Marcum wants to stay | BREWERS NOTES Team hasn't talked about extension

Phoenix - Players trickled into the Milwaukee Brewers' complex Saturday, just two days from the first official workout of spring training for pitchers and catchers. A handful of pitchers, including John Axford, Chris Narveson, Marco Estrada and Tim Dillard, took part in informal throwing sessions. Two other members of the starting rotation, Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum, had bullpen sessions Friday. Both are free agents at the end of the season, and the Brewers are expected to try to sign at least one to a contract extension at some point. Neither will come cheaply. Presently Greinke is operating without an agent, possibly complicating potential talks with the team. Marcum said he has yet to hear from management about remaining with the team past the 2012 season but made it clear he would like to stay. "There hasn't been (talks)," said Marcum, who avoided an arbitration hearing in St. Petersburg, Fla., by mere minutes by agreeing to a one-year, $7.725 million contract Feb. 3. "When we were doing the arbitration thing, we were told they just wanted to do a one-year deal. I'm assuming that's what that means - we're just doing one year and they're going to let me walk. "They know I want to stay here. It's whether or not they want to try to work something out. So that's up to them. I don't write the checks." Marcum went 13-7 with a 3.54 earned-run average in 2011as one of the members of a revamped starting rotation that helped pave the way to a National League Central Division title. He also held opposing hitters to a.232 batting average. He made $3.95 million after coming to the Brewers in an off-season trade with Toronto for Milwaukee's top minorleague prospect at the time, infielder Brett Lawrie. Marcum was arguably the Brewers' top starter for the first half before a late skid that saw him go 0-3 with a 14.90 ERA in three postseason starts. Overall, Marcum was a much better pitcher away from Miller Park, going 8-3 with a 2.21 ERA and 0.973 WHIP (walks and hits per inning) compared with 5-4 with a 4.81 ERA and 1.330 WHIP at home. That the Brewers haven't yet broached the subject of an extension with Marcum doesn't mean they won't, or that they aren't interested. It's also possible they're targeting Greinke before making a run at Marcum because it could prove difficult to afford both. Either way, Marcum said he and his agent, Rex Gary, would be all ears if and when the team addresses the possibility with them. "I told my agent, and he's let it be known that we're interested," Marcum said. "Like I told Rex, when you give up probably your best prospect in Lawrie, you'd want to keep me around more than two years. But they've got some young guys coming up with the two kids they drafted last year (Taylor Jungmann and Jed Bradley) and (Wily) Peralta. "But the door's definitely wide open if they want to talk. The organization's been great. It feels like home; it's a lot like where I live back in the off-season (Missouri). My wife loves it there, and we feel like it's a great fit for us. And playing in front of 40, 000 fans every night, you can't beat it." This will be an interesting camp for Marcum in that he has tweaked his delivery to home plate a bit. After seeing photos and videos of his delivery from college, Marcum focused on strengthening his core and legs in off-season workouts in an attempt to gain velocity as well as finish on his off-speed pitches. Manager Ron Roenicke said whatever Marcum does, the goal should be to re-create the early portion of last season, when he headed into June with a 6-2 record and 67 strikeouts to go with just 17 walks. "You couldn't pitch better than he did the first month and a half with us," Roenicke said. "That's what I care about." Waiting for Braun: Roenicke admitted that he didn't think he'd arrive in camp still waiting to find out whether all-star leftfielder Ryan Braun would be suspended for the first 50 games of the season. Braun and the Brewers have yet to hear the verdict from a three-man arbitration panel that heard Braun's appeal on Jan. 19-20 of a positive drug test in early October. "We figured we would have known by now," Roenicke said. That verdict is expected to come in the next few days, and no matter how it plays out, Roenicke said it won't change the way he runs camp. "Right now, there's no difference for us," Roenicke said. "It would have been nice, two or three weeks ago, to help (general manager) Doug (Melvin) out in whatever (personnel) decisions had to be made. But right now, it's like, 'We've come this far. Whatever.' "We'll adjust after we see what happens." K-Rod will be late: Pitchers and catchers were invited to report to camp Saturday, but one notable pitcher will be a few days late. Reliever Francisco Rodriguez is not expected to arrive until the middle of the week from Venezuela. "We are not in the least bit concerned (about Rodriguez coming later)," said assistant general manager Gord Ash. "Late-inning relievers, especially veterans, don't need as much time to get ready to pitch. He also pitched a little in winter ball." Acquired from the New York Mets at midseason in 2011, Rodriguez assured he would return to Milwaukee by accepting the club's arbitration offer and later signed an $8 million deal. Details, details: The coaching staff, front-office members, scouts and other members of the organization met for more than four hours to detail preparations for the opening of camp. "This was way shorter than when I was with Anaheim," said Roenicke. "We'd meet for two days, from like 8 in the morning until 4 (p.m.). "It's (discussing) medical stuff to start and going over each player and what we need to do with them to help them improve their game. We went over what we think as an organization we need to do in all areas. It's so we're on the same page with the minorleague guys, too. So, there's a lot to talk about." Roenicke said he wouldn't know for certain until after physical examinations Sunday what the limitations are for certain players. Some, such as left-hander Manny Parra (elbow) and righty Brandon Kintzler (forearm), are coming off surgery. Roenicke said the early reports were good on pitching prospect Santo Manzanillo, who separated his pitching shoulder during the off-season in an automobile accident in the Dominican Republic. "He's been throwing (on the minor-league side), and he's throwing really well," Roenicke said. "He has recovered fast. He's doing well." Repeat performance: Japanese reliever Takashi Saito is not back this year, but Kosuke Inaji, who served as his translator, is. Inaji will serve as translator for Japanese outfielder Norichika Aoki, who reportedly speaks little English and will play in the United States for the first time. "He didn't speak any English when he was here (for an early January workout)," said Roenicke. "They said he's picking up some words, but it's going to be different than what I've been around. Saito was really good and when I had (Hideki) Matsui (in Anaheim), he was really good. I didn't need (a translator) if I just wanted to breeze by and talk about something.". Copyright 2012, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.) Copyright, 2012, Journal Sentinel, All Rights Reserved.