General manager Doug Melvin has been pretty clear that he will focus on starting pitching and left-handed bats before looking at closers. That may partly be out of necessity; in other words the Brewers feel that starting pitchers and left-handed bats are more difficult to acquire and more important to 2009 success.

But it's looking more and more that the relative glut of closers on the market might also be behind Melvin's patience in this area. The way the Brewers see it, six teams are seriously pursuing closers, with a few others on the fringes depending on their own moves (for example, if Bobby Jenks or J.J. Putz gets traded, the White Sox and Mariners could join the list). And Melvin sees four "A-type" closers on the free-agent market: Francisco Rodriguez, Brian Fuentes, Kerry Wood and Hoffman.

Between the trade- and free-agent markets, there might be more top-dollar closers than teams willing to pay top dollar. The Brewers, therefore, intend to wait to see how the market develops this winter.

So who would fit for the Brewers? Forget Turnbow, who was granted his free agency during the Brewers' brief postseason run. I think that K-Rod and Fuentes will outprice Milwaukee. Conversely, Hoffman will have his pick of a number of teams looking to spend, but not spend too much, and Milwaukee might have a hard time luring him. So, it seems that the most likely of the "big four" free agents who could "fall" to the Brewers is Wood, but only if his asking price drops. Remember, the Brewers showed interest in Wood during the previous offseason, and Wood has a 3.22 career ERA against the Brewers despite allowing seven runs in seven innings in 2008.

However, Wood reportedly wants a four-year contract, and I just don't see the Brewers going that far. The top internal options look to be Seth McClung or Carlos Villanueva. Luis Pena might be an option in the future, but he'll have to bounce back from a subpar 2008 season at Triple-A Nashville.

One more note on this topic: Is it strange to anyone else that more than two weeks after the Brewers sent him the necessary paperwork, incumbent closer Salomon Torres has not formally retired yet? I asked Melvin that question last week, and his only answer was, "I suppose it is." Torres does not have an agent, and a Brewers spokesperson said Torres told him he didn't want to talk about his retirement decision any more.

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The Brewers would probably like Torres to relinquish his 40-man roster spot before the Winter Meetings. Of course, the team would be perfectly happy if he changes his mind and comes back because he is already under contract for '09.

If this gets included in your next column, the CC Sabathia debate will probably be finalized. If it's not, here is my two cents -- if Sabathia was going to sign with the Brewers he would have done so already. Otherwise, what would be the purpose of waiting for other offers? If you are going to sign, then sign. You have the biggest offer out there that you're going to get (from the Yankees). The fact that he hasn't signed indicates that they are waiting to see if anyone will outbid the Yankees or that he is waiting for a particular team, and it's not the Brewers. If he simply wants the Brewers to up their bid a little, that would be have been accomplished already. I think Melvin needs to move on.
-- Rod, Yuba City, Calif.

Unfortunately -- because every sportswriter wants to cover a guy like CC -- I think Rod is right. Sabathia's people obviously are dragging as long as they can to get as many teams as possible involved in the bidding, and they aren't going to tell the Brewers, "No thanks" until they have to. Why would you let a team drop out if you don't have to?

The Brewers made a legitimate offer to Sabathia. It just doesn't look like it's enough.

In 2008, the Brewers' first game was on March 30 or 31. Why is it pushed a whole week back, to April 7, this year?
-- Jon K., Madison, Wis.

The start of Spring Training was bumped up and the start of the regular season was bumped back in 2009 because the second World Baseball Classic is scheduled to run from March 5-23.

I had a chance to cover second-round games in Puerto Rico in 2006 and it really was an incredible experience. Wisconsin fans who can't make it down to Phoenix during Spring Training might want to consider the shorter trip to Toronto, which is one of the sites of opening-round games this time.

When will there be information on Spring Training? We want to go to Phoenix and take our kids, but we can't find any information. Thanks for any info you can provide.
-- Liz K., Prairie du Sac, Wis.

You will not have to wait much longer. The Brewers intend to announce the Spring Training schedule early this week, as early as Monday, in fact.

Another travel plug: If you have the time and the means to visit Spring Training, it's a really great baseball experience. That's especially true (in my humble opinion) of Arizona, where teams are packed into a smaller geographical area than in Florida.