.089 WHIP, 14 BB, 43 K
Huntsville (AA): 20.1 IP, 2.21 ERA, 1.230 WHIP, 12 BB, 19 K
Arizona Fall League: 2.2 IP, 6.75 ERA, 1.880 WHIP, 2 BB, 1 K

Other Rankings:

Hunter Morris, 1B
Age: 23
Top Level Reached in 2011: AA

2011 Stats:

Brevard County (A+): 531 PA, .271/.299/.461, 19 HR, 7 SB, 3 CS, 18 BB, 84 K
Huntsville (AA): 17 PA, .353/.353/.706, 1 HR, 0 SB, 0 CS, 0 BB, 1 K

Other Rankings:

Jimmy Nelson, RHP
Age: 22
Top Level Reached in 2011: A

2011 Stats:

Wisconsin (A): 146 IP, 4.38 ERA, 1.445 WHIP, 65 BB, 120 K

Other Rankings:

Michael Reed, OF
Age: 19
Highest Level Reached in 2011: Rookie

2011 Stats:

Arizona (Rookie): 62 PA, .232/.295/.375, 0 HR, 1 SB, 0 CS, 5 BB, 17 K

Other Rankings:

D' Vontrey Richardson
Age: 23
Top Level Reached in 2011: A+

2011 Stats:

Brevard County (A+): 392 PA, .284/.327/.384, 3 HR, 9 SB, 13 CS, 22 BB, 70 K

Other Rankings: