-P- Sadly, Bill Hall is out "indefinitely" with a severely sprained ankle that he sustained while trying to steal a homer from Ryan Doumit today. This may not slow the Brewers down much, however - Hall was having only a decent season with the bat, and the Brewers have any number of decent outfielders. They'll probably recall Tony Gwynn Jr., but I don't know whether Gwynn will start or if they might put Corey Hart or Gabe Gross in center.
-P- Pitcher Ryan Franklin signed an extension with the Cardinals. The details haven't been released yet, but it's apparently a two-year deal with a team option in 2010 and a $2 million base salary next year. I'm not sure what to make of this - Franklin's a tough nut to crack. He's having a very good year, but he has only struck out 16 batters in 42 innings. On the other hand, he has only walked three. He was bad when he was a starter because he never struck anyone out and allowed batters to hit the ball in the air, but as soon as he became a reliever he started keeping the ball on the ground.
I'm tempted to forget all this and guess that, as a reliever, Franklin is more like the 4.50 ERA guy he was last year. As a starter, he eats innings but is terrible, and he has very little room for error - if he goes back to the rotation and his strikeout rate dips at all, he has no value. Also, he's 34. So this doesn't seem like a very helpful move for the Cardinals, especially if they have to pay more than $2 million in 2009.