Was Lamb surprised? 'Yes and no'

We just talked via telephone with Mike Lamb and asked whether he was surprised when informed that he will not be on the Opening Day roster.

“Yes and no,” Lamb said. “Yes, because every indication I had from the off-season leading into Spring Training was that I was going to be on the team and see playing time at third base, depending on how Billy [Hall] did.

“Then, when I got to Spring Training, I started going into games in the seventh and eighth inning. And I went almost a week without playing third. It just wasn’t adding up. I wasn’t totally shocked, but I never dreamed I’d get released again. I don’t think I merited that. I thought I played decent enough. My batting average wasn’t that great but I certainly don’t think I was overmatched.”

Lamb is due $3 million this season but only $400,000 of that was to come from the Brewers. He’s owed the rest by the Twins, who signed Lamb to a two-year, $6.5 million contract prior to the 2008 season but then released him in August.

He did not sound like a player interested in going to Triple-A.

“I need to talk to my agent [Sam Levinson],” Lamb said. “I don’t envision being a Triple-A player. It’s not a money issue. My contract is guaranteed. I don’t want to go to Triple-A to be somebody’s insurance policy. I don’t think I deserve that. I’m only 33.

“Hopefully, something will open up with another team. It’s a tough spot because everybody else is doing the same thing, trimming their roster to get down to 25. It can be difficult to find a job.”