SB Nation - Lew Ford

Farmers Only: Winter League Update and some notes

nycredsfan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:00:45 -0000

Chris Heisey loves the Arizona air. Does that bode will for his chances in spring training?

Many of you thought the Arizona Fall League ended with the "Rising Stars" game last weekend, but it actually goes until the end of next week, and our boys in 'zona have just kept on representin'. This list isn't exhaustive, I've only put up stats, through yesterday, of the players of interest playing in fall/winter leagues. (If you really want to know how Lew Ford is doing in Venezuela you can look it up)

Arizona Fall League	PA	Avg	OBP	SLG	HR	BB	K
Yonder Alonso	75	.290	.333	.406	2	6	8
Chris Heisey	88	.308	.400	.641	5	10	20
Zack Cozart	55	.340	.393	.560	2	5	9
Venezuelan Winter League
Danny Dorn	60	.250	.400	.500	4	8	14
Miguel Rojas	57	.288	.345	.346	0	5	10
Dominican Winter League
Juan Francisco	76	.227	.325	.455	3	10	20
Kevin Barker	84	.329	.409	.421	1	8	15
Mexican League
Adam Rosales	128	.300	.400	.427	2	18	11
Arizona Pitchers	IP	ERA	K	BB	H	HR	AVG
Mike Leake	11.2	2.31	9	2	17	0	.340
Brad Boxberger	11.1	8.74	11	6	12	2	.286
Sean Watson	10.2	8.44	12	6	20	2	.377
Logan Ondrusek	9.2	10.24	8	1	19	4	.388

Dominican League
Ben Jukich	15.2	2.87	12	5	20	1	.323
Enerio Del Rosario	11.2	2.31	6	2	10	0	.222
Sam LeCure	7.1	8.59	6	5	12	0	.353

Zack Cozart hasn't been in a game since last week and isn't listed on the Peoria Saguaros roster anymore. I can't tell if he's injured or just decided he wanted to go home.
Todd Frazier starts play in the Puerto Rican League next week. I'm giddy.
Please note the K/BB ratio for Francisco. I know it's only the DWL, but the kid is showing signs of being able to take a walk.
I'm really intrigued by Del Rosario. He flew up through the system this season, and ended the year in AAA. His groundball to flyball ratio was 3.23 during the season and is 2.22 in the DWL. Sounds like a good fit for GABP.
It's still a small sample size, but Chris Heisey keeps making a case for himself.
Darnell McDonald is tearin' up Mexico too, but since he's not on the 40 man roster anymore I didn't feel compelled to include him. Katie Couric is happy about this.

Eyewitness Report: Louisville Bats vs. Durham Bulls

BK — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:00:18 -0000

So last Friday night, Slyde, jsl413 and I ventured down to Louisville to watch the Reds AAA affiliate take on Durham in Game 3 of the first round of the IL playoffs. We had a pretty good time. Slyde got some pretty sweet tickets for $12.50 each. We ended up about halfway up the box seats, one section to the left of home plate. Here's a view from our seats:

That, my friends, is prime real estate. More about the game (and more pics) after the jump.

We were treated to quite the lineup on our trip, and everyone in the Louisville lineup had at least one hit. Sam Lecure started the game for the Bats, and pitched pretty well for the most part.

He was throwing in the 88-91, and has some off speed stuff that is absolutely filthy. He had one rough inning, but the rest of his game wasn't bad.

Yonder Alonso hadn't done much for the Bats since getting called up before the playoffs started. In his first home game in Louisville, he didn't disappoint.

Yonder went 2-for-3 with a solo HR (to the opposite field to left), and a pretty nice diving stab at 1B to save a run on the defensive side.

Similarly, this guy also had a good game.

ROAR! El Nino Destructor also had a decent defensive play, and was 2-for-5 with a RBI.

On the other hand, not everyone had a great game.

That's Todd Frazier, and he struggled at the plate for most of the night. He got badly fooled in one at bat and didn't really hit anything hard all evening. He did end up redeeming himself big time by continuing rallies by hitting infield singles in the 7th and 9th, but I didn't come away impressed. We didn't get much of an opportunity to see some of that vaunted 2B defense, but he did turn a pretty nifty double play to save a run. (The Francisco-Frazier-Alonso DP combo was sick.)

A few other notes from the game:

Louisville Slugger field was pretty good. Cheap tickets, free parking down the street, and a fairly cheap food and beer selection. I got an Amber Bock draft that would have cost me $8.25 at GABP for $4.75.
We met up with xjjeep90 at the park, where he sat in our section for the entirety of the game. Good times. No word on where Rick House was, and we didn't meet Red_Poodle either. What gives, Poodle!?
Chris Valaika didn't look like he's anywhere close to being a major league player. He looked bad for most of the game, and ended up striking out to end the game. Maybe he just had a bad game, but I thought he looked better when I saw him in Spring Training in March.
Out of the 12 total hits, minus the 2 home runs by Chris Denove and Alonso, the rest of the hits were singles. Of those 10 singles, probably 6 were infield hits.
Jeff Kennard is a career minor league journeyman. He pitched two pretty decent innings. If there's room for him, I wouldn't mind seeing him in camp next spring.
Speaking of journeymen, Lew Ford started in RF for the Bats. Let's just say he didn't impress too many people.
I like what I saw from Chris Heisey. He had a hard-hit single, which is more than you can say about most of the other players on the team.
That being said, every position player on the Bats had a hit. It sure didn't seem like it.
Jay Bruce struggled in his rehab start at DH. He looked great on his hit and ran the bases well in his 2nd AB, but kind of jogged to 1B in his first AB when he reached on an error.
The most impressive pitcher on the field wasn't on the Bats. That honor belonged to Durham's Winston Abreu, who closed out the game for them. He threw in the upper 90s, and he struck out the side in the 9th (Heisey, Bruce, and Valaika). Alonso and Francisco both managed to fight in their ABs to get infield hits.
It should also be noted that Valaika batted in front of Alonso, which seemed ridiculous at the time. Even more ridiculous when you figure that Yonder could have been up with the game on the line other than Valaika.
Logan Ondrusek warmed up at some point, and he looked kind of out of place. I didn't realize this, but he's listed at 6'7", and probably was taller than that. It reminded me of any professional basketball team with a token white center from eastern Europe over 7'4".
It was a really exciting game, to be sure. After taking a lead on a home run by Chris Denove, the Bats were down 4-1 after LeCure got roughed up a bit (in a time that seemed like a split second). They then battled back to score a run each in the 6th (Alonso's HR) and 7th (smawl-bawl!).
In that 7th inning, they had a walk, a single to left by Luis Bolivar, and two infield hits by Frazier and Francisco, both of those with 2 outs. Chris Vaiaika killed the rally. At this point, jsl and I decided he should have been batting 7th instead of Alonso.
In the 8th, Yonder led off with a single, and was stranded at 3rd. This would have been a good time to see Danny Dorn pinch hit, but that didn't happen. (Another guy we didn't get to see was Zack Cozart, who didn't play the entire series. Huh?)
Once again in the 9th, Frazier and Francisco started a rally with 2 outs, and were stranded by Valaika. Not his night. Bats lose 4-3.

All in all, it was a good experience, despite the game outcome. I was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere there, as the fans were extremely into the game and knew who most of the players were.

I'm already thinking an RR outing in Louisville needs to happen next year too. Takers?

Farmers Only: Carolina's doubleheader goes even better than Cincy's does

BK — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:00:24 -0000

Louisville beat Columbus 7-5 behind a lackluster AAA debut from Camilo Vazquez. Vazquez gave up 3 runs in 4 2/3 innings of work, and Greg Atencio ended up getting the win in his Louisville debut. Logan Ondrusek pitched a perfect 9th for his 9th save. Chris Heisey hit his 9th AAA HR off of former Red Mike Gosling, a 2-run shot. Juan Francisco was 2-for-5 with a RBI and Lew Ford drove in a run as well. Up next: Bats take on Columbus again at 7:05.
Carolina had a doubleheader too, theirs against Montgomery. In the first game, Alexander Smit pitched 6 2-hit shutout innings as the Mudcats rolled 1-0. Jose Castro was 2-for-4 and drove in the only run. In the second game, the Mudcats pitching staff held Montgomery to just one hit in a 5-0 win. Joseph "The Cycle" Krebs pitched 3 1/3 no-hit innings in his emergency start, and Zach Ward gave up the first hit in the 5th. Zachary Cozart drove in two runs with a HR, and Kris Negron and Yonder Alonso added two hits each for the Mudcats. Up next: Jeremy Horst takes the hill as the Mudcats take on Montgomery at 8:05.
Sarasota was off. Matt Fairel will take the mound against Palm Beach at 7.
Dayton lost 7-3 despite a solid start by Jordan Hotchkiss. Hotchkiss went 6 innings and gave up 3 runs (2 earned), and struck out 8 hitters. Carlos Mendez had 3 hits and Humberto Sosa hit a 2-run HR. Up next: Dayton's off.
Billings won a close one against Missoula 5-3. Luca Panerati gave up 1 run in 5 innings. Frank Pfister had three hits, including a RBI, and Mariekson Gregorius had two hits as well. Up next: Tim Crabbe takes on Great Falls at 9.
The GCL Reds closed out their season with a loss against the GCL Rays, 5-0. Jefry Sierra had 3 of the Reds 6 hits on the afternoon, and the pitching wasn't that bad, with Harold Johnson giving up 3 earned runs in 5 innings and Daniel Tuttle gave up no earned runs in 3 innings with 5 strikeouts. Up next: Their season is over. They finish the season 28-27, 6 games back in their division, good for 3rd place.

Wednesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:00:55 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

Mike Cameron dives into third for a triple during the 12th inning Tuesday.

Browse more photos »

Some things to read while not sleeping.

After staying up to catch the end of last night's game, I didn't get much sleep and for some reason all I can think of is breakfast. At least one Brewer blogger isn't having this problem, as Miller Park Drunk left the game early.

Felipe Lopez also left early last night, but the news might not be as bad as you'd think. Initial reports were that Lopez had aggravated a hamstring injury, but Adam McCalvy says he actually injured the arch of his foot rounding third base in the ninth inning last night. Lopez was checked out by a doctor but declined an X-ray and is expected to be reevaluated today.

One would think Lopez would want to do everything he can to get back in the lineup for the next couple of days: The Reds have announced Kip Wells as tonight's starter, and will start former Brewer Justin Lehr tomorrow. Lehr has made five starts for the Reds this season, his first major league appearances since posting an 8.62 ERA for the Brewers in 2006.

With last night's loss, the Brewers dropped to eleven games back of the Cardinals, their largest deficit of the season. Doug Melvin says he's not inclined to trade veterans at this point, but Ken Rosenthal is reporting that six Brewers were placed on trade waivers yesterday, including Felipe Lopez, Braden Looper and Mike Cameron.

What should the Brewers do with Prince Fielder? Dave Cameron of FanGraphs thinks the Brewers should trade him this offseason before he gets too expensive and patch some of the other holes in the roster. Meanwhile, David Pinto of Baseball Musings thinks the Brewers should offer Prince $20 million per season to buy out some of his free agent years. Either way, it's a tough spot for the Brewers: Fielder's incredible season means he could be worth significantly more than they can afford when he's eligible for arbitration again after next season, but it also makes him very difficult to trade, as few teams have and are willing to part with pieces that be worth fair market value for one of the NL's most productive hitters.

Jody Gerut went 0-for-1 last night, but is still hitting .345/.406/.552 since July 26, raising his season OPS by 51 points. Tony Gwynn, for whatever it's worth, is hitting .225/.317/.270 over the same time frame. Casa de Machado is willing to admit that Gerut might not be "complete trash."

Before the season it was almost an afterthought, but re-signing Craig Counsell might be one of the best moves Doug Melvin made this offseason. Sky Andrecheck of Baseball Analysts included Counsell as Best Team a Reasonable Amount of Money Can Buy.

Amidst everything else that's been going on the last few weeks, we haven't talked much about Corey Hart or Seth McClung, who are both getting closer to healthy. Hart hopes to head out on a rehab assignment next week, but the Brewers are taking things a little slower with Seth McClung's elbow. McClung has already had Tommy John surgery once.

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this one: Jason Kendall has a six game hitting streak going, is hitting .340/.415/.457 since August 4 and is among the leaders in Plunk Everyone's new BACON and Beans statistic.

In the minors:

Mike Jones had one of the biggest nights of his career last night, rebounding from a rough debut by allowing just one earned run in 7.2 innings in Nashville's 4-1 win over Albuquerque. Jones allowed four hits and three walks while striking out seven, and threw 108 pitches while earning his first AAA victory.
The Brewers have added two outfielders to the roster in AAA, signing Tike Redman and Jon Knott.
Hernan Iribarren will join them in AAA sometime in the next few days. He was optioned to make room for Jeff Suppan.

If you've got nothing else going on this afternoon and want to spend more time discussing Brewer minor leaguers, then you might be interested in The Official Site's chat with Amateur Scouting Director Bruce Seid at 1 pm. I have a date with some yard work, so I'll be unable to attend.

Here's an interesting note from Lookout Landing: Carlos Villanueva and Mark DiFelice are among the unluckiest pitchers in baseball when it comes to getting strikes called on pitches in the zone, and the Brewers are the unluckiest team in baseball in the same category.

Following last night's loss, CoolStandings dropped the Brewers' playoff chances to .6%.

I usually do my best to avoid the restrooms at Miller Park, but if you must use them, Casa de Machado has a guide to etiquette that you should read first.

Around baseball:

Giants: Placed Freddy Sanchez on the DL with a shoulder strain.
Nationals: Signed Livan Hernandez and will start him today.
Rangers: Placed Andruw Jones on the DL with a hamstring strain.
Red Sox: Acquired Billy Wagner from the Mets for two PTBNL, one of which is rumored to be AAA slugger Chris Carter.
Reds: Signed Lew Ford to a minor league deal.
Rockies: Placed Dexter Fowler on the DL with swelling in his knee.

How much of being a good manager is simply perception? Rays manager Joe Maddon said this on Twitter yesterday:

On the road Ive asked guys 2 think about doing better by talking about playing better Has 2 begin w/ mental effort b4 it shows up physically

If Ned Yost had said something like that, we might have mocked it mercilessly. But when Joe Maddon said it, it somehow seems less nonsensical.

The Brewers officially named eight players to the Arizona Fall League yesterday, with Mark Rogers, Omar Aguilar, Zach Braddock, Josh Butler, Rob Wooten, Jonathan Lucroy, Taylor Green and Lorenzo Cain getting the call (FanShot). This year's AFL will have some significant star power as Stephen Strasburg will make his professional debut in the league, and will be joined by Mariners #1 pick Dustin Ackley, Giants pitcher Joe Martinez and catcher Buster Posey, Pirates outfielder Jose Tabata and Reds infielder Yonder Alonso, among others.

It's been at least a few days since the last time I had to mention an umpiring incident, but there's another one to report today: Several Rockies players complained that umpire Bill Miller called catcher Yorvit Torrealba a derogatory name in the late innings of a game Monday.

Ever wonder what it's like inside Bud Selig's office? Hal McCoy spent half an hour there yesterday and details much of the furniture, including a couch made entirely of baseball bats. (h/t Dear Ken Macha)

Do you enjoy Chuck Norris Facts? If so, you might be incredibly disappointed by these Ed Sprague Factoids, but you might enjoy these Rollie Fingers pictures.

On this day in 1987, Paul Molitor's 39-game hit streak came to an end as he was standing on deck when Rick Manning hit a walk-off single to beat the Indians 1-0 in ten innings. On this day in 1998, Phil Garner became the first Brewer manager to record 500 wins as the Brewers beat the Rockies 6-5.

Happy birthday today to Ricky Bottalico, who made 40 appearances as a Brewer in his final major league season in 2005, and turns 40 today. Alex Sanchez, first ballot "Don't Be That Guy" Hall of Famer, also turns 33.

Oh, and if you're a pro wrestling fan looking for a place to keep up to date on the latest news and rumors, SBNation has a blog for you.

Drink up.

Farmers Only: The "Cash for Klinkers" deal gets an extension

BK — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:00:21 -0000

Louisville got the best of Toledo 3-2 behind another great outing by IL Pitcher of the Week Matt Klinker. Klinker went 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball, and struck out 7 while walking 2. Fresh off of the news that he'd be joining the AFL this fall, Logan Ondrusek pitched 2 innings for his 8th save in Louisville. Chris Heisey was 2-for-3 and Todd Frazier hit his 2nd AAA HR. Up next: Bats take on Toledo at 6:30.
Carolina won a close one 7-6 over Tennessee. Kris Negron had a huge game, going 3-for-4 with 2 HR and 3 RBI. Jose Castro also had three hits, Yonder Alonso was 0-for-2 with a walk, and Camilo Vazquez had a decent start. Up next: Alex Smit takes the hill against Tennessee at 7:15.
Sarasota lost a close one in 10 innings, 5-4 to Palm Beach. Neftali Soto and Dave Sappelt had two hits each, and Curtis Partch pitched 7 innings and gave up 3 earned runs. Up next: Matt Fairel takes on Palm Beach at 7:05.
Dayton followed the lead of the big league club and also gave up a 9th inning lead to lose 4-3 to South Bend. Ezequiel Infante gave up 2 runs in 5 innings in his start, and Chase Ware gave up only 1 hit in his 3 relief innings. Carlos Mendez and Alexis Oliveras had two hits each and Kevyn Feiner homered. Up next: Dayton takes on South Bend at 6:30.
Billings lost to Helena 11-8 behind a crappy start by Oscar Castro. Tzu-Kai Chiu gave up 1 run in 3 1/3 relief innings, and Mariekson Gregorius went 3-for-6 for the Mustangs. Up next: Luca Panerati takes on Helena at 9:05.
The GCL Reds were off.
Roster Moves: To fill the spots of recently promoted players, Chris Denove and Korey Feiner are now your catchers in Louisville and Lew Ford joins the Bats outfield after a stint playing for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan. Jason Bour comes up from Sarasota to take Feiner's spot in Carolina, Chris MacMurray takes Bour's spot in Sarasota, and Trey Manz takes MacMurray's spot in Billings.

Twins, Astros Play Most Boring Game of the Year, Astros Win

Jesse — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:19:39 -0000

More photos » by Ann Heisenfelt - AP

Minnesota Twins' Carlos Gomez replaces Lew Ford as baseball's He Who Shall Embarass Himself Doing Something Fundamental at a baseball game in Minneapolis, Sunday, June 21, 2009. Gomez was not injured on the play. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

Browse more photos »

I love baseball. I'll watch any game, any time, and it doesn't really matter who's playing. And some of them are boring. This is one of those games.

The last time Justin Morneau had a day off, the Twins had this lineup:

Luis Castillo, 2B
Jason Bartlett, SS
Joe Mauer, DH
Michael Cuddyer, 1B
Torii Hunter, CF
Jason Kubel, LF
Mike Redmond, C
Lew Ford, RF
Nick Punto, 3B

For all the turnover the Twins have had over the last two years, there are a lot of guys still on the roster in that batting order.

Back to today's game: all the action went down in the first two innings. Glen Perkins lasted seven innings, allowing four runs, three of them in the first inning. A good leadoff double, a grounder up the middle and a skin-of-your-teeth double down the third base line gave the 'Stros a 3-0 lead before the Twins even came to bat. From the second through the sixth Perk gave up just three hits and a walk, stringing together five goose eggs and giving his offense a chance.

Houston tacked on another one in the seventh and could have had a couple more if it weren't for an amazing grab by Carlos Gomez. With Jeff Keppinger on first, Carlos Lee launched a Perkins fastball deep to center field. Gomez had it all the way, and making it look rather routine made his leap at the wall. It was one of only two Twins highlights on the afternoon.

The first highlight came in the bottom of the second inning, when Houston starter Wandy Rodriguez left his first pitch of the inning a little too high, and Michael Cuddyer absolutely destroyed it. It looked like a line drive from where I was sitting, and it gave Cuddles his 11th homer of the year. Sadly, it was the only time the Twins could even come close to scorching Rodriguez, who gave up just two hits over his seven innings. Brian Buscher's single in the seventh was the only other hit on the afternoon, and scattering a trio of walks Rodriguez was the menace of the afternoon. He retired eight on strikes, and if he hadn't thrown 114 pitches by the end of the seventh frame there's no doubt he would have come back out and continued to mow down the Twins offense.

After the third inning, Jason Kubel left the game due to "illness". Hopefully it's just a headache or something innocuous, because with Denard Span not back until Thursday the last thing this offense needs is to have one of its top three hitters out of the lineup.

Today's fun fact that we discovered during the game thread: Minnesota's second basemen have combined to hit .197/.256/.261 this season. Yes, that's the worst in all of baseball, by a fairly significant margin, and off from the league-average OPS by more than 300 points.

More Twins/Astros coverage from SB Nation.
The best Houston Astros coverage on the 'net.

Stars of the Game
#3: Carlos Gomez (0-for-3, 2 K, Amazing Catch, Funny Bunt, -.076 WPA)
#2: Brian Buscher (1-for-2, .020 WPA)
#1: Michael Cuddyer (1-for-3, HR, RBI, R, .039 WPA)

2009 Twins On Pace to Become One of Franchise's Most Powerful

Jesse — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:00:59 -0000

The boys go boom.

With Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel each launching another long ball Friday afternoon, the Twins have now belted 68 home runs in 63 games. This puts them on a pace for 175 home runs, which is a number they could surpass if everyone stays healthy, but even that pace would give them seventh place in franchise history for home runs.

For your browsing pleasure, here are the top five bombers for each of the six teams in front of our projected '09 crew, as well as how our leaders project out after this afternoon's win over the Cubbies.

1963, 225 HR	1964, 221 HR	1986, 196 HR	1987, 196 HR	2004, 191 HR	1962, 185 HR	2009, 175
Harmon Killebrew, 45	Harmon Killebrew, 49	Gary Gaetti, 34	Kent Hrbek, 34	Corey Koskie, 25	Harmon Killebrew, 48	Joe Mauer, 46
Bob Allison, 35	Bob Allison, 32	Kirby Puckett, 31	Tom Brunansky, 32	Jaque Jones, 24	Bob Allison, 29	Justin Morneau, 41
Jimmie Hall, 33	Tony Oliva, 32	Kent Hrbek, 29	Gary Gaetti, 31	Torii Hunter, 23	Zoilo Versalles, 17	Joe Crede, 32
Earl Battey, 26	Jimmie Hall, 25	Tom Brunansky, 23	Kirby Puckett, 28	Justin Morneau, 19	Vic Power, 16	Jason Kubel, 28
Don Mincher, 17	Zoilo Versalles, 20	Roy Smalley, 20	Tim Laudner, 16	Lew Ford, 15	Rich Rollins, 16	Michael Cuddyer, 24

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:26:46 -0000

Some things to read while getting your clothes out of the dryer.

Easily the biggest Brewer news of the day happened far from Arizona. Ryan Braun, playing for Team USA in the WBC, left yesterday's game with soreness in his side. (h/t FanShot) It doesn't sound like it's expected to be serious.

Meanwhile, Braden Looper is expected to throw a simulated game this morning, his last one before pitching a minor league game and then a Cactus League game sometime around March 24.

While Looper works his way in, Tim Dillard, Nick Green and Omar Aguilar are among six pitchers on their way out, having been optioned back to minor league camp. Dillard, who will apparently work as a starter this season, made the most of his last day in camp, entertaining teammates with his Harry Caray and Ed Sedar impressions.

Also in minor league camp, Chris Capuano continues to work on his recovery from his second Tommy John surgery. Sounds like things are going well, but he won't be stretched out enough to start games until mid-May.

Some visual evidence from this weekend's action:

Bill Hall's calf is better. Now, why is he sliding head first in spring training?
Lorenzo Cain shows off his home run trot.
You may not have heard of Brent Krause, but he left an imprint in the wall for you to remember him by.

J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun each took first place in Crawfish Boxes' NL Central positional rankings at shortstop and left field, respectively. Largely because of contributions from Hardy and Braun, David Pinto of Baseball Musings thinks the Brewers' probable lineup is good for 4.71 runs per game this season, up from 4.63 last season.

Dale Sveum is hoping to get even more production out of his hitters by cutting down on strikeouts.

Speaking of projections and predictions, Baseball Analysts has their NL Central Preview up. All three participants think the Cubs will win the division by 10 games or more.

Lisa Winston of MiLB.com has been spending some time around Brewer camp, and has ten Brewer prospects to watch, along with an overview of the system that's worth a read.

Notes from other camps:

Cubs: Signed Esteban German to a minor league deal.
Giants: May be interested in ~~derailing their youth movement~~ signing Ivan Rodriguez to compete for a job at third base.
Mariners: Claimed Jesus Delgado off waivers from the Marlins.
Marlins: Released Jay Gibbons.
Mets: Claimed Fernando Nieve off waivers from the Astros.
Nationals: Signed Julian Tavarez to a minor league deal.
Padres: Signed Chris Snelling to a minor league deal, and also Duaner Sanchez.
Red Sox: Julio Lugo will have arthroscopic knee surgery and will likely not be ready for Opening Day.
Rockies: Signed Lew Ford to a minor league deal.

Some day we might look back at the players of today in a similar light, but this seems like an extreme example: Hal McCoy has the story of former Red Buddy Gilbert, who left baseball in 1959 over a contract dispute. He and the Reds were $200 apart.

Baseball Musings also previewed the offense of the 2009 Pirates, and projects them for .3 runs per game less than 2008, or almost 50 fewer runs this season.

The Cardinals organization checked in at #21 in FanGraphs organizational rankings joining the Pirates, Reds and Astros to give the NL Central four of the bottom nine teams.

If you're out in Arizona this spring and want to make sure you're not healthy enough to leave, check out Mariner beat writer Larry Stone's review of The Heart Attack Grill.

Oh, and according to Tim Kurkijian, David Eckstein's wife, Ashley Eckstein, is the voice of Darth Vader.

Drink up.