In a recent interview with TBS, impending free agent Prince Fielder said that 2011 will “probably” be his final year in Milwaukee.

From Rotoworld.com:

“I’m signed for this year, but being real about it, it is probably the last year,” said Fielder. Of course, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who has followed this situation. Fielder, who is represented by Scott Boras, is likely to demand a contract north of $100 million this winter. The Brewers have managed to lock up Ryan Braun, Rickie Weeks and Corey Hart to multi-year deals, but the 27-year-old first baseman will almost certainly be out of their price range.

As Rotoworld points out, it isn’t surprising to hear Fielder say that this will likely be his final year with the Brewers. But with Milwaukee on the verge of a postseason berth, it must be disappointing and frustration news for Brewer fans nonetheless. This should be an exciting time for the city of Milwaukee – and it is. But sooner or later reality has to set in that No. 28 won’t be in a Brewer uniform next season.

With both Fielder and Albert Pujols set to hit the open market, things are going to get interesting this winter.

During the seventh inning of the Brewers-Giants game in San Francisco on Friday night, flamboyant Milwaukee outfielder Nyjer Morgan ran down a potential hit off the bat of Nate Schierholtz and then turned to fans in centerfield to politely remind them that there were two outs.

Oh I’m sorry, did I say Nyjer Morgan was involved? No yeah, he was being an ass.

Some San Francisco fans have, of course, taken offense to the gesture and some Milwaukee fans have, of course, downplayed the issue. Morgan has flashed his “Tony Plush T” before, so fans in Milwaukee are accustomed to the gesture. But I could see why some Giant fans are ticked off because it looks like he’s giving them a gesture to F-off.

Whatever. I’m sure those Giant fans sitting in centerfield weren’t sharing recipes for homemade clam chowder with Morgan. That doesn’t mean that Morgan should act like a clown after he makes a nice play, but we didn’t hear what those fans were saying to him. Plus, and I cannot overstate this fact: it’s Nyjer Morgan. He has two sides: an entertaining side and a side where he wants to purposely blow up catchers and mix it up with fans. That’s just him. Personally, I’ll take Tony Gwynn and Ozzie Smith any day. They respected the game, their opponents, their teammates and yes, fans in all cities. They were professional at all times and exuded class. But we live in a different day and age now. An age where showing up fans or opponents is deemed as “not a big deal.” It’s now chic to say Morgan was “just having fun.”

What was nice about the days of yore in baseball is that the league used to police itself. It still does to some extent, but not like it used to. MLB has really cracked down on players retaliating and maybe that’s a good thing. I don’t want to see anyone get hurt, but back in the day if you disrespected the game or an opponent you were guaranteed to get a high, hard one in your next AB. It was a different game back then.

There has been some bad blood between the Brewers and Giants before, specifically after Milwaukee’s “bowling ball routine” following a Prince Fielder walk off in 2009. It’ll be interesting to see if emotions boil over again this weekend after Morgan’s performance on Friday night.

Giant fans don’t like the sight of Eli Whiteside in the lineup. That usually means that Buster Posey has a day off (if he’s not playing first base), although nowadays the situation is more permanent after the 2010 Rookie of the Year broke his fibula on Wednesday night.

But even though Giant fans would clearly rather see Posey play everyday than Whiteside, they must have a little more respect and admiration for the backup catcher after what transpired Friday night in Milwaukee.

With two outs and the Giants nursing a 5-3 lead against the Brewers in the 8th, Jonathan Lucroy drove in Ryan Braun with a single to left to cut San Fran’s lead to one run. Trying to score from second on the play was Prince Fielder, who came barreling down the third base line at Whiteside as Cody Ross threw a perfect one-hopper to the plate.

Giant fans watching as the 275-pound built-like-a-Mac-truck Fielder came rushing full-bore at Whiteside immediately felt their hearts jump into the their throats after witnessing what was done to Posey two nights prior. But Ross’ throw was early, so Whiteside had enough time to catch it, set his feet and take Fielder head-on. Not only did he absorb the blow from the Milwaukee linebacker first baseman, but he also held onto the ball to end the inning and the Brewers’ scoring threat. The Giants eventually held on by that same 5-4 score.

After the game, Whiteside told reporters: “If he’s coming at you, you can go at him. No rule in the book says you can’t take it to him.”

How do you not love that if you’re a Giants fan? It certainly doesn’t ease the pain of losing Posey for the entire season, but you have to love how Whiteside (who isn’t a jockey at 6-2, 220 pounds) wouldn’t back down. I don’t know how long this video will be up before the powers at be take it down, but here’s the play:

I love Fielder’s expression at the end of the play. “Seriously, dude hung on? And did he just toss the ball over my head?”

You knew it was only a matter of time before Nyjer Morgan sounded off about the Nationals. The guy can’t not say something. (Sorry for the double-negative but damn it, it works.)

Now that Morgan is becoming somewhat relevant again in baseball (he’s on the verge of earning more playing time with the Brewers thanks to his solid play), he decided to take a few pot shots at the Nationals on ESPN Milwaukee radio recently.

On why he was traded to Milwaukee (from the Washington Post):

“Basically, the process was the Nats wanted to get rid of me,” he said, when asked how he wound up in Milwaukee. “And basically, you know, I figure one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, in my eyes. And, basically, it feels good to be in a baseball city, [with] people who understand my game and love just the aggressiveness and the hard work and the hard play I bring.”

On why things went south in D.C.:

“I think just some stuff that happened last year, I guess,” Morgan responded. “I’m not sure, just the way I play, I guess it wasn’t ready for D.C., in my eyes.”

After the host explained that people in Milwaukee don’t really follow the Nationals closely enough to understand his comments:

“I don’t follow them neither,” Morgan said, with his trademarked Tony Plush cackle. “I’ll just plead the Fifth on it. I’m glad to be in Milwaukee now, I’ll tell you that.”

When asked about being in Milwaukee:

“Just the team camaraderie is unbelievable,” Morgan said. “For me, it’s fun again. And I haven’t been on what, a three-game winning streak for about two years now, so this actually feels unbelievable.”

As Post writer Dan Steinberg points out, the Nationals actually had eight winning streaks of three games or more in 2010, although something tells me Morgan isn’t sweating the details at the moment.

Why can’t players just let it go and move on? I mean, if the dude is happy in Milwaukee, why take pot shots at his former team? Morgan had two incidents last year of lowering his shoulder into a catcher and while some people defended his actions by saying he was “just playing the game hard,” the fact of the matter is that both plays were unnecessary. He was trying to lower the boom on both catchers (the Marlins’ Brett Hayes and the Cardinals’ Bryan Anderson) so that he could draw attention to himself. Catchers have gear on, but it’s not like those chest protectors are shoulder pads. Both incidents could have been avoided.

And now he’s in Milwaukee and spouting off about the Nationals? Please. I like Morgan – I think he’s funny and personable. But again, he does some things to draw attention to himself and it’s just not necessary. Plus, tell me how the Nationals did him wrong outside of trading him. Did they torment him? Did they withhold his pay? Did they make his girlfriend sit in the nosebleeds? Did they call his mother names and make him eat all his meals with his hands? What?

I’m sure he’s well-liked in Milwaukee now, so all of his attention should be on the Brewers. The Nationals are closed chapter in his life.

It’s the start of a new year and you know what that means: Expectations are running high for every club not named the Pirates and Royals. (Or Astros, Cubs, Mariners, Diamondbacks, Nationals or Indians for that matter.)

But what postseason contenders are most likely to fall short of expectations in 2011? I’ve highlighted five below.

Philadelphia Phillies
When a team is hyped for an entire offseason, it almost becomes cliché to say that they’ll fall short of expectations. But in the case of the Phillies, there’s some major concern here. It’s impossible to replace Chase Utley’s production in the lineup and this is an aging roster. Yes, the Halladay/Lee/Oswalt/Hamels/Blanton combination will keep most opposing batters up at night and yes, the Phillies will probably win the NL East. But the Braves aren’t too far behind talent-wise and Philadelphia has become a club that starts off slow only to pick it up in the second half. If Atlanta comes out of the gates hot and the Phillies suffer some early-season hiccups without Utley, the Braves might be able to build a decent lead that they can ride throughout the season. Barring injury to Halladay or Lee, I can’t imagine a scenario in which the Phillies don’t make the playoffs this year. But without Utley, the playing field has definitely been leveled in the National League.

San Francisco Giants
This is an easy one. It’s been 10-straight years since the last time any team was able to repeat as World Series champions. And while the G-Men aren’t considered the favorites to win this year’s Fall Classic (that would be the Phillies or Red Sox), many pundits believe that, at the very least, they’ll win the NL West again. A World Series hangover is the Giants’ biggest concern, because this club is better now than it was a year ago. They’ll get a full year out of Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner, the energetic Andres Torres will serve as the leadoff hitter from Day 1 (instead of the highly unproductive Aaron Rowand), Pablo Sandoval looks like he’s ready for a big bounce back campaign, top prospect Brandon Belt might start the year with the big league club after dominating this spring, and Mark DeRosa, Mike Fontenot and Pat Burrell strengthen the bench. But it’s a different game for the Giants now. They’re going to be the hunted instead of the hunters, at least in the NL West. Can this fun-loving team recapture the same magic it had in September and October last year? Or will all of those extra innings that Bumgarner, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez endured in the postseason last year eventually catch up with this team?

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When Brewers’ starter Zack Greinke fractured a rib playing pickup basketball earlier this month, April 16th was the date given as his possible return. But as Milwaukee skipper Ron Roenicke tells John Schlegel of MLB.com, that timeframe seems unrealistic.

“If he’s ready at that point, I’m going to be really happy,” Roenicke said. “I just don’t know if he’s going to be ready then. I think we’re not really planning on that early.”

Greinke has been exercising but he has yet to play catch. I would assume that it’s still a possibility that he’ll come back sometime in April, but he’s definitely going to miss a few outings at the start of the season.

Fans have a tendency to panic when it comes to Opening Day injuries, but it’s a long season. I’m sure the Milwaukee faithful is anxious to see the Brewers’ new toy but there’s no sense rushing him back. There’s a lot of optimism surrounding this club right now and Greinke will play a key role in their success. But nobody has ever won a pennant in April so allowing him to fully recovery is best for all parities involved.

Prince Fielder and the Brewers successfully avoided arbitration on Tuesday by agreeing to a new deal worth $15.5 million. The contract makes him the highest-paid Brewer in team history and it’ll likely be his last arbitration contract.

Craig Calcaterra of NBC Sports Hardball Talk brings up a good point about Joey Votto’s deal with the Reds as it relates to Fielder’s new contract:

Attention Reds fans who keep asking me why the team would agree to buy out Joey Votto‘s arbitration years for $38 million while not getting any free agent years from him: this deal is the reason. If Votto had gone to arbitration for all three years, he’d easily exceed $38 million given the precedent set by Ryan Howard and Fielder’s arbitration deals. It gave the Reds cost-certainty and saved them several million dollars. That’s not nothing.

Calcaterra goes on to mention that Fielder has apparently lost weight and is “poised for free agency” after the 2011 season. That makes it sound like Fielder doesn’t want to be a Brewer beyond next year, although I think the main point is that he’s looking to cash in big after the upcoming season.

Fantasy baseball owners should take note because it looks like the Prince is in for a monstrous season.

According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, the Royals have traded starter Zack Greinke and Yuniesky Betancourt to the Brewers in exchange for Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, pitching prospect Jake Odorizzi and a player to be named later.

Commissioner Bud Selig must approve the trade since the Royals are also sending $2 million to the Brewers to offset the buyout they’d have to pay for Betancourt’s 2012 option, but it looks like it’s a done deal.

None of the prospects in the deal outside of maybe Odorizzi are blue-chippers, so it appears as though Kansas City accepted quantity over quality. They wanted to move Greinke for a couple of middle infielders, which is why the Yankees and Rangers weren’t fits. As accustomed with all trades involving multiple pieces, it’ll be a while before we see which side won this deal.

Of course, it’s a win for Greinke. The Brewers weren’t competitive last year but they weren’t competitive in large part because of their faulty pitching. If the 2009 Cy Young winner can rebound from a rough 2010, he’ll give Milwaukee a nice 1-2 punch along with Yovani Gallardo. Milwaukee is also a perfect low-key place for Greinke, who has dealt with anxiety problems in the past and was reluctant to go to a big city like New York.

Maybe a deal like this could catapult the Brew Crew back into contention next season.

There’s no way Brian Sabean will overpay for Corey Hart.

Brian Sabean won’t overpay to get Corey Hart, will he?

Oh God, Brian Sabean is going to overpay for Corey Hart, isn’t he?

If the Giants’ GM has taught us anything over the years, it’s that he’ll sell his wife, kids and soul just to get the player he covets. See Edgardo Alfonzo, whom he overpaid for in 2003 despite the third baseman’s well documented back troubles. See A.J. Pierzynski, whom he inexplicably acquired from the Twins in exchange for Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser because the Giants needed a catcher. See Barry Zito, whom he gave a $126 million contract to after outbidding himself.

For as great of a job as Sabean has done building one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, he’s done an equally horrendous job developing position players (Buster Posey being the exception, of course). Because he wasted years signing past-their-prime veterans instead of building through the draft, Sabean has had to overpay when it comes to free agents and trades. So when I read that the Giants are interested in Corey Hart, my palms and forehead get sweaty and the room starts spinning.

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Chances are, you need a few pitchers on your fantasy baseball roster that can eat up innings. You know, that silly rule that prevents you from loading up on closers? Well, here is a list you could use, especially if your team if floundering and you need some steady pitchers to deliver quality innings of work. This is the list of active leaders in innings pitched. Some of the names will surprise you, but certainly not all of them:

1. Jamie Moyer, Philadelphia Phillies (3966 innings)—Remember when Jamie Moyer pitched for the Cubs? Yeah, neither does anyone else. He was a rookie in 1986, the year Mookie Wilson hit the ball through Bill Buckner’s legs. I know, most of you don’t remember that, either.

2. Andy Pettitte, New York Yankees (2984)—Though it’s early, Andy Pettitte is having a career year at age 38. And I’m just glad I had the foresight (errr, luck) to draft him for my fantasy team.

3. Tim Wakefield, Boston Red Sox (2980)—Remember when Tim Wakefield pitched for the Pirates? Seriously, he started out there in 1992 and joined the Sox in 1995. And dude is still beloved by the chowder heads.

4. Livan Hernandez, Washington Nationals (2795)—Two things are baffling. One, that Livan’s age is listed as 35. Thirty-freaking-five! Um, no. And two, that this guy is still getting hitters out with that blistering 80 mph fastball of his.

5. Javier Vasquez, New York Yankees (2532)—So this guy has banked $92 million in his career to date for losing as many games as he wins (145-144). That’s proof right there that innings eaters are worth something, but still sounds like highway robbery to me.

6. Jeff Suppan, Milwaukee Brewers (2437)—He’s relegated to the bullpen for the most part, but still racking up innings of work.

7. Kevin Millwood, Baltimore Orioles (2382)—Remember when Kevin Millwood was the fourth starter behind Smoltz, Maddux and Glavine in Atlanta? That was in 1997 but seems like it was 50 years ago.

8. Derek Lowe, Atlanta Braves (2191)—He may have peaked a few years ago, but this guy still has some of the nastiest stuff in the game.

9. Tim Hudson, Atlanta Braves (2124)—Through all of the injuries, it’s truly amazing that Tim Hudson has pitched that many innings. And hey, Javier, put this in your pipe and smoke it—a 153-79 career record.

10. Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies (2123)—This dude just keeps winning, but even he’s only got 154 wins to date. Does that seem right?

Source: Baseball Reference