This week is possibly one of the most boring in sports. There’s no more football, no baseball, no Olympics…just basketball. To get you over the hump, I’m going to try to post something new each day this week and open up some discussions.

Let’s start the week of on a positive note:

Here’s a list of 10 Brewer-related things I’m excited for before opening day

10) Brewers Winter Tailgate – What started off as nutjobs freezing for baseball tickets has been embraced by the team and the fans.

9) Pitchers and Catchers report – The four magical words in the middle of winter that make you feel like digging out of your hole. Anyone else start working out again once these words are said? Anyone else just have a good day on PaCR day? Yeah, didn’t think it was just me.

8) Promotional Schedule released – This isn’t a big deal, but it’s always fun to see who their going to make into a bobblehead this year. We already know there’s a Bernie Brewer one…perhaps a Prince as the HR Derby Champion bobble? Doug Melvin was a hit last year, how about a Mark Attanasio bobblehead?

7) This Year’s Breakout at Spring Training – Two years ago, it was Gabe Kapler. Last year, it was Casey McGehee. Who’s it going to be this year?

6) Ryan Braun’s Tavern and Grill – I know I’m lame, but I’m so close to Lake Geneva that it’s probably more exciting to me than others. And it can’t be any worse than Remitee, right?

5) Fantasy Baseball Draft – I love having all the guys get together for the draft, talk baseball, and speculate about players and teams.

4) Getting out the Grill and getting it ready for the season – This usually happens once most of the snow has left and it usually starts out as wanting to clean the grill and it usually ends up making burgers and brats…you know…to warm it up before the season.

3) Watching the pitching staff come together – Will the Crew have three lefty starters or will Manny and his fragile psyche get sent to AAA? Will the Narv-Dog be a reliever, long reliever, or AAA starter? Will Riske be ready? Will the relievers from last year still be worn out (already lost DiFelice for the year)? Will Jeff Suppan start? If so, it will because of two reasons; he will either have rocked in spring or there will be laugh-worthy reasoning from the managerial staff.

2) Spring Training Games – I love getting updates during the day about the team, not to mention seeing how prospects are doing this year. Plus, this year’s team has been through the biggest overhaul since 2006. It’s going to be interesting to see how all the new pieces work.

1) The night before Opening Day – The excitement has been bubbling for a long time and comes to a climax the night before.

Last week, I wrote about the high expectations new pitching coach Rick Peterson brings with him and the fact that he doesn’t seem interested in tempering those expectations at all. Well, the enthusiasm continues to build.

Mike Silva of Mike Silva’s New York Baseball Digest, a Mets blogger who wrote that he wishes Peterson was still in New York, says the veteran pitching coach should be a nice fit for the Brewers:

“I predict the Brewers will see many arms overachieve with Peterson as their pitching coach. Their young hurlers, like Yovani Gallardo, will become better because of the experience of working with him.”

And perhaps the improvements on the mound won’t be as important as another part of Peterson’s program — keeping those pitchers on the mound. In August, Silva interviewed Peterson, who was not with an MLB team and was working on building 3P Sports at the time (download here). And Peterson left little doubt that he believes in the system he developed with Dr. James Andrews. In fact, he all but promised pitchers will stay healthy if they stick with it:

“In 11 years, six years with Oakland and five years with the New York Mets, if there’s one thing in my career that I’m most proud of it is the fact that we kept healthy arms healthy during the tenure of those times coaching at the Major League level. And that is a real tribute to the research and implementation of Dr. Andrews’ program of the biomechanical analysis and then how to train pitchers deliveries to keep them healthy.”

AND

“Without question, what I  can say from being a Major League pitching coach and hopefully getting back in the Major Leagues next year, is this is absolutely the best program that’s out there.”

Again, it’s hard to not be enthusiastic about what this guy is promising to deliver. Hopefully it translates to the results on the mound this season.

There was some video posted today on YouTube from the second to last Brewers game of the regular season in 1981. The video, which is from the Tigers telecast, is significant because it was the game in which the Brewers clinched their first ever playoff appearance.

Reliever Rollie Fingers, who won the AL Cy Young and MVP awards in 1981, struck out Tigers second baseman Lou Whitaker to clinch the Brewers’ second half AL East title. The 1981 season was divided because of a players’ strike so the Brewers played the Yankees, the first half AL East winners, in a best-of-five series. They lost the series 3-2.

It’s great to watch the Brewers celebrate as the fans rush onto the field at County Stadium. That’s some classic video and I’m glad someone deemed it worthy of unearthing for us.

Corey wants 4.8 Mil, the Crew wants to give him 4.15 Mil and both sides are at a standstill (according to Adam McCalvy). Let’s check out Corey Hart’s arguement:

1. I was totally an All-Star (that was voted in by the fans I later dissed)
2. I’m a 20/20 guy (once in 08)
3. I have to put up with fans asking me how many outs there are every freakin’ inning. I mean, geez, can’t these people read the ribbon board?
4. I lost at bats to offensive powerhouses like Jody Gerut and Frank Catalonotto last year
5. It takes a lot of money to change my hair as much as I do
6. I hit .173 and had an OBP of .192 during our September postseason chase in 08.
7. J.J. Hardy and Jason Kendall were the only opening day starters to have a worse OBP and SLG % than me last year.
8. Even though fans noticed that I didn’t go after as many fly balls very hard in 2009, I had the worst fielding percentage out of every outfielder on the team (including bench players)
9. I got kids to feed
10. I heard Melvin has never been to arbitration yet so I’m figuring he knows he’s gonna lose.

Following up on some topics of recent posts here, Brewers GM Doug Melvin discussed expectations for Manny Parra for this season and the Jim Edmonds signing on 540 ESPN Milwaukee yesterday.

Here are his quotes on Manny:

“Manny is still young in experience. Again, when you talk about young pitchers, you do have to talk about being patient. We sent Manny out to the minor leagues last year. When he came back, he was 8-3. After he came back from the minor leagues, he did have a high ERA. So, he’s going to have to get deeper into the ballgames, give us a chance to pitch in the games.”

“He’s so talented. He’s got such good stuff, he’s a good arm, he’s big, he’s physical. He reminds me in some sense of a left-handed pitcher that we had here in our system and we grew a little impatient with him. We gave up on him. We were in the early stages of his development. He went to Colorado last year and won 16 ball games. That was Jorge De La Rosa, and that. So, you never want to give up on a young pitcher that has good stuff, especially being left handed, being physical.”

“And we recognize that this is a big year for Manny and I think he does too. So, we’re hoping that he and Rick Peterson will get together and put all that ability on the right path to success.”

He didn’t come out and say it, but I think it’s pretty obvious Melvin expects Parra to be in the rotation next season. That would leave the battle for the last rotation spot between Dave Bush and Jeff Suppan. Bush should win if it’s based on performance alone, but, unfortunately, Suppan’s hefty contract might have the final word there…

And here are Melvin’s quotes on Edmonds:

“Well, I talked to Jim Edmonds’ agent at the end of last year and he told me just to keep him in mind. He said that he expressed interest in getting back in the game and playing after sitting out a year. He has the same agent that represented Gabe Kapler. With Gabe Kapler that worked well for us. We took Gabe after a year of retirement, he came back and performed very well for us. He’s now in his second year with Tampa Bay.”

“So, you know, Jim Edmonds is an individual with a lot of experience, 15 years of experience. He has a number of Gold Gloves. He’s a .290 career hitter with 380-some home runs. But as the offseason went on, his agent said that he continued to work out. He continued to show a desire and an interest to play. He had the fires burning. And we were one of the teams that were on his short list of teams to play for. And if we had interest, he would be interested. So, we were able to convince Jim that this is a good place to play. He wants to stay in this division, the National League. He is familiar with the Cubs, where he had a year, with the Cardinals for most of his career.”

“He’ll come to camp and try to win a job. It’s not a lot of money. That wasn’t the issue with him. The fires were burning. He wants to get back in and play the game and play it at a level with a team that he can compete.”

“So, we’re looking forward to it. I think that it’s an opportunity that brings experience to our line-up, to our ball club and to the clubhouse because our outfield is all right handed with Hart, Gomez and Ryan Braun. So, there could be some playing time here for Jim Edmonds if he’s able to play.”

It sounds like Melvin feels Edmonds could be a valuable left-handed bat off the bench with the chance to spell all three outfielders at times. That’s the pinnacle of what I’d expect Edmonds to be able to contribute. I think the idea that he would be able to start regularly against right handers is a pipe dream for Edmonds. I hope he’s OK with a fourth or fifth outfielder role if he makes the team.

Best. Song. Ever.

“GO GOMEZ GO!”

The Brewers have promised Edmonds everyday starts against righties?

OK, I think I hate the Edmonds signing now.

Via Tim McKernan’s (InsideSTL.com) Twitter:

Edmonds: Brewers told me I’d get a chance to play everyday against right-handers, and I’d get a chance to play when corner OF get days off.

I’m trying to make sense of this and I’m having a hard time…

Maybe the Brewers don’t believe in Carlos Gomez or Corey Hart. There are much better ways to upgrade than relying on a 40-year-old who didn’t play last year to pick up starts three or four out of every five games though.

Maybe Melvin did tell Edmonds he’d have a “chance” to play everyday against right-handers. I mean, there’s a “chance” I could play every day against righties. Melvin could’ve just gave him the old “every player has to earn his starting position” line to sell Edmonds on the Brewers. The idea that the Brewers would have to sell a player on the chance to play on the team after no teams were even interested in adding him to their rosters last season is pretty depressing though…

Maybe the Brewers are working on a trade of Corey Hart. While there’s a part of me that would love to not have to watch Corey suck at baseball in a Brewers uniform anymore, the thought of watching the elderly Edmonds as a regular starter for a whole season is much less appealing. And Hart was an all-star just a few years ago. There’s at least some hope he could figure it out and return to form. Edmonds is not going to suddenly get younger. And, again, there are still better options than Edmonds available on the free agent market if you’re looking for corner outfielders who might have to start more than a couple games a week.

Maybe Edmonds just made the whole starting against right handers thing up. Unlikely, but there’s a chance…

I’m guessing it’s closest to the second guess. Melvin probably promised Edmonds they’d let him compete for playing time in spring training, go in with an open mind, blah, blah, blah…

All I know is that if Edmonds is a regular starter for the Brewers in 2010, it’s probably going to be a long season…

This is Keith Law’s prospect rankings for the Brewers Organization

1. Brett Lawrie, 2B
2. Alcides Escobar, SS
3. Eric Arnett, RHP
4. Kyle Heckathorn, RHP
5. Jon Lucroy, C
6. Wily Peralta, RHP
7. Lorenzo Cain, CF
8. Jake Odorizzi, RHP
9. Kentrail Davis, LF
10. Zach Braddock, LHP

A couple things I find interesting:

1. Brett Lawrie is ranked ahead of Alcides. This was surprising and when reading why he chose this order, he seemed to downgrade Escobar because of the lack of pop in his bat. This might be why more people choose Baseball America
2. No Chronic-Crazed RHP by the name of Jeremy Jeffress on the list…man, how his stock has fallen.
3. Speaking of falling stock, no Angel Salome either
4. I’m excited for the possibility of a Heckathorn and Arnett in the rotation
5. I think it’s funny how some people LOVE Kentrail Davis and some people think he’s overrated. This year will be more telling.
6. Wait…wait…fans of the T-Rats will be wondering where Cody Scarpetta is…You have to love the Appleton fans love of Scarpface.

I dismissed the rumor out of St. Louis when travwood81 posted it on Brew Crew Ball this morning.

But it’s true. The Brewers have signed Jim Edmonds…

My initial reaction was something like: “Jim Freaking Edmonds? Why? The guy didn’t even play last year. He’s 40. And I hate him. He’s a Cardinal. Or at least an older, less-talented version of a dude that was once a Cardinal.”

But an hour or so has passed and I’ve convinced myself to try to withhold my disgust for the move. At least for now.

First of all, I thought Doug Melvin was drunk when he signed an aging Gabe Kapler away from a managing gig in the Red Sox minor-league system a couple of offseasons ago. And that worked out better than even Melvin could’ve dreamed. So, I’ll cut him some slack.

Secondly, it sounds like it’s a minor-league contract with a chance to win a major-league job at a contract under $1 million plus incentives. There’s really no risk. If he sucks in spring training, the team cuts ties and the team is no worse off. If he legitimately wins a spot and can still play, the team will be better off.

But does Edmonds have anything left in the tank? Hard to say. He was actually a good reserve on the Cubs in his last go-around, hitting .256 with 19 home runs and 49 RBIs in 85 games. But that was 2008. He sat out all of last season. So, who knows how good of shape he’s in or if his body can withstand another season of baseball? At the least though, we do know Edmonds will be motivated to earn an opportunity to stack up some at bats. He’s just 18 home runs shy of 400 for his career and 119 hits short of 2,000. And if he can stick it to the Cardinals a few times for not giving him another shot, all the better, right? *Still holding back disgust while thinking of Edmonds in a Brewers uniform*

It wasn’t like the Brewers passed up great free-agent options to get him. Aside from Gabe Gross, who I would’ve like to have seen back in Milwaukee, the remaining back-up outfield options are pretty uninspiring. Johnny Damon and Jermaine Dye (who teams seem to be looking at as more of a DH than an outfielder) are looking for starting roles. Eric Byrnes, Reed Johnson and Marcus Thames would be options, but none of them stand out as head and shoulders above Edmonds. And Edmonds bats lefthanded and plays centerfield, two qualities that I’m sure weren’t lost on Melvin.

So, I withhold the right to hate this move in a couple months, but for now, I’ll live with it.

Jim Edmonds? Ehh, whatever…

As soon as Rick Peterson agreed to come to Milwaukee, Brewers fans heaped expectations on the pitching coach to vastly improve a staff that was among the worst in all of baseball last year. Despite the additions of Randy Wolf, Doug Davis and LaTroy Hawkins, transforming the Brewers pitching staff into an above average group still seems to be a very tall task given how poorly they performed last season.

Peterson doesn’t appear to be interested in tempering the expectations of Brewers fans, however.

“When you take a ball club that won 80 games last year and had one of the worst starting pitching statistical numbers in all of baseball, you realize that it is time to make some changes at that particular time, and ultimately that’s going to make a huge difference,” Peterson said in an interview with 1250 WSSP.

He added that fans should be confident in this team going into the 2010 season.

“I think this is a really exciting time for Milwaukee because with the kind of fanbase that they have with the team that was on the field last year and the run production in the middle of that lineup with Prince and Braun, you’re talking about the potential of a really special team,” Peterson said. “If the pitching can come together and match what the players on the field did last year, this could be some exciting times for Milwaukee Brewers fans.”

There’s a part of me that’s wary of buying into the Peterson factor. We’re officially past the “Hot Stove” season and into the period of boundless optimism that preludes each baseball season. Nearly every story we read, every interview we hear and every bit of news that comes across the computer screen over the next two plus months will be positive. Some veteran will be in the best shape of his life. Another guy will have made an adjustment at the plate and be on the verge of his best season ever. One of the pitchers will add a pitch that will suddenly make him dominant. We’ll overanalyze every Spring Training pitch and at bat. And we’ll fall in love with the Brad Nelsons and Gary Glovers of the world. As a Brewers fan, I’ve bought into a lot of false hope over the years and it usually wears off well before the calendar turns from April to May.

That said, I can’t help but get excited whenever I listen to this guy talk pitching. He is fully immersed in the art of pitching — the advanced statistical analysis, breaking down deliveries, forming detailed individual strategies tailored to each pitcher’s strengths and weaknesses, developing confidence and mental toughness in the pitchers… He says exactly what I want my team’s pitching coach to say and his past results back him up. He seems to be the mentor young pitchers like Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra need and the foundation veterans like Wolf, Davis and Hawkins can thrive with.

The additions Doug Melvin brought in this offseason will no doubt help the Brewers improve their pitching staff in 2010, but if Peterson delivers on the expectations the fans and organization are placing on his shoulders, he could be the most important offseason addition.