My to do list for today:

Beat Battlekow at Boggle
Write Frosty Mug

It's a good thing I accomplished the first one, because there's really not much to write about today.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score

Today's Brewer notes are largely visitor oriented. First, as mentioned in the comments of yesterday's Mug, Stacey from Camden Chat visited Miller Park along with the Orioles over the weekend and offers a nice review.

It's no secret that the Brewers love playing at home. But La Velle Neal notes the Twins like visiting Miller Park too, and have turned their season around in Milwaukee every year since 2005. (Also noted in Fanshots.

It's been a while since we've looked at these: the BP Postseason Odds. Right now the Brewers project for 87.4 wins and a 10.3% chance of winning the Central. It's still too early to talk Wild Card.

Back in March, I (very subtly) hinted that I'd like someone to make me a Ryan Braun wallpaper. While I was on vacation, Josh Downie came through for me. Now, I have a slightly different request. See this terrible, painful song about Jason Bay? Brewer fans, I'm begging you, please don't make those. Especially if you sing too high and create a sound like fingernails on a chalkboard.

On injuries:

Reds 3B Edwin Encarnacion left last night's game with back spasms but should be ok.
Felix Hernandez hit a grand slam last night, but also suffered a sprained ankle and had to leave the game. Big League Stew has the ironic take.
Nats 1B Nick Johnson will likely miss the rest of the year after having surgery on his wrist.
Pirates P Ian Snell has medial epicondylitis, aka Golfer's Elbow, and will miss his next start. Perhaps he was trying to save money on his car insurance.
Kevin Youkilis was hit in the eye with an errant warm-up throw last night and had to leave the game.

Via Baseball Musings, I learned yesterday that Safeco Field is no longer a good place to meet the ladies.

On the other end of the spectrum, I learned (via Baseball Musings again) that Padres owner John Moores' divorce may force him to sell the Padres.

Jose Guillen is hitting .359/.365/.613 over his last 37 games despite the fact that he hasn't drawn a single walk over that stretch. Sometimes being aggressive works.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer took a deeper look at the process involved in trading a franchise cornerstone like C.C. Sabathia. They also look at some past deadline deals, including a couple of past Indians deals you'll recognize.

Here's where the maple bat situation has brought us: Researchers are developing a portable CT scan device specifically designed to assess the safety of specific bats. Can't we just go back to ash bats and be done with it?

That's all for today. I'm moving tomorrow and may not have internet for a while, then I'm back on the road for a bit. The Mug will return full-time sometime around the 7th or 8th of July. Until then, thanks again to Jeff for filling in. Drink up.

I'm not quite ready for a full time return to the active roster quite yet, but I am home for a couple of days, so the Mug returns temporarily today and tomorrow, and hopefully for good in early July. Thanks to Jeff for filling in admirably during my extended absence. Without him, life might imitate Garfield minus Garfield. I'll be back full-time soon.

Win Probability Graph
BR Box Score

When I left on my mini-sabbatical, Prince had 8 home runs. Since then he's hit 8 more, including the one pictured here. If I go back on sabbatical and he hits 8 more, I'll be tempted to retire.

Also pictured: The biggest accomplishment of Jeff Suppan's weekend.

Matt LaPorta missed a couple of games last week after running into the outfield wall, then returned for one day before leaving the team again to be with his ailing grandfather. Best wishes go out to him and his family.

I hadn't updated my projection spreadsheets in a while, so this morning I updated the data and noticed that Russell Branyan is on pace to hit 42 HR in just 296 official AB's this season. Dave Cameron at Fangraphs notes that Branyan was called up on the same day (May 25) to play the same position (#5 on your scorecard) as Ryan Braun circa 2007. The similiarities pretty much end there, but they're interesting nonetheless. If you're looking for analysis of Branyan's hot start, though, dixieflatline's post from Friday is the best I've seen.

Speaking of Branyan: Weeks ago I bookmarked a link about him, then promptly forgot about it and went on vacation. Remember that 460-foot home run he hit into the Dew Deck on May 31? SensibleUnits.com says 460 feet is equal to 44 male African elephants standing on top of one another, 7.8 ten pin bowling lanes, 2.8 Olympic swimming pools, or 1.8 Airbus A380s side by side. Check out the link to get more.

Sometimes Phil Rogers gets a bum rap, and sometimes he deserves it: In his most recent power poll he ranks the Brewers, owners of a 21-10 record in their last 31 games, 16th. Thankfully, the Hardball blog has a little feature at the bottom where you can rate their posts. I'd encourage you to go give him one star. Sadly, it's the lowest option available.

Even Eli acknowledges it's unlikely to become a story, but the Phillies reportedly had a scout in town to watch Ben Sheets recently.

Mark DiFelice is starting to climb up an interesting list: By making his first ten big league appearances without issuing a walk, Recondite Baseball notes that DiFelice has tied the eighth longest streak of all time to start a career. There's seven names you likely won't recognize on the all-time list in front of him. Still, though, it's a pretty nice claim to fame for a guy most of us never expected to get out of the minors in the first place. On injuries:

Marlins P Burke Badenhop has been placed on the DL with right shoulder tendinitis.
Erik Bedard left his start Friday with back spasms.
Adrian Beltre missed this weekend's action with a bruised index finger but could return as soon as today.
Reds SS Jolbert Cabrera injured his hand sliding into second Friday, making him the fourth Reds SS to get injured this season.
Pirates SP Phil Dumatrait has been placed on the DL with rotator cuff tendinitis.
Yankees RP Kyle Farnsworth left Sunday's game after being struck in the hand by a ground ball. He needed 3 stitches.
Cards SS Cesar Izturis is on the DL with a strained hamstring.
Reed Johnson is having back spasms and may have to go on the DL.
Rangers C Gerald Laird is on the DL with a strained hamstring.
Blue Jays SP Shaun Marcum has been placed on the DL with elbow soreness.
Rangers RP Doug Mathis has been placed on the DL with shoulder inflammation.
Pirates SP Ian Snell will have an arthrogram (a what?) today to determine the source of his right elbow irritation.
Red Sox RP Mike Timlin has been placed on the DL with tendinitis in his knee.
Jose Valentin has suffered multiple setbacks in his rehab and will be out for the season.
Carlos Zambrano's shoulder has landed him on the DL. They're still calling it precautionary.
Barry Zito isn't hurt, but The Giants Baseball Blog is bringing up the possibility of taking a drastic step and having him undergo Tommy John surgery anyway.

Comedy legend George Carlin passed away over the weekend. Here's one of his all-time great preformances, highlighting the differences between baseball and football.

Here's a performance that's not exactly an all-time great: After a nearly unprecedented 3 managerial firings in 4 days, Scott Miller of CBS Sports wants to make sure we know we shouldn't expect it again. I guess I thought that was implied when phrases like "nearly unprecedented" are being used.

It doesn't look like Rich Hill will be back to help the Cubs anytime soon. On Friday, he threw 45 pitches and only got two outs in AAA.

Are we still talking about free pitchers the Brewers may or may not be interested in as bullpen help? If we are, can I interest you in Kiko Calero or Denny Bautista?

Chipper Jones' chances of hitting .400 continue to lurk at about 1 in 5000.

If you're looking for summer reading material and my links in the Mug aren't long enough, you might consider picking up a book or two off of The Klaw 100. Speaking of books, I picked up "Shoeless Joe" after reading Jeff's post this spring on must-read baseball books, where he didn't actually recommend it. But I loved it and if you haven't read it, you should pick it up.

On a chance encounter this weekend I happened to meet "kindie" rock star Justin Roberts. I wasn't familiar with his work but after hearing him perform "Henrietta's Hair" and noting his new CD is titled "Pop Fly," I'd recommend him to anyone out there who has kids, and maybe even some of you who don't.

That's all for today. Drink up.

If you don't really care to read about my personal life but would like to know something that impacts the site, skip down a few paragraphs, to the one that starts with the sentence in bold.

Ok, if you lost your excuse decoder ring, here's why I haven't been writing the Frosty Mug for the last four days:

Tuesday: Sick
Wednesday: Traveling
Thursday: Internet was out
Friday: See below.

Today I start a month of vacation. I took a month of vacation for a variety of reasons, but I decided to come home to Wisconsin for 2 weeks for two reasons. One, I had only been home for less than 24 hours since last June. Second, I have a puppy to train.

Two weeks ago, I was given a 8-week old miniature cashshund that I've since named Gorman. He's adorable but also a little fireball. This morning when I was trying to write he was getting into all kinds of untold mischief. This afternoon, while I'm trying to write, he's out of sight and quiet...and that scares me even more.

Anyway, to get to the point, I'm putting the Mug on indefinite (but hopefully temporary) hiatus until I get back to the point where I feel like I can do it consistently again and at the level I've grown accustomed to (slightly above terrible).

I'll probably still be lurking from time to time, but not as often as usual, as I struggle to train a puppy, enjoy the summer and get the most out of a vacation before being back behind my desk on July 7.

Take care, and thanks for reading,

KL

So, Mike Rivera is batting .500 since I suggested he should play more. I know it's a small sample size (4-for-8), but it'd be a bigger sample size if he played more.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

Thanks to Jeff for allowing you to drink straight from the tap with the Win Expectancy Graphs and BR Box Scores over the weekend.

Jim Powell blogged after Saturday's game. He's pretty excited about the homestand so far, and reasonably so.

He also mentions the massive home run Russell Branyan hit Saturday. I was at the game (my first of the season), and from my perspective, it didn't look like the ball actually made the Dew Deck. It looked like it hit near the back of the second deck. Unfortunately, at the ballpark I only got to see it once, and at game speed. Anyone have access to it on video?

Following Saturday's game, Ned Yost took a beating from Beyond the Box Score for allowing Ben Sheets to throw 120 pitches. I understand the logic at play here, but I find myself agreeing with the first commenter, who notes that everything would've been fine if not for the 11 pitch at bat with Lance Berkman, with two outs in the ninth.

Also Sheets related: Another Baseball Blog takes a look at Sheets' hitting and how it impacts a game. He estimates that the difference between Gallardo's hitting (near elite) and Sheets' hitting (near inept) is equivalent to about a .30 difference in ERA. If the swing from top to bottom is that small, maybe I've spent too much time worrying about pitcher hitting.

Dave Pinto notes that Brewer starters are 4-1 with a 2.47 ERA over their last 7 starts. It's probably a little early to say our pitching woes are over, but this is certainly an improvement.

Here's an interesting new stat: The Beane Count. It tracks home runs and walks, by hitters and pitchers, and combines them to form one number to evaluate. The Brewers rank 13th in the NL at present. I rank somewhere near dead last in being able to explain new stats.

While I'm on the topic of interesting stats, Recondite Baseball takes a look at the all time highest and lowest BABIP numbers. Most of these guys aren't huge surprises, but somehow, Gorman Thomas cracked the list on the low end, at #18. How did that happen?

On injuries:

Twins P Nick Blackburn is fine, amazingly, after being hit in the face by a line drive. He may not miss a start.
Hank Blalock had carpal tunnel surgery Friday and will miss at least another month.
J.D. Drew missed a start over the weekend with vertigo.
Padres P Shawn Estes broke his thumb falling down the stairs. The bad jokes here can only escalate.
Angels IF Chone Figgins has been placed on the DL with irritation in his hamstring.
Reds P Josh Fogg has been placed on the DL with a bad back.
Travis Hafner has been placed on the DL with a sore shoulder.
D-Backs 1B Conor Jackson will be out for a few days with a strained quad.
Braves OF Mark Kotsay has been placed on the DL with a strained lower back.
David Ortiz felt something pop in his wrist Saturday and will (maybe already did?) undergo an MRI.

The Brewers aren't the only team that can't win on the road. At The Book blog, MGL notes that the homefield advantage this year is significantly higher than average, and offers some reasons why.

Dugout Central notes a moment from Friday that's indicative of the problem MLB has with confrontational umpires: Seriously, aside from professional wrestling, is there another major sport where this would be tolerated?

If this works out, it'll set a dangerous precedent: Last week, the Braves designated backup C Brayan Pena for assignment, and placed him on waivers, presumably hoping to send him to the minors. The Royals claimed him off waivers, kept him on their roster for a day, then DFA'd him again, hoping to send him to the minors as well. If this is possible, couldn't Pena be claimed and DFA'd by teams needing a AAA catcher every few days for months?

Here's something new to check periodically: Baseball Musings has a daily chart showing the probability Chipper Jones will hit .400.

Oh, and here's some fun with misheard lyrics.

Drink up.

Here are some things to read while I try to decide if I should buy the new REM album. Geoff from Ducksnorts seems to like it. Seriously? Is this what it's come to? I'm taking musical advice from the guy who writes Ducksnorts?

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

Ned Yost is in his sixth year as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers. He's been in baseball for decades. He just now decided that sending a reliever out there four straight days is bad. As a result, Salomon Torres was unavailable yesterday. Kudos to Ned for working out a new strategy...but really, should it take 6 years to get there?

Adam McCalvy wrote the easiest story ever: A profile of Mike Rivera. I'm glad Rivera could fit this into his busy schedule. Topics covered include how to best remove splinters from one's backside, interesting things he's found under the bench, and why playing him more than once annually could turn out to be a good idea.

Yesterday, I mentioned a rumor that the Brewers were considering moving their AA affiliation from Huntsville to Connecticut. The Connecticut Defenders' relationship with the Giants is deteriorating quickly and will likely end soon. After writing that, I was fortunate enough to have this conversation with Joe Perez of the Norwich Bulletin, which lays out the complaints the team has about the Giants. For an alternative view, check out the 12th comment on this post over at McCovey Chronicles, which does a nice job of portraying the other side.

Didn't he just do this? Dayn Perry has made another top ten list of free agent disappointments. Eric Gagne checks in at #7. Barry Zito, signed for 6 more years and over $100 million more, is nowhere to be found.

On injuries:

Braves OF Matt Diaz will miss at least a month with a partial tear of his PCL.
Troy Percival made an appearance on the DL the same day he made an appearance in my mailbox on the cover of The Sporting News.

RotoJunkie has taken over what used to be the Baseball Happenings Weekly Blog Poll. Lance Berkman, Edinson Volquez and Geovany Soto are this week's NL MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year, respectively. Full results here. Here's my ballot:

Rookie of the Year:
1. Geovany Soto
2. Jair Jurrjens
3. Joey Votto

Cy Young:
1. Edinson Volquez
2. Brandon Webb
3. Carlos Zambrano

MVP:
1. Lance Berkman
2. Dan Uggla
3. Chipper Jones

I guess I should've seen this coming, but somehow I had no idea: Randy Johnson tied Roger Clemens on the all-time strikeout list last night. Combine that with 289 wins and he now seems like a pretty clear-cut lock for the Hall of Fame.

Trust a voice of experience, this move won't make things any better: The Rockies are bumping Jorge De La Rosa from the rotation and replacing him with Glendon Rusch.

Bret Boone retired earlier this week and I didn't really treat it as news because he's been out of a job for months. This Ichiro quote about Bret Boone, though, is fun all by itself:

Oh, and the Mariners don't want lesbians making out in their ballpark. (Hat tip to 6-4-2)

The Mug is off tomorrow and Sunday as I continue my quest to drive 100,000 miles in 2008. Drink up.

As mentioned in this fanpost and this morning's Mug, the Giants are currently unhappy with their AA affiliate, the Connecticut Defenders, and may be considering leaving. The Brewers, among others, have been mentioned as a possible replacement.

As I said I would this morning, I emailed Joe Perez with the Norwich Bulletin, who wrote this column which started the conversation. I wanted to open our conversation up to all of you, so here is, published with his consent, the conversation we've had so far:

My initial email to Joe:

Hey Joe,

My name is XXX, but I write as KL Snow at BrewCrewBall.com. This morning I saw your column on the Defenders' bad relationship with the Giants, and noticed you mentioned the Brewers as a possible replacement. Have you heard any rumblings to back that up? The possibility the Brewers could leave Huntsville, which has been largely successful as a Brewer affiliate since 1999, was news to us.

Also, are there any efforts in place to fix some of the stadium problems, most notably moving in the fences?

Thanks,
XXX

Joe's reply:

XXX,

Thanks for writing.

I had been told there was some mutual interest between Norwich and Milwaukee. How deep that interest is remains to be seen. It can simply be lip service from both sides.

The fences at Dodd Stadium aren't a problem. They are considered a problem by the Giants because they haven't hit at the stadium. Mind you, Nick Johnson won a batting title while playing there. Dodd is maintained very well. The field was resodded this offseason and has never looked better. That work included a new drainage system. They also spent money three years ago on a new scoreboard and indoor batting cage.

The one true problem at Dodd Stadium is the total lack of excitement caused by the Giants' dry farm system and that fans don't show up until late May.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Take care,
Joe

My response:

Some quick research shows the park factor for 2006 at Dodd Stadium was 0.89 for runs scored and .70 for home runs. From 2004-2006 the same factors are .91 and .65. Doesn't it make sense for the Giants (or any other team, for that matter) to want their minor league affiliates to play in an environment that's closer to neutral, for evaluation purposes?

Joe's response:

Sure, but the park has always had the same configuration and it has only been deemed a problem the last three years. Why? Because the Giants minor leaguers haven't hit, for the most part. Why wasn't it an issue for the Yankees in their eight years in Norwich? Furthermore, if moving in the fences is so important to the Giants -- something the Defenders and the city of Norwich are not opposed to -- then why did the Giants ( who wanted the change) refuse to pay a penny to have it done and say the team and city need to pay the full cost? Because it isn't that important to them. If another team comes in and offers to share the cost, plus to have to resod the field again, it will get done.

Park factors, splits and any other stat simply do not reflect that as a Giants affiliate, the home team at Dodd Stadium simply has not been good.

My response:

Right, but how much of the attendance/fan atmosphere actually impacts the Giants? The Royals low-A team has played in Burlington, Iowa for decades. There's next to nothing in Burlington, and they consistently play in front of crowds of 500-700 people. The Royals stay there because it's a nice park in a good league and a decent place to evaluate talent.

My experience has been that ballpark atmosphere isn't a make or break factor for teams, as long as the minor leaguers involved are provided the best possible environment to play and be evaluated in. But if the weather makes it a tough place to play in April, and the park skews the hitting numbers, then it becomes a developmental problem.

By the way - I can somewhat understand the Giants' reluctance to help finance changes at the ballpark...not that many years ago the Brewers dumped some money into ballpark improvements for the Stockton Ports, in the Cali League, and by the time the improvements were completed the team wasn't even a Brewers affiliate anymore.

Do you mind if I publish this exchange? I think my readers would be interested in seeing it, and we could have this conversation on a broader stage.

KL

And Joe's response:

Sure.

If the Giants claim weather is a problem in developing and evaluating players, get out of the Eastern League. Every team faces the same weather as the Defenders. Why don't the Minnesota Twins and its affiliate in New Britain (an hour away) not complain about weather? Why don't teams further north such as Portland and New Hampshire complain? The problem with Norwich is that its a Giants affiliate and the Giants do nothing but complain.

These are the complaints I hear from the Giants players:
It's too cold
It's too wet
The park is too big
There aren't enough fans

Never do they acknowledge that they failed or could do better.

The park skews hitting numbers is true. Yes, Dodd Stadium is a pitcher's park, but counter why the Yankees won here and it discredits that excuse. Especially when you consider the Yankees' best players while in Norwich were hitters, not pitchers. The only developmental problem in Norwich are the players because San Francisco has no clue what it is doing.

This is where you come in. I've invited Joe to join the conversation here, feel free to share your thoughts.

Here's a tradition I'd like to see more of.

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

You can either stop holding your breath, or prepare to hold it for 15 more days: the Brewers' deadline to make a decision on Jeff Weaver has been extended to June 15.

Apparently David Riske has no new structural damage, but is taking longer than expected to recover. That's bad news all around. Of course, Salomon Torres is pretty excited about getting to close games.

So last night the Brewers got 3 hits and won. That's a stark contrast from August 24, 2002, when they got 20 hits and lost, tying the tenth highest hit total in a nine inning loss of all time. Recondite Baseball has the full list at that link. Or, you could stay here and watch me struggle with bad segues and awkward linking.

In the fanposts yesterday, Greg8370 mentioned a report that the Brewers might be looking to move their AA team to the Eastern League, and had been mentioned as a candidate to play home games in Norwich, CT. After a brief search this morning, I found the column mentioning it. Sounds like the Defenders are having some real problems with the Giants organization, mainly tied to the fact that the Giants don't like the ballpark dimensions, and also don't like playing 30-degree home games. I think I'd stick with Huntsville. I emailed the reporter, though, to see where he got the rumor from.

UPDATE: I've been in touch with Joe Perez, the writer from the Norwich Bulletin. You can see our conversation here .

So yesterday afternoon I had a moment to kill, and I got an email from the Brewers. They really wanted me to vote (25 times) to get some Brewers in the starting lineup of the All-Star Game. They've also posted a story about how close Braun is to only being 4 spots back of the leaders. So I sat down with the stats, picked out the best candidate at each position...and didn't vote for a single Brewer. Here's the ballot I clicked and reclicked and submitted 25 times:

AL:
C: Joe Mauer
1B: Kevin Youkilis
2B: Ian Kinsler
3B: Joe Crede
SS: Michael Young
OF: Milton Bradley
OF: Josh Hamilton
OF: Magglio Ordonez
DH: David Ortiz

NL:
C: Brian McCann
1B: Lance Berkman
2B: Dan Uggla
3B: Chipper Jones
SS: Hanley Ramirez
OF: Nate McLouth
OF: Pat Burrell
OF: Adam Dunn

On injuries:

Pirates P Zach Duke will get an extra day before his next start to allow a blister to heal.
Carlos Guillen is battling some hemorrhoids his manager seems a little too eager to talk about.
Marlins P Scott Olsen still isn't getting velocity back after an exceptionally long outing against the Brewers weeks ago.
Troy Percival collapsed falling off the mound last night and has a tight hamstring. Grant Balfour may be called up in his place.
A's OF Ryan Sweeney had to be taken to the hospital for X-rays after fouling a ball off his foot.
Frank Thomas may be headed to the DL after an MRI on his strained right quad revealed major inflammation.
Blue Jays C Gregg Zaun has been placed on the DL with inflammation in his elbow.

Does the price include my computer and rent for mom's basement? The Juiced Sports Blog ranks the 100 most valuable sports blogs.

It didn't crack the top 100, but I think this post is pretty valuable: The Padres recently acquired Cha Seung Baek, and Paul DePodesta discusses the move.

Oh, and a hydrochloric acid spill is a pretty good reason to suspend a game.

Drink up.

Sometimes the web leads me in interesting circles. I looked up Keith Ginter on BR after mentioning him in a comment, and noticed his 10th most similar player was J.J. Hardy. There's nothing all that similar about them, really, but it led me to click on J.J. Hardy, and catch this list of his 10 top comps through age 24. I've added the comments:

1. Jim Lefebvre: Second baseman, done as an everyday player at 25, out of the league at 30.
2. Rich Gedman: A catcher, spent three years as a regular, made the all star team in two of them. Career as a regular ended at age 26.
3. Jhonny Peralta: A shortstop. Jury is still out.
4. Jeff Blauser: A reliable if unspectacular shortstop who started in the big leagues for 9 seasons.
5. Ray Fosse: A catcher and a strange case. Hardy will most likely never collide with Pete Rose.
6. Dave Nilsson: Another catcher and a strange case. Hardy will probably never leave the team to go play for Team Australia, and he'll probably never report to camp at 300 lbs.
7. Sammy White: Yet another catcher. An All-Star at 24, gradually decomposed behind the plate and played regularly for 8 seasons despite posting OBP's below .310 in 5 of them.
8. Ray Durham: Probably the best-case scenario: Durham posted an OPS+ of 100 or more for 9 straight seasons from 26 to 34 and is still in the big leagues at 36.
9. Tony Batista: Consistently productive big league hitter who couldn't have been shoved out of clubhouses any faster if he had the plague. A two-time All Star, played for seven teams and hit 221 HR with an OBP under .300.
10. Rickie Weeks: Jury is also still out. He's a conversation for another time.

So here's what I want to know: What are your expectations for the career of J.J. Hardy? Is he a long-term productive big leaguer? Is he going to be done at 27? What do you think? And how did so many catchers end up on this list?

So I missed last night's game to go see the new Narnia movie. A terrible mistake. Who told Disney that Narnia was just supposed to be a darker version of Shrek?

Win Expectancy Graph
BR Box Score
BDD Recaps

Here are some photos of last night's heroes: Hardy, Hall, and Cameron

Remember yesterday, when some kid named Eli destroyed his credibility by suggesting the Brewers were getting ready to DFA Bill Hall? Today he thinks they'll trade Ben Sheets. I'm going to go ahead and pull him off my reading list so he'll stop wasting our time.

Coming off a split with the Nats, the Brewers have dropped to 20th in the most recent Bugs and Cranks poll.

Ok, so Tuesday was light on Brewer news, but it's heavy on injuries:

Pat Burrell was scratched from last night's game with stiffness in his neck.
Eric Byrnes has been placed on the DL to give him some time to recover from tweaked hamstrings.
Braves OF Matt Diaz has been placed on the DL with a strained PCL in his knee after a collision with the wall last night.
Travis Hafner missed his second straight game last night with a sore shoulder.
Yankees P Ian Kennedy left last night's start with a strained muscle in his rib cage.
Daisuke Matsuzaka complained of shoulder fatigue last night after the third inning, but was still sent out for one more inning before being pulled.
Cards P Joel Piniero has missed one start and may miss more with a sore groin.
Gary Sheffield has been placed on the DL with a strained oblique.
Frank Thomas left last night's game with a strained quad and will get an MRI today.
Matt Wise is headed back to the DL with weakness in his shoulder.

Tim Lincecum isn't hurt at the moment, but Dave Pinto at Baseball Musings is scared the Giants will run him into the ground. He threw over 120 pitches last night, and has gone 110 or more five times this season.

Oh, and I love Mitch Hedberg.

Drink up.