News of the day: Yovani Gallardo said he would announce today whether he will participate in the World Baseball Classic with the Mexican team. He strongly hinted Friday that he would not play, which should make club officials relieved considering he is their most talented starting pitcher and missed nearly the entire 2008 season with knee injuries ...
News of the day: Reliever Eric Gagné has decided not to pitch for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic. Gagné realized it was better to stay in the Brewers' camp because he is trying to win a job in the bullpen as a non-roster player. Yovani Gallardo remains undecided about pitching for Mexico ...
In yesterday's Mug I mentioned the Gagne signing and the fact that I'm not thrilled about it. That mention sparked dozens of comments on the topic, including one (thanks Jacob) accusing me of "phony-outrage." Before we go any further, let me assure you that I don't engage in phony outrage ... my blood pressure is high enough without me having to fake it ... With that said, I wanted to take an opportunity to expand on my argument, with the hopes of explaining my position ... First off, let's
News of the day: Before conducting their first full-squad workout, the Brewers had a lengthy team meeting. Owner Mark Attanasio, general manager Doug Melvin and manager Ken Macha addressed the team to discuss expectations. It also was Eric Gagné's first day in camp as a non-roster player ...
Another day, another Mug ... So in yesterday's Mug I linked to Brian Anderson, who told us that Sheets was "headed in a different direction." Today, he's changed the wording of his note on Sheets to this: Free agent Ben Sheets appears to be headed in a different direction but the door is never closed until he is signed. At least he was right on spring training: pitchers and catchers report in 27 days, and The Biz of Baseball reports the Brewers' first spring workout is on February 15 ... Dave
Some things to read while waiting for your Calvin & Hobbes model toboggan ... One small step was taken towards payroll certainty yesterday, as the Brewers reached an agreement with J.J. Hardy on a one year deal worth $4.65 million. It's been noted in the comments, but it's still worth noting how far the arbitration process is from assessing a player's actual value: This is Hardy's second arbitration year, and yet he will still make less than two-thirds of what Prince Fielder will make in his
Some things to read while savoring the experience of typing a sentence ... My apologies for being unable to write Friday. A lot has been said about the Hoffman deal since Thursday, so it's time to bust out the bullet points: Michael Street of Baseball Digest Daily says Hoffman will be good but not great, and likely won't stay long in Milwaukee ... Eric Karabell of ESPN says Hoffman's run as a Brewer may not be pretty, and compares Hoffman to Todd Jones at the end of his career, but thinks he'll
No opening joke today ... So Ken Rosenthal and The Official Site are reporting that the Brewers are close to a deal with Trevor Hoffman. Oddly, one site is reporting Hoffman as being close to a deal with the Dodgers instead. Rumorville has been all over this ... I'm still not sure I like the move. Sure, Hoffman gives the Brewers the cool entrance they've been lacking. (That entrance is so cool its sunglasses are wearing sunglasses.) But the team's biggest need (starting pitching) is still
Some things to read while waiting for bread to rise ... Perhaps the biggest Brewer news today is the ending of news: The Brewers reportedly aren't actually interested in Derek Lowe or Mark Mulder. It's always possible Doug Melvin is just throwing reporters off the track in an effort to look mysterious, but it seems more likely that Boston Globe reporter Nick Cafardo, the same guy who reported the Brewers were "close" to signing Braden Looper, has led us off the trail again. As noted in the