It appears that Jason Kendall's wife was cheating on him, which I consider to be very serious. But, I can't help but laugh at some of the testimonies. Kendall tried to throw a baseball at her, but he missed high? Reminds me of him trying to throw out base runners. And he beat a cake with a baseball bat?

I mean, I can't make this up.

Abraham is a contributor to i94 Sports. You can find his daily thoughts at his site Wisconsin Sports Colony.

So, how many Brewer fans penciled in Mark Mulder as the low-risk, high-reward signing for the Milwaukee Brewers that was taking way too much time, but seemed inevitable? I certainly did. I feel bad for Mark, as the news of his retirement almost certainly means that he just couldn’t do it anymore. I admire him for giving it his best shot, but not only that, knowing when it is time to move on.

Oftentimes, people in baseball and in life simply stay with things much longer than they should. I’m as big of an advocate for sticking through a rough patch, but you also must have the objectivity to be able to move on. I, as well as all Brewer fans, held out the absolutely delusional thought that Mark could regain his former Cy-Young abilities from his time in Oakland.

Hopefully another soft-tossing, crafty lefty will not be forced to hang them up either; Chris Capuano I’m talking to you.

Abraham is a contributor to i94 Sports. You can find his daily thoughts at his site Wisconsin Sports Colony.

Five-Star Prospects
1. Alcides Escobar, SS
Four-Star Prospects
2. Brett Lawrie, 2B
Three-Star Prospects
3. Mat Gamel, 3B
4. Wily Peralta, RHP
5. Cody Scarpetta, RHP
6. Jon Lucroy, C
7. Eric Arnett, RHP
8. Kyle Heckathorn, RHP
9. Kentrail Davis, OF
10. Angel Salome, C
Two-Star Prospects
11. Logan Schafer, OF

Four More:
12. Mark Rogers, RHP: Rogers' stuff was outstanding after missing two years due to shoulder problems, but can he pitch more than three innings every five days?
13. Caleb Gindl, OF: He's a small outfielder and very low on tools, but his production at the plate has been impressive.
14. Jake Odorizzi, RHP: He has advanced command and control for his age, but Odorizzi's stuff has yet to take the expected step forward.
15. Zach Braddock, LHP: This power lefty took a big step forward with a move to bullpen; he has the ceiling of a set-up man.

As a Brewer fan/apologist I feel like this core of prospects has been perpetually undervalued. Brett Lawrie and Mat Gamel will both be stud bats in the major leagues, and if Lawrie can stay at second, the Brewers will have a huge advantage over most counterparts in Major League Baseball, sans Chase Utley. Wily Peralta and Eric Arnett will be good starters, not studs like Yovani Gallardo, but probably an ERA +/- 4 in the majors, which considering the dearth of pitching prospects that the Brewers have been able to develop is pretty impressive.

Jon Lucroy will probably start on opening day next year. I think that having Odorizzi and Braddock not even ranked on Two-Stars is a major miscalculation. Braddock has the potential to be a stud reliever, i.e. Brian Fuentes when he was good for Colorado. Odorizzi has the potential of Peralta or Arnett, without as high of a probability of success.

Abraham is a contributor to i94 Sports. You can find his daily thoughts at his site Wisconsin Sports Colony.

Prince Fielder is the best hitter in the majors not on steroids not named Albert Pujols and the Brewers are truly blessed to have him. But how much longer can they afford him? Fielder has two more seasons under Brewer control until he hits the 2011 free agent market with the likes of Pujols, Adrian Gonzalez and Ryan Howard and at 25 years old he does not have the body that a small market team like the Brewers can afford to overpay for too many years past his prime. Fielder said he would stay in Milwaukee, "as long as possible".

With Ryan Braun in the fold, the proven ability to groom hitters effectively and Mat Gamel playing himself off of 3B and ready to move to 1B if needed, can the Brewers afford to extend Fielder? I say offer him a four year extension worth $75 million, which is basically another five years at $96 million because he is under contract for $11 million this season. The odds are stacked against the Brewers. Mark Teixeira, who was in a similar situation contract wise, accepted a buyout of the first two years of arbitration and rejected an eight year $140 million dollar deal before being shipped off twice in the last year and a half. He then hit the free agent market.

I'd rather not think about losing Prince Fielder, but it's a very likely possibility.

Bud Selig is the father of the Milwaukee Brewers. With the failure of two other professional baseball teams in Brew City, the present day Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves, Selig's investment paid off for what is now the 40th anniversary of Milwaukee Brewers baseball. There are no Milwaukee Brewers as we know it without Bud Selig, that fact is undeniable. Now they will honor him with a statue in front of Miller Park.

As a minority owner of the Milwaukee Braves, Selig was unable to halt their relocation effort. In an effort to bring baseball back to Milwaukee Bud tried to convince the White Sox to relocate to Milwaukee after their cameo nine game seasons at Milwaukee County Stadium beginning in 1967: 264,297 attended those 9 games while just 539,478 attended the other 58 home date (72 games/14 doubleheaders). After another season of drawing three times as many fans in the Cream City than in Chicago, Selig had a handshake agreement to buy the Sox, but that was denied by the American League.

Selig eventually settled on the Seattle Pilots. Since he became Commissioner of baseball in 1992, he has been criticized for his turn-away attitude toward the steroid era in baseball, a criticism that will likely follow his tenure past his time on this planet. The fact of the matter is that Selig implemented some of the most important aspects of the game of baseball as we know it, introducing things such as the Wild Card, Interleague Play, Revenue Sharing, the World Baseball Classic, and most importantly, a staggering 400 percent increase in revenue with corresponding attendance records that seem to be broken every year.

I don't think I have ever seen so much news and constant updating about such a meaningless move in this, the "new information age" of Major League Baseball.  I can't imagine how annoyed opposing team's fans must be. Mark Mulder was rehabbed by new Brewers' pitching coach Rick Peterson during last season, and will sign a minor league contract with the Brewers. The only question is when?

Mulder has a slim chance of starting for the Brewers at all this season, and one can only hope for a magical return to glory for the former AL Cy Young award winner. Can we please just get this over with?

As Rex pointed out earlier, the Brewers have signed Jim Edmonds to a minor league contract, and yes it brings back nightmares from that horrendous four game series at Miller Park, most notably his grand slam off of Dave Bush. As I mentioned previously, Doug Melvin has signed several players to minor league deals this off season to compete for the fifth outfielder job, behind Ryan Braun in RF, Carlos Gomez in CF and Corey Hart in RF, with Jody Gerut locked in as the fourth OF.

Edmonds fits the mold that Melvin established with his other signings, being a left-handed batter, and Edmonds had a stellar season for the 2008 Cubs, most notably at the plate compiling a .256/.369/.569 slash line with 19 HR and 49 RBI in 298 AB, almost exclusively against RHP. But, as with all small sample sizes, we must do some further investigation to determine what we should have expected, all things being equal. The first order of business is to qualify that most of his ABs were against RHP, inflating his stats. Because Edmonds will not be playing every day, as long as he is only placed in these situations, his production should be fine.

Another metric to look at is his BABIP and xBABIP, which were .260 and .315 respectively, meaning that Edmonds was in fact unlucky in 2008, and should have accumulated approximately 10 extra hits. His offensive game seems fine as long as he is used essentially as a platoon player, which should happen with the aforementioned 3 starting OF in Milwaukee being RH.

His defensive game is another story, which was an atrocious -23.3 according to UZR/150 and -26 according to Plus/Minus in 2008. UZR needs to be evaluated over multiple seasons to be most effective, but -23.3 is pretty brutal.

As it stands now, Edmonds, assuming he makes the big league roster out of spring training, will most likely be the first PH off the bench with some starts against tough right-handers over Carlos Gomez and even Corey Hart, assuming Hart fails to take a step forward this season.

Two of the most respected prospect analysts in the entire realm of major league baseball put out their prospect rankings. Notable Brewers in the lists include:

Keith Law:

47. Brett Lawrie 2B, MIL

54. Alcides Escobar SS, MIL

Others:

71. Michael Brantley OF, CLE

Jonathan Mayo:

12. Alcides Escobar SS, MIL

26. Brett Lawrie 2B, MIL

Others:

46. Michael Brantley OF, CLE

I think the most interesting and notable omission is Matt LaPorta, famous for his inclusion in the CC Sabathia trade. Michael Brantley was also in that trade, and was, in my opinion, overlooked. Trading these two prospects for CC Sabathia was worth the playoff appearance. I always, however, thought that they gave up too much in relation to some of the other players that were acquired that trading deadline season like Manny Ramirez and the Dodgers, Rich Harden and the Cubs, and Mark Teixeira and the Yankees.

In my opinion the Brewers gave up much more than any of the other teams did in their dealings. Hopefully, for the Brewers sake, Michael Brantley and Matt LaPorta don't make the CC Sabathia trade feel like a Doyle Alexander for John Smoltz type of trade. Brett Lawrie is the next big Brewers prospect, and his cat-quick bat could lead to a fast track to the majors, ala Ryan Braun.

Escobar, as seen in his cup of coffee in the majors, is a defensive first SS who will need to hone his bat before he makes any All-Star games. That won't, however, stop him from making regular appearances on web-gems.

The Brewers claimed 2B/OF Joe Inglett off waivers from the Rangers, while in the process designating Chris Smith for assignment. Inglett had a productive 2008 with the Rangers, producing a 104 OPS+ in 385 plate appearances. With a career slash line of .293/.349/.396, he should be able to replace Frank Catalanotto's role with the 2009 Brewers as main pinch hitter off the bench, and compete for the fifth OF job in Milwaukee among a surplus of candidates, including Norris Hopper and Trent Oeltjen.

I personally would have rather seen a reunion with Gabe Gross, a left-hander who could platoon with Gomez and replace Corey Hart against tough RHPs.  The offense will need a boost this season as Gomez is a significant offensive drop-off from Mike Cameron who signed a two year $15.5 million dollar deal to become the new CF for the Boston Red Sox.

Smith was one of the few successful pitchers that Milwaukee called up from the minors last season.  Hopefully he slips through the cracks and can go back to Nashville and be insurance in the case of an injury to anyone on the 2010 pitching staff.

Today the Milwaukee Brewers made a minor league deal with veteran outfielder Jim Edmonds. Said Doug Melvin of the deal, "He is a veteran guy. We have Braun, [Carlos] Gomez and Corey Hart, who are all right-handed. He adds depth." While all of Melvin's comments are true, one has to wonder if Doug took a chance on Jim because of that one fateful weekend in July in 2008.

The Cubs and Brewers entered a weekend series separated by just one game in the standings. With four games at Miller Park the Brewers had a wonderful opportunity to not only take the lead in the division but to take control of the NL Central and send their rivals back to Chicago with their tails between their collective legs. Things didn't go as the Brewers had likely planned.

Instead it was a two run ninth off of Salomon Torres in game one that pushed the Cubs lead in the division to two games. In game two it was a five run sixth off of the previously unhittable for five innings Ben Sheets that increased the lead to three games. A gem by starter Ryan Dempster in game three gave the Cubs a more comfortable four game lead in the NL Central.

Then in the finale it was Jimmy "Ballgame's" home runs in consecutive innings, the second of which was a Grand Slam, both off of Dave Bush, that stretched the Cubs lead to five games. Chicago never looked back, winning the division by 7.5 games when all was said and done.

The Brewers would go on to take the Wild Card, but that series turned the tide in the division, and I remember it well, as I'm sure many Brewers fans do.

In all seriousness, Edmonds does give the Brewers a veteran who could and probably still can patrol center field with the best of 'em. A minor league deal doesn't seem to be too risky at this point, but Jaymes over at The Brewers Bar offers these thoughts on the signing, "I just don't see the value in adding Edmonds, and the fact that this was the "one last roster move" we've been getting so excited for is a bit of a letdown."

Here is projection for Edmonds for 2010 from FanGraphs: