Jacoby Ellsbury has been suffering from an “aggravated groin” (Fenway West). The other night at the ballpark, my friend asked me, “An aggravated groin? What’s an aggravated groin? How did he get an aggravated groin?” I replied, “I’ll have to get on that.” What I meant, was, I’ll have to figure that out. Badump-CHING! Tacoby Bellsbury should be back in the lineup tonight.

With Noah Lowry on the DL and Barry Zito headed to the pen, talk of a six-man rotation in San Francisco has died down. This pleases me, because six-man rotations are one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard of. Teams already have a tough enough time finding five decent starters, and as it is, the fifth slot on most teams is something of a revolving door. And the idea of a 25-man roster consisting of perhaps 13 pitchers is equally disgusting. But as Giants Win notes, the larger concern for the San Fran squad may be their utter and complete lack of offense—on pace to score fewer runs than a dead ball era team. Oh my God.

I, like many, thought Phil Hughes’ “oblique strain” was code for “needs to go work out his suckage in the minors.” But now they’re saying it’s a stress fracture in one of his ribs. Hughes says he has “no idea” how he got it. But how do you fracture a rib and not realize it? Given that he also suffered a strained hamstring and a sprained ankle last year, NYY fans have to be hoping this is nothing more than a run of bad luck. But on Bronx Banter, it sounds like hope (not to mention patience) is running out.

Lone Star Ball gives Mindy McCready’s dad an Inigo Montoya Award. Any cross-pollination between baseball and The Princess Bride is always appreciated.

I like the Brewers. I have three of them on my fantasy team. I picked them to upset the Cubs for the NL Central title. But I don’t see how they’re going to do that without Ben Sheets. His first three starts filled me with hope. His subsequent triceps strain, despair. Now I don’t know what to think. Fortunately, I have the Hardball Times and pitch FX to tell me what’s what. Unfortunately, they also think the triceps tightness could be related to a rotator cuff issue. Nooooooooooooooo…..

Did you see Frank Thomas hit that triple a few days back? Did you wonder, whoah, when does Frank Thomas hit a triple? So did MopUpDuty. My favorite nugget from this post: Mark McGwire had only 6 triples in his entire career.

This week’s Metro column, on why the Rays are for real, but the other April surprise in the AL East, the Orioles, are not.

And finally, the Nats have a song. So Bugs and Cranks came up with hilarious ditties for all the other teams, too! I will now joyfully sing along to the new, awesome, Red Sox fan song:

We’re rawkous (raucous!) for the Red Sox!
We’re rawkous for the Red Sox!
We’re crazy and we’re awesome, brah!
We’re rawkous for the Red Sox!

Sully and Fitzy and Paddy Go Bragh
We’ll cut yer fuckin’ face if you look at us wrong!
So let’s go Nation of Red Sox fans!
Let’s throw some pizza in the stands!

Let’s go Red Sox!

As the lyrics of Jonathan Papelbon’s warm-up song (that *Dropkick Murphys tune from The Departed) sort of sound to me like, “I’m a sailor BRAAAAAH! And I lost my BRAAAAAH!”, I’m happy to see the emphatic syllable making the rounds in other Sox-related shanties.

*The lyrics were actually penned by Woody Guthrie. The real lyrics are, “I’m a sailor peg and I lost my leg.” The leg part, I get—but peg? Is that like, “I’m a sailor, Peg” (as if to his girlfriend, Peggy)? Inquiring minds want to know.

Prince Fielder was once the spokesperson, along with his father, for the McDonalds triple cheeseburger. But those days are long gone.

Yesterday, Prince announced that he has become a vegetarian.

From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal:

It wasn’t always this way. Fielder used to enjoy a stacked burger or a juicy steak as much as any carnivore, but a few weeks ago he received a book from his wife, Chanel, that changed his outlook on what he puts in his massive frame. The book described how certain animals are treated and slaughtered for food.

…”After reading that, (meat) just didn’t sound good to me anymore,” Fielder said. “It grossed me out a little bit. It’s not a diet thing or anything like that. I don’t miss it at all.”

Fielder is a begginner vegetarian. He’s still just getting his feet wet. So I’m here to offer a few tips, from one vegetarian to another.

1. The secret craving of every vegetarian is bacon. Fight the temptation. And remember, if you really want a BLT, there’s always facon!

2. Quinoa is a great source of protein. I like to make curry quinoa mango salad. Big Papi says mango gives him power, so this should be a staple of your diet. I know you’ve had some friction with your own dad, but it’s always a good idea to do as Papi does.

3. Tofu is your friend. Bake it. Fry it. Live it. Love it. It is admittedly a texture that takes some getting used to. Start out with the extra firm tofu and then ease yourself into the more silken stuff.

4. Foreign foods are often very veggie friendly (except for those damn Koreans). Indian food and Ethiopian food are both great for meat avoiders. Chinese food can be tricky, but there are more and more Chinese restaurants with vegetarian menus, many with a lot of faux-meat options. When I lived in Atlanta I used to get the vegetarian sesame beef at Chinese Buddha on 10th Street and … well … fuhgettaboutit. It was the bomb.

5. Buy a wok. Then buy the book “Breath of a Wok” by Grace Young. It’ll change the way you look at cooking. There’s nothing more fun that getting your wok super hot and tossing your dinner up in the air. And the sound the soy sauce makes when it hits the hot cast iron … so sexy.

6. Pasta is still your friend. My girlfriend makes a great puttanesca sauce, only she skips the anchovy paste. You don’t need it. The capers and the kalamata olives make the sauce plenty salty. And the red pepper flakes add a great spice. And if you want to really get crazy (and healthy), you can substitute spaghetti squash for pasta. Just bake the squash for 40 minutes and then scrape it into a bowl with a fork. You’ll love it.

There’s nothing wrong with Boca Burgers, Prince. But hopefully these tips will help you expand your vegetarian horizons. Remember, the best part of being a vegetarian is — you guessed it — the vegetables! So don’t be afraid to try something new, whether its broccoli rabe or rutabaga. And congratulations on embracing a lifestyle that is the most important thing anyone can do to save the earth.

This is one of a series of posts in which we grade each team’s wily hot stove maneuvers and tragic offseason blunders.

As we know, “Milwaukee” is Algonquin for “the good land.” And Milwaukee does indeed look like the good land in 2008. Last year they ended up leading the NL Central for all but 29 games, only to falter in August and cede first place to the powerhouse 85-win Cubs. But this year will be different. Why?

First, there’s the hotly anticipated full season of Dreamy-Eyed Ryan Braun. Then there’s the fact that the Brewers finally took my advice (preen, preen) and moved the defensively challenged Braun out of the left side of the infield and into the left side of the outfield. Then there’s the fact that he’s just 24.

Then, there’s Prince Fielder, who, while the baseball world’s attention was focused on the dreamy eyes of the aforementioned Dreamy-Eyed One, hit 50 homers last year. He’s still only 23.

And then there’s Rickie Weeks, who spent most of last year struggling as he recovered from wrist surgery he’d had in August 2006—but who went on a tear the last two months of the season, and who’ll be leading off on Opening Day. He poised for a breakout season at age 25.

Hopes are also high for 21-year old starter Yovani Gallardo, who did quite well in his debut last year. Gallardo has been lights-out at every level, and should be ready to take on a full workload this year, despite his tender age. He’s got a fastball in the mid-90s and a big curveball in the 70s, and in September of last year, he put together a 21-inning scoreless streak with the big league club. He’ll likely be joined in the starting rotation by another young hurler, Carlos Villanueva, giving Milwaukee’s rotation a youthful new look.

Finally, 30-year old Ben Sheets is healthy and ready to have a good year, after a few seasons sprinkled with injuries. He’s in the last year of his contract and would no doubt like to prove himself worthy of big money; if he stays healthy, that shouldn’t be a problem. Over the past three years, he hasn’t pitched more than 156.2 innings per season, but his K/BB rate and his ERA have been decent over that span. Plus, the last time he was in a contract year, he pitched 237 innings with a 2.70 ERA and a ridiculous 237 strikeouts. If he can get even a little close to those numbers again, the Brewers will have a formidable 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation.

Yet despite all the good news, there are still some lingering concerns and question marks heading into camp.

The Brewers landed Gabe Kapler this winter, who is making a return to the majors after a year spent managing Boston’s Single-A club, the Greenville (SC) Drive. This upped the team’s already high dreaminess quotient considerably, and, more to the point, gives them the extra outfielder they need. Their preferred starting CF, Gold Glover Mike Cameron, starting the year serving a 25-game suspension after testing positive for a banned stimulant after last season, his second failed test. In his absence, centerfield will be staffed by Tony Gwynn Jr and Gabe Gross. Corey Hart platooned in right field last year, but Brewers brass seems to be going into Spring Training thinking of him as an everyday guy. Once Cameron returns, however, the Brewers will have six outfielders. Someone will have to go to the minors, or become trade bait.

But the outfield is just one issue still facing the Brewers. The bigger question is the bullpen. New closer Eric Gagne showed up in the Mitchell Report, and has yet to publicly comment on it; but, more alarmingly from the point of view of those paying him $10 million, he has yet to show he can still be an effective pitcher. With the Rangers last year, Gagne seemed to hold is own; but with the Red Sox, he fell so completely apart that he almost single-handedly cost them the division title. If Gagne goes back on the roids miraculously improves, Milwaukee’s expensive gamble will look canny. If he stays true to form, however, they’ll have made a very expensive, all-too-predictable mistake.

GM Doug Melvin also traded for reliever Guillermo Mota this offseason, who served a 50-game ban last year for failing a steroid test, and Salomon Torres, as well as signing free agents Randy Choate and David Riske (which has always seemed, to me, like a terrible last name for relief pitcher). None of those guys is going to cause dancing in the streets of Milwaukee. Unfortunately, try though Melvin might, there’s just no way to replace a set-up-man and closer combo of Scott Linebrink and Francisco Cordero—and no way for the Brewers to keep both of them. But despite the criticism of Linebrink’s four-year deal with the White Sox, $4.75 million a year isn’t that much for a set-up man. I admit that four years is a long time to commit to a reliever, and that the fact that Linebrink has a no-trade clause is preposterous, but despite talk of his “decline,” he’s still only 31. Couldn’t the Brewers have scooped him up for a lesser deal before other teams were allowed to negotiate with him? It’s not like they’re a tiny market team; their payroll is just shy of $80 million a year.

Looking ahead, their best prospect is another Fielder/Braun type named Matt LaPorta, another masher with no defense. But with Fielder at first base and Braun now in left field, the Brewers are running out of places to stash these guys. If I were the Brewers, once LaPorta has more professional games under his belt, I might find an AL team looking for a young DH and try to make a trade.

Projected Lineup, Rotation, and Closer

1. 2B Rickie Weeks - 16 HR, .374 OBP
2. SS J.J. Hardy - 26 HR, 30 2B, .277 AVG
3. 1B Prince Fielder - 50 HR, 1.013 OPS
4. LF Ryan Braun - 34 HR, .370 OBP
5. RF Corey Hart - 24 HR, .298 AVG
6. 3B Bill Hall - 14 HR, 35 2B, .254 AVG
7. CF Mike Cameron - 21 HR, .328 OBP
8. C Jason Kendall - .301 OBP, .309 SLG

SP1 Ben Sheets, 3.82 ERA, .253 BAA
SP2 Yovani Gallardo, 3.67 ERA, 1.27 WHIP
SP3 Carlos Villanueva, 3.95 ERA, .236 BAA
SP4 Jeff Suppan, 4.62 ERA
SP5 Dave Bush/Chris Capuano/Claudio Vargas/Manny Parra

CL: Eric Gagne

Acquisitions: Mike Cameron (CF), Eric Gagne (RP), Jason Kendall (C), David Riske (RP), Guillermo Mota (RP), Salomon Torres (RP), Gabe Kapler (OF)

Losses: Francisco Cordero (RP), Geoff Jenkins (LF), Scott Linebrink (RP), Matt Wise (RP), Johnny Estrada, (C).

Grade:B+

The Brewers will score runs with their speed and power, and their starting rotation looks solid. They’ll have several guys competing for the starters’ slots in camp, including lefty prospect Manny Parra. Shifting Braun to left field and Bill Hall to third base, and acquiring Cameron, should give the Brewers’ defense a needed boost. There’s been some disagreement about the deal for catcher Jason Kendall, but he moved back towards his career averages in the second half of last season. I see upside there. However, I have to dock the Brewers some points for gambling money they can’t afford to waste on Gagne. I suppose someone was going to sign him, but I can’t believe he commanded 10 million dollars. Were they out-bidding some other team?? Plus, I can’t help but notice that not only have they signed three guys with PED problems, but their farm system is no cleaner: of their top five prospects, one’s been slapped with a 50-game suspension for using PEDs, and another has been caught smoking pot multiple times. And then there’s the way they picked up Manager Ned Yost’s contract option, but forgot to announce it. Despite their decent offseason, it just feels like the Brewers don’t quite have their house in order.

But the bottom line is that the Brewers are a young club that, last year, broke a 15-year streak of sub-.500 seasons, broke a franchise home run record, and broke the Brewers’ attendance record. They’ve got solid pitching and great offensive ability. Their greatest weakness last year was their horrible defense, which they have addressed this winter about as well as could be hoped. This year, if a few of their pitching gambles work out, they could definitely make the playoffs.

- Hot Offseason Action Index -

ASTROS - pitching depth.
Besides Oswalt, Houston’s rotation currently features Woody Williams, Brandon Backe, Wandy Rodgriguez and Felipe Paulino. That’s a lot of finger crossing.

The ‘Stros have Jose Valverde closing games. And that’s awesome. But other than Valverde, the bullpen offers little beyond Doug Brocail. Geoff Geary and Oscar Villarreal do not inspire confidence.

It’s easy to point to the bevy of all-star names in Houston’s lineup and think that the team’s offense might make up for it’s crappy pitching, but players like Tejada and Berkman are past their primes, while Kaz Matsui is overrated.

Verdict: The Astros need one more top of the rotation starter and some middle relief help.

CARDINALS - starting pitcher.
Go to the ESPN.com stats page. Check out the NL batting stats. The top 75 players from 2007 include just one Cardinal — Albert Pujols. That’s gotta change in 2008. How is that going to change? Three things have to happen. 1. Troy Glaus has to stay healthy. 2. Rick Ankiel has to live up to the Babe Ruth comparisons and 3. Chris Duncan has step up his game. If all three of those guys hit, and Pujols continues to be Pujols, the Cardinals will be dangerous.

Of course, those are a lot of maybes. And even if all of those things happen, that still doesn’t change the fact that St. Louis’ starting staff includes Anthony Reyes and Braden Looper.

Verdict: The Cardinals need one more top of the line starting pitcher. And a lot of luck.

BREWERS - steroids
This offseason, Milwaukee acquired Guillermo Mota, Eric Gagne and Mike Cameron. They already had Derrick Turnbow. That’s three relievers who were mentioned in the Mitchell Report, plus one CF who will start the season suspended. How do they sleep at night?

Verdict: The Brewers need to stay one step ahead of the drug testers.

REDS - Jay Bruce
Rumors abound that the Reds are considering trading their entire farm system — including OF prospect Jay Bruce — for Baltimore ace Erik Bedard. This would give Cincinnati a scary rotation led by Bedard and Aaron Harang. But it wouldn’t solve all of the team’s problems.

Last season, David Ross cought 107 games for the Reds. His OBP was .271. So there’s that.

Also, Ryan Freel is penciled in as the team’s starting CF, now that Josh Hamilton has been dealt. But what happens when Ken Griffey Jr. gets hurt? The Reds need Bruce to get major league ready quick, allowing Freel to serve as a super-sub and giving the team a little more depth and power. If Bruce pulls a Ryan Braun and shows up swinging, the Reds could be contenders, even without Bedard. (Of course, nobody in history has ever pulled a Ryan Braun to the extent that Ryan Braun pulled a Ryan Braun in 2007. But I digress.)

Verdict: The Reds need to keep Jay Bruce.

CUBS - an ace.
Outside of the continuing development of CF Felix Pie, the Cubs’s question marks are all on the pitching side. A handful of relievers, including Kerry Wood, will battle it out to be this season’s closer. Meanwhile, Jason Marquis will attempt to return to form after 2007’s late season collapse.

Chicago has a few good starting pitchers, like Rich Hill, Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly. But the team really needs at least one of those guys to step up and pitch like an ace.

Verdict: What the Cubs really need is for Carlos Zambrano to cut down on his walks.

PIRATES - a miracle.

Strengths: ummmmm…
Weaknesses: oy!
Verdict: sigh.

One of the main themes going into this off-season was the abundant crop of centerfielders. As the weeks progressed, the list of available names began to dwindle - Toriii Hunter signed with Anaheim for five years and $90 million in November. The following month saw Andruw Jones head west for $36.2 million over two years and Aaron Rowand wasn’t too far behind, inking a $60 million deal over 5 years to put on a Giants uniform.

But I’m going to argue right here that the best free agent deal involving a centerfielder happened this past weekend - the moment that Mike Cameron and the Milwaukee Brewers agreed on a one-year, $7 million contract. This obviously does not mean that Mike Cameron is the best player among the centerfielders set to relocate. Rather, when we consider the size, length, and implications of the deal, the “bang-for-the-buck” factor could be very large indeed.

Cameron is far from a perfect player. Thanks in large part to his career .341 OBP, he’s never been known as a serious offensive threat. He’s still a guy capable of hitting 20 homeruns - especially now that he can leave Petco Park - but doesn’t have enough pop in his bat or the pitch recognition to make up for his propensity to strikeout. However, even as he enters his late-thirties, Cameron remains a top-flight defensive player, and this is where this deal makes a ton of sense.

In 2007, the Milwaukee Brewers led MLB in team homeruns with 231 and was 4th in total bases. One of the areas where they were extremely lacking, however, was defense. Rookie Ryan Braun was the poster child for this big-swing-no-glove movement in Milwaukee, but it wasn’t limited to just Braun. Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, and Bill Hall were all below average defensively. When Geoff Jenkins becomes your most reliable outfield glove, you have a problem.

The Cameron signing goes a long way in improving this shortcoming. Not only will he patrol center very capably, it appears that Ryan Braun has been asked to move to left field now that Bill Hall is free to play third once more. So now, Cameron becomes a big defensive upgrade over Bill Hall who becomes a big defensive upgrade from Ryan Braun who now becomes a below average leftfielder. Got all that? Good.

Before I make it seem like this was an absolute no-brainer for Milwaukee, I do need to mention that Cameron will be suspended for the first 25-games to start the season for testing positive for a banned stimulant for the second time in his career, so until late April, he’s a total non-factor. With that said, I still believe that this deal will prove to be one of the best bargains this off-season that may ultimately allow the Brewers to keep up quite well with the Chicago Cubs in 2008.

1. Jim Rice is the 21st player to win over 70% of votes in the Hall of Fame balloting but fall short of the 75% needed for election. The other 20 players have all ended up in Cooperstown. (Bugs and Cranks has a great rant on the caprice of BBWAA members and the mysterious rise—and occasional fall—of HOF-eligible players’ vote totals.) Rice has the support of this year’s only inductee, Goose Gossage: “I think Jim Rice does belong in the Hall of Fame. No hitter scared me, but Jim Rice came the closest.” As for Nick’s contention that Rice has no place in the Hall, I clearly disagree. But Nick’s post has convinced me that Dwight Evans belongs in Cooperstown as well, something I was on the fence about previously. Come on, Veterans Comittee!

2. What with all the Roger Clemens coverage, the NFL playoffs, and this little election-thingy going on right now, you might have missed this story, but the new Yankee Stadium is going to cost New York taxpayers a pretty penny—including $70 million for free VIP valet parking. Even more irksome to New Yorkers, while the poobahs will get 40 years of parking courtesy of the taxpayers, Joe Yankeefan will still have to pay out of his own pocket. That’s preposterous. However, I must throw cold water on the notion that fans are being gouged by a rate increase from $14 to $17 this year, and again to $19 at the new stadium in 2009, and up to $35 bucks by 2014. Most of the parking at Fenway is already at least $30. Yankee fans, suck it up.

3. After a successful workout for several teams in LA and offers from “three or four” clubs, Gabe Kapler has chosen to play for the Brewers next year. He’ll get 800k. Kapler managed Boston’s Single A affiliate last year to an uninspiring record of 58-81.

“Gabe brings versatility and athleticism to the outfield position,” said Brewers GM Doug Melvin. “He has always been a great teammate and possesses the determination to bounce back and become a valuable player to our club.”

This also elevates the already impressive hotness quotient of the Milwaukee Brewers, who field such eye candy as dreamy-eyed third baseman Ryan Braun and cutie-patootie Prince Fielder.

4. Also in the former-Red-Sox-making-a-comeback category, MLBTradeRumors reports that at least the Diamondbacks will be watching as Keith Foulke throws later this month. As for the idea that Foulke “may have special interest in” the Red Sox, I can guarantee right now that the Red Sox will not have any interest, special or otherwise, in Keith Foulke, who is (perhaps unfairly) less remembered for being part of the 2004 championship team than for being the perennially injured and ineffective closer of ‘05 and ‘06, speaking dismissively of Red Sox fans as “Johnny from Burger King” types that meant nothing to him, licking his World Series ring with groupies, and for (allegedly) sleeping with one of the Red Sox ball girls, (allegedly) in the clubhouse no less, and (allegedly) getting caught in flagrante delicto by Dawn Timlin, who (allegedly) promptly told Mrs. Foulke, who (most definitely) demanded a divorce.

5. Just to go back to the Hall of Fame for a minute, I would like to personally apologize to Goose Gossage. No, I don’t have a Hall of Fame vote. But I do have an Unfortunate Facial Hair vote. And there is absolutely no excuse for me to have overlooked Goose’s contributions in the field of facial hair when I wrote this retrospective of the fu manchu. Clearly, Gossage had a historic impact on the place of the distinctive moustache in baseball lore, and I was remiss not to formally recognize this sooner. I’m sure Goose will be as thrilled to be included in our UFH category as he is to be elected into Cooperstown. “It was very emotional I’ll tell you, off the charts. I can’t describe the feeling.” Yes, Goose, I’m sure. Only the lucky and the few get such recognition. But are you sure you really can’t describe how it felt? “A shock wave went through my body like an anvil just fell on my head.” On second thought, I think maybe calling it indescribable was fine.

According to this Milwaukee Journal Sentinel blog, the Milwaukee Brewers have designated OFer Kevin Mench for assignment to make room for Salomon Torres. As a result, the Brewers now have ten days to either trade him or release him outright.

No matter which way the Brew Crew goes, I can’t imagine that Mench will be without a team for very long. He’s the perfect platoon guy who crushes left-handed pitching. Since 2005, Mench has an OPS of .919 against southpaws over 400 ABs, while slugging .558. Needless to say, those are some very useful numbers, and the Mets recently traded for a guy who’s the exact opposite.

Newly acquired Ryan Church has performed very well over his career against righties, posting an OPS of .856 against them (but only a .742 against lefties). If you combine two outfielders - one who is above average against lefties and another who is above average against righties - what do you get, kids? Why, a position covered by an above-average hitter, of course!

But as with everything else, it’s simply not that easy. If the Mets feel that Mench (as the righty in a platoon) is worth what he made in arbitration last year ($3.4 million), then they may as well offer up a player to be named later to acquire him. If they take a wait-and-see approach and hope he hits the open market, it’s unlikely that Mench would sign with a team that can’t guarantee him 400 ABs, so a trade seems to be the only way to go.

If the Mets decide to go this route and are successful, they could possibly end up with a combo capable of OPSing around .850, which is roughly what you can expect out of far more recognizable names such as Nick Swisher, Bobby Abreu, and Alex Rios. Not bad, right?

The first significant trade deadline deal went down today as the Brewers panicked and shipped three well regarded pitching prospects for declining setup man Scott Linebrink.

The Brewers were feeling the pressure to make a move with the Cubs breathing down their necks in the NL Central and the bullpen weakened by the need to shift Yovani “Lamborghini” Gallardo back into the rotation to replace the ever-injured Ben Sheets.

(Amazingly, I appear to be the first person to ever make that lame Lamborghini joke, at least according to Google)

It seems like Scott Linebrink has been the subject of trade rumors since players still wore stirrups. I mean, I’m pretty sure every man on the Red Sox 40-man roster has been rumored to be involved in a trade for Linebrink by now.

But Kevin Towers and the Padres wisely held their hand until they finally got an offer they couldn’t refuse. And this offer was pretty damn nigh unrefusable.

For starters, one of the players received from the Brewers, Triple-A reliever Joe Thatcher, is probably already a better option than Linbrink, whose peripherals have been declining and who just yesterday demoted from his role as the Friar’s primary set-up man in favor of rising star Heath Bell. Thatcher will be immediately slotted into the back end of the Padres ‘pen, and deservedly so.

But the real payoff in the trade for the Padres may will be acquiring Double-A starter Will Inman, who Baseball America ranked as the third best prospect in the Brewers system this spring, behind only Ryan Braun and the aforementioned Gallardo.

Just to give you an idea how good that makes Inman, Braun will almost certainly be named NL rookie-of-the-year this season and Gallardo is regarded as a future top-of-the-rotation who one scout recently said is already better than Phil Hughes or Homer Bailey.

A’s GM Billy Beane is fond of saying that the first two months of the baseball season are for finding out what you need, the second two months are for getting what you need, and the last two months are for having what you need and making your push for the playoffs.

With the season quickly approaching the two month mark, it’s time to look at each team and see what their biggest need is.  Let’s start with the NL Central…

Brewers – a third baseman

With the Brew Crew firing on all cylinders in just about every other phase of the game, third base stands out as a gaping abyss.  Corey Koskie is still out from the concussion he suffered last July, and there are no signs he will be back any time soon, and meanwhile the scrap-heap platoon of Craig Counsel and Tony Graffanino is batting a combined .214. Fortuitously, the Brewers best hitting prospect is none other than AAA third baseman Ryan Braun, who is batting .339 in Nashville with 9 homers and a 1.099 OPS.  Braun was on the DL recently with wrist tendonitis, but is now back in action and should be playing in Miller Park soon.

Reds – a set-up man

Cincy’s lineup is stacked and they have been getting solid work out of their starting rotation, but their bullpen is 12th in the National League in ERA and second to last with 10 bullpen losses.  Closer Dave Weathers has been excellent, but the pitchers behind him have been mediocre to awful.  More than anything, the Reds need a capable setup man to bridge the gap from the middle innings to Weathers in the ninth.  When your second best relief pitcher is Todd Coffey, that is just not going to get it done.

Pirates – a fifth starter

Let’s face it, the Pirates have a lot of holes.  They are lacking power hitting, guys who can get on base, generalized defense at pretty much every position, and relief pitching. But the most glaring hole of all is fifth starter, where Tony Armas, Jr. flamed out after allowing 43 hits in 29 innings and yielding an 8.16 ERA in seven starts.  The Pirates have been going with a four-man rotation of Zach Duke, Ian Snell, Paul Maholm, and Tom Gorzelanny and occasionally spot-starting Armas, but it is increasingly clear to everyone but the Pirates that Armas has nothing left and any number of minor leaguers would put up better numbers if they were thrown out there.

Cardinals – a starting pitcher, or five

After letting their entire starting rotation except Chris Carpenter leave via free agency after last season’s World Series title run and then seeing Carpenter go down with an injury this spring, the Cardinals have been left with no starters whatsoever and have scrapped together a rotation which makes the Pirate’s mediocre squad look like a passel of aces.  The Cardinals rotation is last in the National League (by more than half a run) with a 5.43 ERA and worst in the league with 23 losses as a squad.  Meaning that adding a warm body who could throw 5 innings every fifth day and yield an ERA of around 5.00 would actually constitute and improvement for the Redbirds.

Cubs – a change in their luck

The Cubs spent a fortune on free agents in the offseason, and so far their spending spree hasn’t panned out, but the main culprit has been bad luck.  The Cubbies have what is probably the best rotation in baseball so far this season, and that’s even with putative ace Carlos Zambrano sporting an ERA of 5.61, as Rich Hill, Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis, and even fifth starter Angel Guzman all have ERAs in the 2’s with the season already 1/3 over.  Meanwhile the Cubs lineup has a competent player at every position as well as good depth on the bench in both the infield (super-sub Ryan Theriot) and the outfield (Matt Murton, Angel Pagan).  Indeed, the Cubs have actually outscored their opponents by 25 runs so far, so according to the Pythagorean method they should be a healthy 24-19 at this point rather than the anemic 20-23 record they actually have.  More than anything, the Cubs need to not panic, wait for their luck to even out, and hope they can make a mid-season run.

Astros – a rightfielder

The platoon of Jason Lane and Luke Scott is just not working. Together, they are batting .217 out of an outfield corner.  If that’s how they hit when they platoon, I’d hate to see what either man would hit if he batted against all comers.

Don’t look now, but the Milwaukee Brewers are probably the best team in the National League. Yes, those Milwaukee Brewers, the ones who haven’t made a trip to the post-season since 1982 - the longest active streak of futility in American sports.

Not only do the Brewers have the best record in the NL at 18-9, but their lineup is packed with a galaxy of young stars, led by first baseman Prince Fielder (aged 22), second baseman Rickie Weeks (24), and shortstop JJ Hardy (24). The always capable and durable Johnny Estrada mans home plate, while the outfield is the very solid trio of Geoff Jenkins, Bill Hall, and Corey Hart. And although Kevin Mench has a head the size of Sputnik, he is one heck of a fourth outfielder. The only real hole in the lineup is third base, where Tony Graffinino and Craig Counsell platoon in place of Corey Koskie, who is still out from a concussion he suffered last July.

These players are already stars now, but since they are so young (Jenkins is the oldest at 32), they can only be expected to improve with experience.

But the real strength of this team is its pitching. The Brewers may well have the best rotation in baseball, one through five, with finally healthy again ace Ben Sheets backed by Chris Capuano, Jeff Suppan, and Dave Bush. Even fifth starter Claudio Vargas is 2-0 with a 3.68 ERA and a ridiculous 29 strikeouts in 22 innings pitched.

Meanwhile, the bullpen has been lights out, posting a 3.38 ERA and sporting not one by two proven closers in the back end in Francisco Cordero and Derrick Turnbow, both of whom are striking out more than 15 batters per 9 innings so far. Cordero has yet to allow a run and has only yielded two hits all season.

Some teams roar out to hot starts in April, but it is clear that they are not really that good. Normally we’d be saying that in this case as well (this being the Brewers after all), but looking at the players who are actually on this team, it is difficult to see a scenario in which the Brewers would not be in contention all season, barring a sudden rash of injuries like they had last summer, when Koskie, Hardy, and Weeks all went down for the season.