Brewers report today, so I report on some Brewers...

...cards, that is! Today pitchers and catchers report to Marvale Park baseball complex down in Phoenix, AZ for Brewers spring training. Tomorrow is weigh-ins and eye checks, and Sunday is their first official workout with new head coach Ken Macha. 

Last week Spiff over at Texas Rangers Cards sent me a tightly-packed box full of Brew Crew players. He wisely did NOT include an Eric Gagne card, but did include several Molitor cards I didn't have, and even a Yount card not yet found in my collection. Thanks much, Spiff. Your cards went out in the mail this afternoon. Of the many cards he sent, I had a hard time narrowing down the field to the lucky few I'd share with you. Here are the winners...

2008  UD Goudey #109 Yovanni Gallardo, #106 J.J. Hardy

I officially have some competition now. For as long as my wife has known me, she has known how much of a baseball geek I am. Before we were married she was in college down in Charleston, SC and I was stationed out here in Seattle and she'd hear me speak all about how Corey, Brauny, J.J. and Cammy did in the previous game, never really asking too much about the team. Finally, as I was going through this box from Spiff she stopped at the J.J. Hardy card above and said, "Who is THAT?" Damn. Now I have to compete with J.J. Hardy? The guy is a stud. If you caught the article in Sports Illustrated last February when they followed the Brewers around at Spring Training, they showed a picture of him and Corey Hart playing ping pong down in the Arizona sun, w/ Bob Uecker in some short shorts watching the action (and likely calling the play-by-play with the bartender over a couple tall, cool Miller Lites).  At any rate, he's quite "sculpted", a bit moreso than myself. 

Yovanni is finally healthy again, and should he stay that way he can easily be a 20-game winner for the Crew. We're going to need it this year.

2005 Fleer #316 'Trio Prospects' Ben Hendrickson, Corey Hart, Dave Krynzel

The fine right fielder in the middle is the object of my sister-in-law's affection. I myself can't for the life of me figure out what she finds so appealing about Corey (besides his ridiculous speed). I hope the Brewers figure out what they are doing with him, and soon. They need to lock him into a long-term deal this spring or they are going to lose an amazing baseball player.

2005 Fleer #71 Ben Sheets

2004 Upper Deck Power Up #82 Ben Sheets

Sheets had surgery on his right elbow Tuesday, and hopes to be ready following the All-Star break. As you know, he's not under contract with ANYONE right now, so time will tell what happens with him. Brewers management says nothing is under discussion right now with Sheets' agent. At over $11 million last year for only 12 wins, not worth it. On the other hand, without him and CC we never would have made the playoffs. Milwaukee fans have a lot to thank Ben for, he was with us for many years, but I think we need to move on. I wish him luck, and really hope he's able to sign with somebody this year.

1984 Fleer #204 Pete Ladd, #203 Roy Howell, #212 Ed Romero, #194 Jerry Augustine

Spiff sent me a number of these cards from '84 Fleer (almost the whole team set) but I picked these four due to the large mammals that seem to be sitting on their faces, resting neatly just above the lip. You can't tell due to the color, but Howell is sporting some very respectable handlebar action. Wisconsin native Jerry Augustine, however, was busy keeping the book. He only pitched 6 innings in '84, as you can see he made himself pretty comfortable in the meantime. He played his entire 10-year career for his hometown Brewers, and later would coach the UW-Milwaukee mens baseball team, to much success.

2008 UD Goudey SP #268 Ryan Braun

I love Brauny, and to me he is THE "Hebrew Hammer". No disrespect for Gabe Kapler, he had a helluva season last year with the Crew. But Brauny is my boy. If you haven't seen his interview on Jim Rome's show "Rome is Burning", check it out on YouTube.  Adam Carolla is the guest host, and he and Brauny put on a great show. Great card here.

1992 Donruss Triple Play #254 Paul Molitor

1992 Bowman #375 Paul Molitor

Love me some Molitor cards, truly do.  It was a sad day when he left Milwaukee for Toronto and the money (and the World Series hardware), but I guess he was smart enough to leave "The Good Land" before the uniforms went to shit in the mid 90's. 

1990 Best Cards Stockton Ports #61 Cal Eldred

Back when the Brewers had a minor league team in California (now an Oakland A's affiliate) they saw a number of soon-t0-be big names pass through their gates, including Gary Sheffield, Dan Plesac, Ben Sheets, Geoff Jenkins, Jeff Cirillo, and a one Cal Eldred.  This is my new favorite Cal Eldred card, and currently in the mail for some sharpie action.

1993 Score #485 Pat Listach ROTY

1992 Leaf Phenoms #BC-7 Pat Listach

In '92, Listach (also a former Stockton Ports player) beat out Kenny Lofton to win the AL Rookie of the Year award, the first Brewer to do so (until Ryan Braun in '07). His '92 UD card is my favorite, I had that baby in a hard plastic case when I was a kid, 4-screws and all. That case was previously occupied by the 1991 Studio David Justice card, and before that the '88 Topps Jose Canseco 40/40 card. Quite a throne of achievement.

2006 UD All-Time Legends #ATL-12 Robin Yount

No Brewers lot would be complete without a Robin Yount card, and this time it's a nice one. Thanks again, Spiff.

You Can't Spell "Weeks" without 2 E's and a K.

"This is going to be his breakout year!"

The cry heard from every Brewers fan this time each year. At least that's how it's been for the past few seasons, as Spring approaches and the budding prospect of a prospect finally budding draw nearer. Of course I'm talking about Rickie Weeks, who, in this humble author's opinion, is the most overpaid second baseman in baseball.

On Thursday the Brewers and Weeks came to terms on a one-year, $2.45 Million contract, with an additional $100,000 bonus for reaching a certain plate appearance number (Weeks has been prone to injury as of late). In my opinion, this is a lot of money for a guy who has yet to produce numbers consistent on both sides of the mound. When he is hot, he's red hot. But for the past two seasons, he has had the lowest fielding percentage (.976, .975) of all NL second baseman. In 2008 he also led the league in errors at second base (15). Last year he had a .234 avg, good enough for 17th among all MLB second baseman. He was 3rd on the list, however, for MLB second basemen when it came to strikeouts. With 112 hits, he had nearly half as many as the league leading second baseman Dustin Pedroia.

The problem with Weeks is he's an amazing baseball player. Yes, this is a problem. So many times, a guy with huge potential fails to live up to expectations, only to be released or traded to another team where he finally comes to fruition. I am afraid this is going to be the case with Weeks. The guy has speed (19 SB in '08) power (14 HR, 10th among 2B) and baserunning ability. He just hasn't produced numbers that the Brewers need, and certainly not numbers that would rank him among leadoff hitters league-wide. Hopefully this will be his "breakout" year though. We're hoping. I guess Milwaukee pretty much said the same thing by only negotiating out this next season. Rickie, you're officially on the clock.

With pitchers and catchers reporting to Maryvale next Friday, the offseason is quickly coming to a close. Brewers fans have seen players come and go, and have seen a number of deals signed (Prince Fielder, Mike Cameron, Jason Kendall, J.J. Hardy, and now Rickie Weeks). I am still waiting for the most important signing, however, and that is of RF Corey Hart.

My sister-in-law, I believe, would leave my brother is Corey showed up at their front door some day. Maybe it's the tattoos, maybe it's the slight southern drawl, or maybe it's the fact that as a right fielder he had 23 stolen bases last year, showcasing surprising speed for a man of 6'6''. Last season Corey became the first player in Brewers history to have back-to-back 20/20 seasons. This year he'll begin his 3rd season as a starter for the Crew, and as long as he stays healthy, he'll top his numbers from last year. His .268 avg leaves something to be desired, and his .300 obp is near the bottom of the league rankings. With last year's 3rd Base Coach-turned-interim manager Dale Sveum moving into his new position as Brewers hitting coach, i'd expect to see Corey's average jump a good 20-25 points as he learns a little bit from Sveum's "school of patience". Look for Corey's numbers to be around .295/.340/115 this season.

I've been sitting here, trying to figure out what the hell the Brewers are doing with Corey. He's the last one on the team to get signed, as it stands right now the Crew will be meeting him at an arbitration hearing. I hope it doesn't get to that point, though, and I don't think it will. Owner Mark Attanasio has made a committment to this organization, and he said his wallet doesn't have a ceiling (we're not talking Steinbrenner numbers here, but much more than we saw during the Selig regime). The Brewers, having signed everyone else for '09, now know exactly how much money they have to work with. With the departure of Sheets, Sabathia, and Gagne, Milwaukee has (had) an extra cool $25 million laying around, and even w/ the signings of Braun, Hardy, Fielder and Weeks, there is extra money to give Corey at least $3 million for the '09 season, and sometime during the spring or early summer I could imagine seeing a 5 year deal worth around $25 million or so. This will keep Braun, Hardy, and Hart together for the next 5 years, and Bill Hall and Prince Fielder for the next two years. With Cameron and Kendall likely departing after the '09 season, this leaves pitching (which is an annual concern for the Crew) and catching a hole for the '10 season. But that's a long time away. Let's just get busy signing Corey.

In related news, because Ben Sheets has remained unsigned (after a failed physical w/ the Texas Rangers last week revealing serious problems with his elbow) it look slike MLB may hold the Brewers to the fire and force them to pay for Sheets' surgery, which will sideline him for the entire season should he decided to go through with it. I don't foresee any club signing Sheets to a 2-year contract for about $20-30 million or so, just to have him sit out the first year entirely and have next season be a doubt at all. So, even after his contract has expired, Sheets is still costing us money. What do the 2008 NLDS and the 2009 season have in common? We're paying for Ben Sheets and getting absolutely no use out of him. Lovely.