In Milwaukee, Tom Haudricourt notes the Brewers "have been relatively quiet this offseason," despite last season's "9-22 freefall that knocked them" out of playoff contention in the NL Central. Brewers Owner Mark Attanasio said that the team is just "stepping back and looking at things calmly and rationally." He noted that he did not want GM Doug Melvin to "make moves just to make moves." Attanasio decided that making changes "merely to show dissatisfaction with the team’s collapse might not be the wisest course, despite how disappointed he was with the outcome." Haudricourt notes the Brewers "are headed for a franchise-record player payroll" of about $110M. But Attanasio said that he "has given Melvin no directive to shed salaries" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 12/10).
A STROKE OF GENIUS: In Houston, Evan Drellich reported Astros GM Jeff Luhnow "received a contract extension ... within the last year." The previously unreported extension "stands as a vote of confidence for the executor of the Astros’ plan to move from a rebuilding era into a period where the club fires on virtual pistons." Team Owner Jim Crane said that Luhnow "has had rough patches while ultimately learning from his errors -- and executing the team’s plan" (CHRON.com, 12/9).
WHITE-GLOVE SERVICE: The White Sox this offseason have added Ps Jeff Samardzija and David Robertson and 1B Adam LaRoche, and in Chicago, Mike Imrem writes, "This is what rebuilding should look like." Imrem: "The White Sox might not win anything. The younger guys might not become what they're expected to be. The older guys might be used up. But the Sox' recent moves smack a little of the winter of 2004-2005, when the Sox were active in all national and international player markets." Perhaps these moves explain why White Sox Chair Jerry Reinsdorf " refused to give the Blue Jays permission" to interview team Exec VP Ken Williams for their job of President & CEO (Chicago DAILY HERALD, 12/10).
MORE TO COME? In Baltimore, Peter Schmuck writes while it seems "highly likely" Orioles Exec VP/Baseball Operations Dan Duquette will stay with the club at least for the '15 season, fans should not be "surprised if this isn't the last you hear" of rumors about his departure. Duquette "didn't put any Baltimore minds at ease when his initial public response to Sunday's news" linking him to the Blue Jays' front office, including a "fairly ambiguous noncomment." While Duquette has "since tried to make it clear that he is focused this week entirely on upgrading the Orioles roster," he has a "habit of responding indirectly to direct questions to avoid being put on the spot" (Baltimore SUN, 12/10).
SPRING IS IN THE AIR: In Boston, Peter Abraham reports the Red Sox "sold 34,461 tickets for spring training home games during the first weekend of sales." In all, 49,000 tickets "have been sold counting season tickets." The Red Sox said that the increase "is attributable to an additional home game on the schedule and early renewals of season tickets." Twelve of the 17 games "are sold out or have limited availability" (BOSTON GLOBE, 12/10).
