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Some things to read while getting the first step out of the way.

Before I get started, thanks to Dan Walsh, Rubie and BrewHaHeather for keeping things running while I've been out the last couple of days. Today Rubie and Walsh start a new project, as SBNation is proud to introduce Anonymous Eagle, our new Marquette blog. They'll be diving in headfirst as Marquette plays Villanova in the Big East Conference tournament this afternoon, and I hope you'll stop by and check out their work.

Meanwhile, it'll be a busy day for the Brewers as well, with split squad action in Maryvale and Goodyear. Randy Wolf will make his second start of the spring against the A's, while Chris Narveson will start for the traveling squad against the Reds. The home half will be on the radio via WTMJ. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any coverage of the away half.

Expect to see Carlos Gomez in action somewhere today, and expect to see him trying to hit the ball on the ground. After a series of infield flies and weak liners to start the spring, coaches are working with Gomez to help him develop an approach that will allow him to better utilize his speed.

Don't expect to see Trevor Hoffman, though. Hoffman is taking it slow this spring, and doesn't expect to appear in a Cactus League game until sometime next week.

With all the conversation about wide and varied expectations for Carlos Gomez and Alcides Escobar, I think we occasionally forget that Casey McGehee could also fall anywhere within a wide range of 2010 possibilities. Minor League Ball looks back at McGehee's path to the big leagues, and projects him for a .260/.320/.420 line with improvement defensively.

It still feels early to me, but we're already roughly halfway through spring training. Wisconsin Sports Tap has a look at the roster battles, as they stand today.

Elsewhere in camp minutiae, from yesterday's camp report and other sources:

• John Axford's early spring ERA is 18.00, but don't let the numbers fool you: His name apparently came up in a meeting to discuss pitchers who could make the team.
• Trent Oeltjen could be cleared to play today, although it seems like we've been saying that every day for a while now. Mat Gamel and Josh Butler are still out.
• Adam McCalvy has a great post on the Brewers' shifting plans regarding development of players in the Dominican Republic, and a look at some of the events that brought the team to this point.
• With Mark DiFelice off rehabbing from shoulder surgery, Martin Maldonado is the new barber of choice in the Brewer clubhouse.
• Steffan Wilson has a degree in Government from Harvard, but no idea what he'll do with it.

Speaking of Gamel, Baseball Musings recently covered him as part of their Players A to Z series. David Pinto says Gamel could be "a very nice player to move to a team looking for a third baseman."

Meanwhile, Prince Fielder's long term future remains a hot topic of conversation: Jorge Says No! doesn't think the Brewers can afford to keep him around, and View From Bernie's Chalet thinks an extension is possible.

From a debate on Fielder's long term contract status to one on his short term spot in the order: Baseball Musings projects the Brewers to score 4.88 runs per game this season, but says they could increase that number to 5.05 runs per game by using the following lineup:

1. Rickie Weeks, 2B
2. Prince Fielder, 1B
3. Alcides Escobar, SS
4. Ryan Braun, LF
5. Casey McGehee, 3B
6. Corey Hart, RF
7. Carlos Gomez, CF
8. Pitcher
9. Gregg Zaun, C

We're down to the final step in our Brew Crew Ball Community Projections, so stop by and voice your opinion on the relievers. Thanks again to Jordan for taking the reins on this one - I can't wait to see the final results.

Elsewhere in rankings/predictions/projections and stuff I didn't know what to do with:

• In possibly the most optimistic Brewer projection I've seen, Blog Like a Champion thinks Ryan Braun will win the batting title and NL MVP while powering the Brewers to 93 wins and the NL Wild Card.
• Phillies Nation is penciling the Brewers in for 85 wins and 2nd place in the Central.
• The Biz of Baseball ranked the Brewers' Italian Sausage Bobblehead giveaway (August 8th) as one of 2010's top MLB promotions.
  

Around baseball:

Nationals: Released Eddie Guardado and Shawn Estes.
Rangers: Acquired pitcher Edwar Ramirez from the Yankees for cash.
Rays: Signed Hank Blalock to a minor league deal that will pay him $925,000 if he makes the team, and allows him to opt out if he doesn't.
Twins: Joe Nathan has a torn UCL in his pitching elbow and will likely undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the 2010 season.

One former Brewer might be landing on his feet south of the border: Mop Up Duty reports that Tomo Ohka has been invited to try out for the Quintana Roo Tigers of the Mexican League. Ohka played for the Brewers in 2005 and 2006 and went 1-5 with a 5.96 ERA for the Indians last season.

Here's something interesting to think about today: Baseball Musings crunched the numbers from 1996-2008 and produced this list of players who attempted more or less bases than one would expect, given their opportunities. Former Brewer Scott Podsednik ranked third in baseball over that time with roughly 220% more steal attempts than expected. On the other end of the spectrum, Damian Miller was fourth from the bottom, having attempted just 5.87% of expected steals.

Happy birthday today to:

• Salomon Torres, who set a career high by converting 28 saves as a Brewer in 2008, and turns 38.
• 2009 Huntsville Star Shane Justis, who turns 27.
• 2009 Wisconsin Timber Rattler Sean McCraw, who turns 24.

Finally, SBNation celebrated a milestone while I was gone this week, as the 30 millionth comment was posted on one of our 240+ sites. I'm proud to say that nearly 250,000 of those comments have come from this site, and if you're one of the many that have helped us reach that milestone, thank you.

Drink up.

Also, I don't see a good way to project leverage with forms right now, so if we decide it's important to do that we can do it another way or I can just give Hoffman 1.8, Hawkins and Coffey 1.2, and so on.

Thanks again for the participation. This wraps up the part of the community projections that requires input. I'll post a big summary of all the players by next weekend, and eventually get a big summary with a projected wins total based on all of our projections.

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W: Cory Luebke
L: Cody Scarpetta
S: Mike Adams

The Brewers almost pulled out another comeback win, but Cody Scarpetta struggled in the eighth, allowing two runs to the Padres who held on for the win.

Scarpetta wasn't the only Brewer pitcher who struggled. Yovani Gallardo started and allowed a three-run homer to Will Venable in the first. But he did retire seven of the next eight batters he faced. Todd Coffey, Scott Schoeneweis, John Axford, and Zach Braddock each pitched a scoreless inning following Gallardo.

Alcides Escobar led off the game with a double and was imediately driven in by Lorenzo Cain. That was it for the offense for a while as Sean Gallagher and Mat Latos shut down the Brewers until the sixth. Gregg Zaun drove in Cain in the sixth and Hernan Iribarren and Escobar added RBIs of their own in the seventh to take the lead. Unfortunately, the Padres fought back against Cody Scarpetta in the eights and the Brewer offense was no match for Mike Adams. 

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After vanquishing our Cactus League money-grubbing rivals from the North Side yesterday, today the Brewers head to Peoria with a chance to go over .500 for the first time this spring.

Join us at 2 as Yovani Gallardo makes his second appearance of the spring, facing off against half the Padres. The bad news is, it's likely the good not altogether terrible half, as this is the home portion of a split squad day for the Friars.

After the jump: pitching match-ups, lineups, and, if you're good children, maybe a couple game notes.

Gallardo was solid in his spring training debut against the A's, putting up two scoreless innings while striking out two.  If yesterday's game was a sign of things to come, YoGa should probably go three innings today.  According to the Club, Scott Schoeneweis, Todd Coffey, John Axford, and Zach Braddock (or, as Cory Provus is fond of calling him, Zach Bradford) will also get some work.

In case you missed the lineup for the Crew, it goes like this:

Escobar SS
Cain CF
Braun LF
McGehee 3B
Zaun C
Hart RF
Wilson 1B
Iribarren 2B
Gallardo P

Among those not making the trip to Peoria: Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, Jim Edmonds, Jody Gerut, Craig Counsell, and Jon Lucroy.

For the Fathers, it's former Cub Sean Gallagher on the bump.  In his only action of the spring, Gallagher blanked the Mariners for two innings.  Righty Mat Latos, lefty Cory Luebke, and righty Mike Adams are also slated to take the ball.

Enjoy the game!

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Thank you AP photog/dirty old man, Morry Gash, for that fine picture taken yesterday. Seriously, why take/publish a photo like that? Simple. So juvenile bloggers like myself would post it.

Something to read while you're clipping coupons.

I think Kyle is back tomorrow. You're only stuck with me for one more day and then I head back to the minors. All apologies, my blogging skills have gotten a little rusty. If Kyle ever has me back, I'll do a better job. Thanks for the kind words in the regards to my daughter yesterday......she appears to be getting better.

Yesterday, the Brewers took on the Little Bears to the south and won 5-3. Jeff Suppan was back to his below average self. The guy has been mediocre his entire career and will be for his final season with the Brewers. If we can get .500 ball out of #5 starter, I won't complain. Until I realize we're paying him $12 million dollars.


HardCore is still complaining about the weather.
TH is also drooling all over Carlos Gomez.
The Rick Peterson lovefest continues......
Adam McCalvy asks "Is it Inglett's job to lose?"
Adam also has a mailbag and answers questions on Fielder, Escobar, Jenkins and Jeffress
In-Between Hops discovers the real Gregg Zaun.
Winks has some quick thoughts on the game.
More pictures from the Timber Rattlers new construction.
Brewers have two Long Beach State alums trying to make the team
Boston Herald has a feature on Billy Hall. “It’s kind of a gift and a curse when you can do all the things I can do.” EXCEPT HIT A BASEBALL!

Today the Crew take on the Padres in Peoria. Is Doug Brocail still alive? I remember getting his autograph at Spring training in 1993 when he was with the Padres, yet he was still pitching last season. Did he retire or is he with another team?

The stadium tax won't end as originally predicted. It apparently will take at least an additional 2 years. (Just don't read the comments, your head will hurt)

Quickly before I go, as a Nebraska native, I'll offer one last ditch pitch for you to attend the College World Series in Omaha this June. It's truly a fantastic event that's about to be ruined by the NCAA. This is the final year at it's home for over 50 years, Rosenblatt Stadium. The NCAA is moving to a new stadium in a different part of town.  Lost in the move will be the neighborhood surrounding the stadium that adds so much charm and personality to the event. Listen, if the ping is what bothers you, trust me, you'll get over it in about 2 innings. Plus, you get a chance to see future Brewers play ball (off the top of my head) Ryan Braun, Geoff Jenkins & Kyle Peterson. Every year there seems to be at least 2-3 players drafted by the Brewers at the CWS. Here is the plea I wrote in '09 on the Daily Drink. First game is Saturday June 19th, I'll see you then.

Around The League:
I found this pretty interesting. I don't think it would ever gain a ton of steam, but interesting none the less. "Floating" realignment in which teams would not be fixed to a division, but free to change divisions from year-to-year based on geography, payroll and their plans to contend or not. (FanShot)  Floating realignment also could mean changing the number of teams in a division, teams changing leagues and interleague games throughout the season, according to several sources familiar with the committee's discussions. It is important to remember that the committee's talks are very preliminary and non-binding.

Boston sheds a tear as Nomar looks to retire.
Cal Ripken wants to manage.
Twins fans are freaking out over Joe Nathan's injury.

Non-baseball links below......

I lost a bet, I had Corey Feldman biting the dust before Corey Haim.

The trailer for the Tron remake has potential.

Bob Barker likes the young girls.

8 Movies that were sci-fi, but you didn't know it until about an hour in.

I'm a huge Zooey Deschanel fan and this video doesn't change my mind.

Again, we close with a music video...a disgustingly catchy song by Hard-Fi