MILWAUKEE -- While the rest of the city continued digging out from more than a foot of snow on Friday, two days after a major snowstorm, the Brewers were thinking of spring.

Eight days before pitchers and catchers report to Maryvale Baseball Park for the first formal day of Spring Training, the second of two semi trucks was loaded at Miller Park and later began a four-day trek to Phoenix. The famous racing sausages helped out for a photo op, but the task was serious business; the truck was loaded with equipment and administrative supplies that will allow players and club officials to prepare for 2008. All of the files from general manager Doug Melvin's office were loaded up. Those sausage costumes tagged along, too.

Most of the baseball equipment is already on site. An earlier truck transported bats, pitching machines, equipment bags and other supplies to Phoenix in time for the Brewers' fantasy camp, which runs through Sunday.

Players will begin trickling into Maryvale Baseball Park on Monday for early workouts. Pitchers and catchers must be in Phoenix by Feb. 16, and their first workout is scheduled for the next day. Position players must report by Feb. 23, and the Brewers' first full-squad workout will be Feb. 24.

Still waiting: Brewers officials have not heard from reliever Eric Gagne since his name appeared in former Sen. George Mitchell's report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, and the team isn't sure how Gagne will address the issue when he reports to Maryvale Baseball Park.

In fact, club officials said they are not sure when Gagne will report, only that they expect him to be in Phoenix by Feb. 16, when pitchers and catchers are required to check in, and to be on hand for the first official workout on Feb. 17.

"I'm sure he'll say something," said executive vice president and general manager Doug Melvin. "I haven't talked to him about it. I think it's up to the player, though I'll talk to Eric when he's down there and see how he wants to handle it. It's his situation. I don't know the whole situation."

Gagne's agent, Scott Boras, did not return a telephone message at his office this week.

Gagne does have a nice place to stay in the Valley. In its weekly listing of major real estate transactions, the Arizona Republic reported on Feb. 5 that Gagne and his wife, Valerie Hervieux, purchased a $5.2-million, 6,800-square foot home in Scottsdale with a 500-square foot swimming pool.

Leg up: Right-hander Dave Bush avoided arbitration this week by agreeing to a one-year contract, and two days later Melvin gave the strongest indication yet that Bush will win a spot in the starting rotation.

"I think he'd have to pitch awful [in Spring Training] to not be a part of the rotation," Melvin said on Thursday. "Take a look at Dave Bush vs. Joe Blanton's numbers over their career. Blanton has the wins and the ERA was better last year, but overall they're not far off."

Blanton is an Oakland A's right-hander and a hot name in the trade rumor mill. He has pitched 633 2/3 innings in 102 games in his career, making for a nearly even comparison with Bush, who has worked 630 1/3 innings and 108 games. Blanton has more wins (42 to 34), a better ERA (4.10 to 4.53) and has surrendered far fewer home runs (57 to 84). But Bush has more strikeouts (439 to 369) and fewer walks (136 to 167). Blanton has pitched slightly deeper into games, averaging 6.35 innings per start to Bush's 6.04 innings.

Assuming Bush wins a spot, and assuming the three with spots locked up -- Ben Sheets, Jeff Suppan and Yovani Gallardo -- stay healthy, it leaves four pitchers vying for one more spot. Chris Capuano, Manny Parra, Claudio Vargas and Carlos Villanueva would battle in Spring Training.

Melvin has hinted before that Villanueva has the inside track on a spot because of his strong performances as a starter last September, but would not say this week whether the job was Villanueva's to lose.

Hot ticket: Because of high demand, fans who purchased 20-game season ticket packages no longer got tickets to the Brewers' home opener as a bonus after 5 p.m. CT on Friday.

There are still ways to guarantee seats at the April 4 opener against the Giants. The Brewers still had limited numbers of its "20-Game Opening Day Plan," which included tickets to Opening Day plus 19 other pre-set games at Miller Park. Inventory for this plan is extremely limited and was expected to sell out quickly. Of course, home opener tickets are also available to fans who purchase a full, 81-game ticket package.

Through Feb. 14, fans can also register through an online lottery at brewers.com for the opportunity to purchase up to four tickets to Opening Day. There will also be a limited number of Opening Day tickets (including standing room only) available at the Brewers Arctic Tailgate at Miller Park on Saturday, Feb. 23 when individual game tickets go on sale. Each fan there will be limited to a maximum of four tickets for Opening Day.

Tune in: The Brewers and FSN Wisconsin released the team's 150-game television broadcast schedule this week, and it is available online. Most home games will be broadcast in high definition, though that portion of the schedule will be announced at a later date.

The team also formally announced its three Spring Training telecasts: March 14 against the Padres, March 16 against the Mariners and March 24 against the Rockies.