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KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) -- The Tampa Bay Rays addressed a need for help in
the outfield Tuesday, when they acquired Gabe Gross from the Milwaukee
Brewers in exchange for minor league pitcher Josh Butler.

Gross was batting .209 with no homers and two RBI's in 16 games this
season. He went 2-for-4 and scored three runs, including the game-
winner, in Milwaukee's 9-8 victory over St. Louis earlier Tuesday.

Butler was 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA in three starts for Class A Vero Beach
this season.

By Jon Heyman, SI.com

Veteran right-handed starter Jeff Weaver has agreed to a minor-league
contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, SI.com has learned. As part of
the deal, if Weaver is not called up the major leagues by June, he
can declare free agency.

Weaver, 31, pitched for the Mariners in 2007, going 7-13 with a 6.20
ERA. He has pitched for the Tigers, Yankees, Dodgers, Angels and
Cardinals. In 2006, he won the clinching Game 5 of the World Series
for St. Louis. Once considered one of the game's top pitching
prospects, he has had just one winning season, going 14-11 for the
Dodgers in 2005.

He is the older brother of Jered Weaver of the Angels. The two were
teammates briefly in 2006 before Jeff was cut, partly to make room
for Jered in the rotation.

The Brewers' interest in Weaver was first reported by the Milwaukee
Journal-Sentinel.

The Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets were partners in misery last
season, with each missing the playoffs despite holding what was once
a comfortable lead in their respective divisions.

The teams, both with redemption on their minds this year, meet for
the first time in 2008 on Friday, when they kick off what's expected
to be a rain-soaked series at Shea Stadium.

The young Brewers were among baseball's biggest surprises in 2007,
jumping out to a 24-10 start and leading the NL Central for most of
the season.

But what was once an 8 1/2 game lead disappeared as the Chicago Cubs
instead took the division, with Milwaukee going 36-46 in the final
three months of the year.

"Now they've gone through it. There's nothing I need to tell them,"
Brewers manager Ned Yost told his team's official Web site. "They're
prepared. They understand what it feels like, what it smells like.
That's a huge bit of experience for a young team."

Series at a Glance
Milwaukee at
NY Mets
Fri, Apr 11 - 7:10 pm ET

Milwaukee at
NY Mets
Sat, Apr 12 - 1:10 pm ET

Milwaukee at
NY Mets
Sun, Apr 13 - 1:10 pm ET

The Mets aren't quite as young, but their well-documented 2007
collapse stung even more. New York led the NL East by seven games
with 17 to play, but surrendered the title to Philadelphia on the
final day of the regular season.

New York's struggles have carried over to this year, as the Mets (4-
4) dropped four of their first six. They also lost Pedro Martinez
last week to a hamstring injury, and Nelson Figueroa will make his
first start in his place on Friday.

Figueroa (0-0, 9.00 ERA) hadn't pitched in the majors since 2004
before making two relief appearances this year, and he hasn't earned
a win in the big leagues since beating the Brewers (6-3) in August
2003.

In the meantime, the right-hander pitched in the minors and in
professional leagues in Mexico and Taiwan.

"I got the chance around the world to let my talent shine without
being worried about getting sent down," Figueroa said. "I can only
pitch wherever you put me. Give me the opportunity to be on your team
… so I can prove to you that I can do it."

Figueroa will be opposed by Manny Parra, another player trying to
make the most of his chance in the majors. After making nine
appearances and two starts last year, Parra (1-0, 3.38) earned a spot
in the starting rotation in spring training - and earned his first
career win against San Francisco last week.

The left-hander threw five no-hit innings against the Giants before
having his bid broken up in the sixth, and ended up allowing two runs
on three hits with seven strikeouts in 5 1-3 innings.

Parra came out of the bullpen to throw 6 1-3 innings against the Mets
last Aug. 1, allowing just one run on four hits and striking out
eight in an 8-5 Brewers loss.

Both teams have seen their fortunes change in recent games. Milwaukee
had won four straight before dropping its last two to Cincinnati,
including Thursday's 4-1 loss.

The Mets had lost three straight, but they won their last two to take
their series against Philadelphia. They won Thursday's game 4-3 in 12
innings on Angel Pagan's RBI single.

"The way that we won I think gives us some momentum and hopefully we
can use that going forward," third baseman David Wright
said. "Everything was extremely negative after that first loss. To
come and take this series after dropping that first one hopefully
gives us some confidence."

Forecasts predict rain throughout the weekend, but this is the
Brewers' lone scheduled trip to New York this

Courtesy of Yahoo



Inside Pitch

Francisco Cordero said the Brewers blew their chance to keep him as
their closer by not working out a contract extension before the 2007
season.


Cordero, who set the Brewers' franchise record with 44 saves last
season, signed a free agent deal with Cincinnati in November for $46
million over four years. The Brewers had offered $42 million over the
same term.


Cordero said it never would have come to that had the Brewers given
him a contract extension in the spring of `07.


"They would have taken a risk and I would have taken a risk," said
Cordero, back in town for the Reds' three-game series against the
Brewers. "They could have had me for less money. They said they
wanted to see me pitch first."





General manager Doug Melvin said the Brewers did offer Cordero a two-
year extension that would have turned into a three-year deal because
his 2007 contract would have been torn up.


"I recall we did make a proposal, but we didn't get a counter
(offer)," Melvin said. "We never reached any type of negotiating
stage. I don't know if they gave us a chance. They never gave us a
proposal.


"They wanted more than that, and I think that's why they never
responded."


After losing Cordero, the Brewers signed free agent closer Eric Gagne
to a one-year, $10 million deal.


BREWERS 3, REDS 2 (10): The bad news is that Eric Gagne keeps giving
up home runs to blow save chances. The good news is that the Brewers
find a way to win anyway. For the second time in seven games, Gagne
allowed a game-tying homer in the ninth, this time to Cincinnati's
Corey Patterson, one strike away from ending the game. But the
Brewers rallied on Rickie Weeks' RBI single in the 10th off David
Weathers, and they have won both games in which Gagne blew saves.


Notes, Quotes

• OF Tony Gwynn Jr. sat out his fourth consecutive game with a
strained left hamstring. Manager Ned Yost gave Gabe Gross his second
start of the season in center field in place of Gwynn.


• RHP Ben Sheets' string of 15 1/3 scoreless innings to begin the
season is the sixth longest in club history and third longest by a
starting pitcher. RHP Jim Slaton went 20 scoreless to begin the 1976
season and 16 scoreless the following season.


• C Jason Kendall has hit safely in five consecutive games and is 6-
for-9 with three RBIs on the Brewers' season-opening homestand.
Kendall already has three multi-hit games.


• The Brewers have scored first in each of their seven games this
season.


• 1B Prince Fielder's six-game hitting streak ended Tuesday, but he
made two diving catches to rob Adam Dunn of hits in the Brewers' 3-2
victory over Cincinnati.


• LHP Brian Shouse has inherited five runners in his two appearances
and stranded them all. Last season, Shouse stranded 60 of 78
inherited runners (76.9 percent).


By The Numbers: 0—Runs allowed by RHP Ben Sheets in 15 1/3 innings
in his first two starts this season.


Quote To Note: "He's a lot easier to catch."—Brewers C Jason
Kendall, when asked if it was nice not to have to hit off Ben Sheets
anymore.


Roster Report

Medical Watch:


OF Tony Gwynn Jr. (tight left hamstring) left the April 3 game and
did not play April 4-8. He is day-to-day.


RHP Yovani Gallardo (arthroscopic knee surgery in February 2008)
opened the season on the 15-day disabled list. He began a rehab
assignment with Class AAA Nashville on April 4. He is expected to be
ready to rejoin the Brewers rotation in mid-April.


LHP Chris Capuano (torn elbow ligament) will try to avoid a second
reconstructive surgery with a month of physical rehab. He went on the
15-day disabled list retroactive to March 21.


LHP Randy Choate (broken left ring finger) went on the 15-day
disabled list March 20. He will be re-evaluated in early April.

By LAURA MEDINA, STATS Writer

While posting their best start in a decade, the Milwaukee Brewers
have capitalized on every opportunity - even in extra innings.

The Brewers will try to extend their successful season-opening run
when they continue their three-game series against the Cincinnati
Reds on Wednesday night at Miller Park.

Milwaukee has won six of its first seven games for the first time
since 1998. Another win Wednesday would give the Brewers their best
start to a season since opening 17-1 in 1987.

The Brewers won Tuesday's series opener 3-2 on a 10th-inning RBI-
single from Rickie Weeks. Weeks' heroics gave Milwaukee its fourth
straight win, and bailed out closer Eric Gagne after he gave up Corey
Patterson's game-tying homer in the ninth.


Gagne, who signed a one-year, $10 million contract in the offseason,
has blown two saves in three chances. He entered 2008 with just 10
blown saves in 187 career opportunities.

While Gagne struggled, the Brewers' offense - averaging more than 10
hits and six runs per game - continued its success at the plate.

Shortstop J. J. Hardy had three hits and scored two runs, while Bill
Hall hit his third homer of the season.

"We won, that is the most important thing," said starter Jeff Suppan,
who limited the Reds to one run and six hits in seven
innings. "That's our favorite letter of the alphabet, the W, any way
you can get it."

Dave Bush (0-1, 10.13 ERA) looks to follow up Suppan's strong
performance after a rough start to 2008. The right-hander gave up six
runs and six hits, while walking a career-high five batters in 5 1-3
innings of a 6-3 loss to the Cubs at Chicago on Thursday.

"I'm going to give up quite a few hits. That's always the case," Bush
told the Brewers' official Web site. "As long as I can limit my
walks, I'm all right. When I put guys on base in front of those hits,
I make it a lot more difficult for myself."

Bush is 1-2 with an 8.64 ERA in seven career starts against the Reds
(4-4).

Tuesday's loss was the second straight for Cincinnati, which will
send Josh Fogg (0-1, 13.50) to the mound Wednesday.

The right-hander struggled at home against Philadelphia last Friday,
yielding six runs, five hits, and three walks in four innings of a
rain-soaked 8-4 loss.

"You can't control the weather," said Fogg, who was making his Reds
debut after spending the previous two seasons with Colorado. "I just
made poor pitches. I didn't get strike one, and I put my team in a
hole. It's hard to come back when you're down three in the first."

Fogg is 6-4 with a 3.74 ERA in 15 career games against the Brewers.



Series at a Glance
Cincinnati 2
Milwaukee 3
Tue, Apr 8 - Final 10th

Cincinnati at
Milwaukee
Wed, Apr 9 - 8:05 pm ET

Cincinnati at
Milwaukee
Thu, Apr 10 - 1:05 pm ET

After establishing himself as a full-time starter in 2007, Brewers
Outfielder Corey Hart became one of just five Brewers to hit 20 homers
and steal 20 bases in a single season.

He's also proven his mettle defensively, providing one of 2007's best
highlights. In fact, Corey Hart said that robbing So Taguchi of a home
run last season was his favorite baseball moment.

Join Corey Hart for an online chat on Wednesday, April 9 at 2:30 p.m.
CST.

To join the chat, you'll need a FREE brewers.com account.

By COLIN FLY, AP Sports Writer

MILWAUKEE (AP)—The Brewers bailed out Eric Gagne again.

Rickie Weeks singled home the winning run in the 10th inning and the Milwaukee
Brewers
beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 on Tuesday night.

With two outs and two strikes in the ninth, Gagne blew his second save in three
chances
when Corey Patterson hit a homer just over right fielder Corey Hart's leap to
tie the game.

Gagne, who signed a one-year, $10 million contract this offseason to close for
the
Brewers after Francisco Cordero cashed in with a $46 million contract with the
Reds, also
blew a save on opening day against the Cubs on Wednesday.

Milwaukee won that game in the 10th and did the same against the Reds.

J.J. Hardy singled to start the inning and pinch-hitter Joe Dillon sacrificed
Hardy to second.
Jason Kendall singled off David Weathers (0-1) to right field to set up Weeks,
who hit it
just past shortstop Jeff Keppinger. Salomon Torres (1-0) got the win.


Gagne's failure overshadowed the pitching performances of Reds rookie Johnny
Cueto and
Brewers veteran Jeff Suppan. Cueto dominated the Brewers with his 96 mph
fastball and
hard slider, striking out eight in 6 1-3 innings to follow up the 10 Ks he had
in his major
league debut and victory on Thursday.

After the Brewers first six hitters started 0-for-16 with seven strikeouts
against the 22-
year-old right-hander, Bill Hall sent a hanging, full count slider in the
seventh inning
deep to the left-field bleachers, giving Milwaukee a 2-1 lead Gagne couldn't
hold.

Cueto left one batter after giving up Hall's homer. He struck Hart for the third
time before
being relieved by Jared Burton. Cueto allowed five hits and has yet to walk a
batter in his
short career.

The Brewers scratched their first run across in the third inning.

After Hardy's slow rolling single, Suppan, batting in the eighth slot, bunted
Hardy over to
second for Kendall, who delivered with a blooper just over the infield to left
that brought
Hardy home.

Milwaukee nearly did it again in the fifth after Hardy singled and Suppan
sacrificed. But
Kendall's single was too hard to right field and kept Hardy at third. Cueto
settled and
struck out Weeks on a slider in the dirt to end the inning.

In the dugout after the K, Cueto pretended to be on the mound, mimicking his
stare down
and pitching motion before busting out with a wide grin and taking a seat.

Suppan, though, kept the Reds from scoring until the seventh by relying on his
sharp
command, allowing a run on six hits and two walks. After Suppan twice worked out
of
trouble, Patterson's hot grounder got past a diving Weeks at second base to
score Joey
Votto. Suppan was done after the inning, finishing with a strikeout.

Cincinnati loaded the bases in the eighth, but it wasn't until Patterson got
back up in the
ninth and was down to his last strike that the Reds struck again.



Series at a Glance
Cincinnati 2
Milwaukee 3
Tue, Apr 8 - Final 10th
Cincinnati at
Milwaukee
Wed, Apr 9 - 8:05 pm ET
Cincinnati at
Milwaukee
Thu, Apr 10 - 1:05 pm ET

www.freebaseballradio.com

By Adam McCalvy / MLB.com

MILWAUKEE -- Former Brewers closer Francisco Cordero returned to Miller Park on
Tuesday and told his side of the story.
Wearing Cincinnati red, Cordero expressed gratitude that the Brewers gave him a
chance
to be a closer again and insisted that there were no hard feelings after he
spurned a four-
year, $42 million offer from the Brewers for a $46 million deal with the Reds.
Cordero also
revealed for the first time that it never should have gone that far, saying he
expressed
interest months earlier about a multi-year extension with Milwaukee but got a
tepid
response.

During 2007 Spring Training, Cordero told Brewers general manager Doug Melvin,
though
agent Bean Stringfellow, that he was interested in a multi-year extension with
the
Brewers, who had acquired him the previous July.

"We would have considered three or four years and it would have been less money
than it
was in free agency," Cordero said. "When you put up good numbers like I did in a
free-
agent year, then you're going to get paid.

"They would have taken a risk, and I would have taken a risk. You don't know
what's going
to happen during the season when you don't get something done in Spring
Training. They
don't know if I'm going to have a great season like I did, and I don't know if
I'm going to
have a great season."

According to Cordero, the Brewers showed little interest.

"They said, 'No, we need to see you pitch,'" Cordero said. "So it was not the
case that they
didn't have a chance to bring me back. They did have a chance. They had plenty
of
chances to bring me back as a Brewer."

Melvin remembers it differently, and pointed out that he never saw any kind of
proposal
from Stringfellow. The Brewers did submit an offer, the GM said, that would have
replaced
Cordero's 2007 contract with a three-year deal that would have nearly doubled
his $5
million salary through 2009. Melvin said he never got a counter offer.

Cordero went on to set a franchise record with 44 saves and won a spot on the
National
League All-Star team. Once he hit the open market, the idea of a hometown
discount was
off the table and things came to a head on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving when
the
Brewers submitted their $42 million proposal.

As Cordero understands it, Stringfellow informed Melvin that he had a better
offer, and the
sides agreed to talk again on the Monday following the holiday weekend.

"I think [the Brewers] thought it was a bluff," Cordero said. "An hour later,
the same day,
they called my agent and said, 'You have until [Friday] to decide. They put a
deadline. They
wouldn't wait until Monday."

Cordero, who agreed to terms with Cincinnati on that Friday, did not like the
idea of a
deadline.

"Not at all," he said. "Why would I like that?"

Melvin figured as much. But he said the Brewers never intended to go past $40
million,
and after upping their proposal to $42 million were told by Stringfellow only
that Cordero
had another offer from a team within the NL Central that was "significantly
greater" than
Milwaukee's.

When Melvin heard that term, he backed off. Had Melvin known that $43 or $44
million
might have swayed Cordero to stay, things may have ended differently.

"I would have gone to ownership with it," Melvin said.

Cordero's decision forced the Brewers to regroup. They added former Pirates
closer
Salomon Torres in early December, and days later came to terms with former
All-Star Eric
Gagne on a one-year, $10 million deal to be the closer.

"[Losing Cordero] was a little surprising the first day, but then the second day
we went
right to work," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "I just thought that he would
sign here. He
gave me no reason that he wouldn't, but [the Reds] offer was better and I
completely
understand his thinking. He's worked hard to be where he's at."

Cordero has moved on, too. The Reds and Brewers are widely considered the two
top
contenders to unseat the Cubs as reigning division champions, and Cordero said
he's
happy in Cincinnati.

"It was so nice to be a Brewer," he said. "They treated me the right way, they
even gave me
a second chance to get my job back. They put me in the closer's role. They
brought be
back last year [by exercising a club option] without hesitating. That's why I
said early in
Spring Training, 'I want to stay here. I want to stay with the Brewers.'"

But once he hit the open market, "It was open to everybody. There's 30 teams in
the big
leagues that got a chance to sign me. Cincinnati showed a lot of interest, they
went after
me. I thought that the Brewers would have been more aggressive than the
Cincinnati Reds
because I pitched with the Brewers, not with the Reds."

Countered Melvin: "He'll survive. He's going to be happy. We were aggressive,
but there is
a certain point where you have to back off."

Adam McCalvy is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the
approval of
Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Manager Ned Yost didn't need to watch Mike Cameron for long in spring training
to realize
the veteran center fielder would be missed during his 25-game suspension for
using a
banned stimulant last season.

At the same time, Yost thought he had adequate coverage in center with the likes
of Tony
Gwynn Jr., Gabe Kapler and Gabe Gross.
"We felt good with the guys that we had," said Yost. "Kapler is a very solid
player, as is
Gross, as is Tony Gwynn. We just felt we weren't going to skip a beat."

And that's exactly the way it played out during the first week of the season.
Before being
sidelined over the weekend with a slight hamstring strain, Gwynn batted .571
(4-for-7)
and drove in the winning run on Opening Day in Chicago.

Gross got his only start Saturday and drove in a run plus threw out a runner at
second in
the Brewers' 5-4 squeaker over San Francisco.

And Kapler cut a wide swath through the Giants' pitching staff. He collected
three hits
Friday and drove in two runs in a 13-4 rout, socked a pinch homer Saturday that
proved
to be the winning run and went 2-for-4 Sunday with yet another homer and two
runs
batted in as the Brewers rolled to a 7-0 triumph.

"Mike Cameron is a hell of a ballplayer," said Kapler. "But this lineup is the
kind of lineup
that can have a few missing people and still be successful. It's that deep."

From Sports Illustrated

Less than a week after being told he probably would need surgery on his ailing
pitching
elbow, Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Chris Capuano has decided to try rehabilitation
that would
allow him to play this season.

The Brewers placed the left-hander on the 15-day disabled list Thursday,
retroactive to
March 21. He will try rehabbing his left elbow for the next three to four weeks.

The decision came after Capuano visited with Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham,
Ala., on
Wednesday and underwent a second MRI. Andrews performed Capuano's first elbow
ligament
replacement surgery in 2002, when he was pitching in Arizona's farm system.

Capuano was told Sunday that he has a torn ligament in his pitching elbow and
would
probably need Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career.

The 29-year-old Capuano injured his elbow in an exhibition game last week. He
had an MRI
last Thursday, and team physician William Raasch confirmed the diagnosis of a
torn ulnar
collateral ligament.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Right-hander Ben Sheets will be the Milwaukee
Brewers' opening day starter in Chicago on March 31, manager Ned Yost
said Saturday.

It will be the sixth opening day assignment for Sheets in seven years.
Sheets did not start on opening day in 2006 because he was on the
disabled list following shoulder surgery.

"It's still a rush (to pitch on opening day)," said Sheets. "Believe
it."

Yost also said he would follow Sheets with veteran right-hander Jeff
Suppan in the second game against the Cubs. Yost said he had not
decided how the rest of the rotation would work out.

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I am looking for Brewer minor league statistics from 1970 to 1991
seasons.  Does anyone know where I can find them?

nnnn

Re: Subject.

He's the ass whole hit my nephew in the eye with a foul ball.

Anyone like the notion of shipping Bernie to SD for Phil Nevin?  Seems to
make sense, as it fills a hole at third, shaves payroll and acquires a
younger player with similar numbers.  However, what will be lost in the
clubhouse?  What about potential damage done by losing one of the team's
most popular players?  On balance, it is probably the right move.  But I am
a little nervous because Nevin has only had a couple of good years.

Chris Richards
Madison, WI