Predict the opening day 25 man roster

[adambr2]

I'll give it a go:

 

Rotation:

Gallardo, Wolf, Davis, Bush, Parra (5)

 

Bullpen:

Hoffman, Hawkins, Coffey, Stetter, Villanueva, Vargas, Lofgren (7)

 

Lineup:

Weeks, Escobar, Braun, Fielder, McGehee, Hart, Zaun, Gomez (8)

 

Bench:

Counsell, Gerut, Edmonds, Heether, Lucroy (5)

 

DL:

Riske, Suppan

 

 

I think especially with no options left, you can pencil in Parra for a rotation spot. I know he sucked last year, but they won't give up on him and really can't afford to. So that leaves a spot for Suppan or Bush. I say Bush gets it just on the premise of being the better pitcher when healthy, and they find something to safely stash Suppan away on the DL to start the season. The other option is to cut Bush and most of his $4.2M dollar salary, but given depth concerns, I don't think they will.

 

I think the top 5 are near locks in the bullpen, and Vargas is a pretty good bet. That leaves only 1 spot -- so it's just a guess but I say they go with a 2nd lefty and pick youth and upside with Lofgren over Showenweis. Obviously I wouldn't be surprised to see them go a number of other routes. Riske though, I think, starts on the DL, again, for depth and insurance. I don't see a spot for Narveson, so hopefully he clears waivers and can start in AAA.

 

No surprises in the lineup, other than maybe no Gamel. He starts in AAA for development and insurance at 3rd.

 

The bench has a combination of youth and experience. Familiar face with Counsell, and Edmonds makes the team too. Heether gets a chance to be this year's McGehee, and Gerut has little to no competition for the other OF spot. The backup catcher spot goes to Lucroy, with Salome starting in AAA ready to swap with Lucroy depending on how the first couple months go. Zaun gets about 75% of the starts.

[BREWERPRIDE]

The only changes I would make from you is Narveson for Lofgren, but dont see how you can put Suppan on the DL if he is healthy.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

I would have Kotteras in there instead of Lucroy. Lucroy needs more seasoning and would be wasting development time riding the pine behind Zaun.

[endaround]

Zaun isn't Kendall and so will likely only catch around 90 games. So the 2nd catcher will be getting to actually play this year. I do agree Kotteras has a slight edge though.

[adambr2]

I originally was going to go with Kotteras too, but that would either require them to split time at AAA, or have one of them all the way down at AA, and I'm just not sure if that's going to happen.

[BrewCrewForever]

Rotation:

Gallardo, Wolf, Davis, Bush, Parra (5)

 

Bullpen:

Hoffman, Hawkins, Coffey, Stetter, Villanueva, Vargas, Suppan (7)

 

Lineup:

Weeks, Escobar, Braun, Fielder, McGehee, Hart, Zaun, Gomez (8)

 

Bench:

Counsell, Gerut, Edmonds, Heether, Kottaras (5)

 

DL:

Riske

[twobrewers]

Villanueva has options left. I expect he will start in AAA and either Lofgren or Narveson will stay in MLB.

 

Narveson is out of options and is unlikely to clear waivers. I also doubt Heether makes the club. He was added to the 40-man this year. We can still keep him at AAA for three years before he is a free agent. (I believe)

[adambr2]

Villanueva has more than 3 years service time though, so doesn't he have to clear revocable waivers to be sent down?

 

Not sure about Heether, but I do like him to make the club...he was pretty productive in AAA and is pretty versatile...

[Ennder]

Zaun isn't Kendall and so will likely only catch around 90 games. So the 2nd catcher will be getting to actually play this year. I do agree Kotteras has a slight edge though.

I'd say a healthy Zaun catches about 120 games or so. His injury history suggests he probably will have at least one DL stint though which cuts it down a little but will probably mean our #3 C gets some play as well.

[nate82]

Rotation:

Gallardo, Wolf, Bush, Davis, Suppan (5)

 

Bullpen:

Hoffman, Coffey, Parra, Narveson, Stetter, Vargas, Hawkins (7)

 

Lineup:

1. Weeks

2. Hart

3. Braun

4. Fielder

5. McGehee

6. Zaun

7. Gomez

8. Escobar

 

Bench:

Counsell, Gerut, Kottaras, Heether, Edmonds

 

I think Suppan will be the #5 pitcher or it will be a surprise I don't think the Brewers will go with 3 lefties in the rotation. Parra and Narveson will be giving the chance to prove that they belong in the rotation but I just don't see it happening maybe Butler or someone else will earn a spot in the rotation.

 

Zaun should play about 100 games. I think Salome or Lucroy will get some playing time at some point with the Brewers this up coming season though.

[JohnBriggs12]

Rotation:

 

Gallardo, Wolf, Bush, Narveson, Davis

 

Bullpen:

 

Hoffman, Coffey, Vargas, Hawkins, Suppan, Stetter, Schoeneweis

 

Starters:

 

McGehee, Escobar, Weeks, Fielder, Braun, Gomez, Hart, Zaun

 

Bench:

 

Counsell, Inglett, Oeltjen, Gerut, Lucroy

 

Observations:

 

I don't see Lofgren making the team. He will be returned. They added several lefties after he was taken in Rule 5. Now he's just redundant. No need to save a spot for him.

 

I don't see Edmonds making the team because he will show he can't cover enough ground in CF to play out there and they really want a guy to play a couple games a week instead of Gomez. The last cut will come down to Oeltjen vs. Iribarren and Oeltjen will get the nod on more experience in CF. Iribarren has a chance but he needs to rake at a .400 clip to open eyes. But if Edmonds were to make the team it will be at the expense of Gerut, not Oeltjen or Iribarren to save a million and a half.

 

I don't see Parra making the team. Macha has more of show me attitude in spring than Yost ever did and I think he's going in with real doubts about Parra. Suppan on the other hand is crafty enough to show up ready to get hitters out in spring. He'll do what he has to do to prevent getting cut. Narveson will be the talk of spring from the pitching standpoint and Macha will insist he's in the rotation. I agree that Villanueva having an option makes him the likely odd man out for now thought it's about 50-50 between him and Schoeneweis for the last bullpen spot. I think it will come down to Schoeneweis having a more clearly defined role as second lefty.

 

The Brewers will try to package Parra and Iribarren at the end of ST in a deal. If they can't make a deal, they will try to sneak them both through waivers so the can be assigned to Nashville and hope that many teams will be having trouble cutting down their rosters too and that both may clear.

 

Kottaras will just be released. They made 2 catching moves after they signed him. He was insurance in case they couldn't get anyone else. Lucroy will earn his spot in spring and like Narveson, he'll be the talk of spring from the everyday player perspective. Treanor will back up Salome at AAA.

 

Heether and Gamel have no chance in large part because they are not starters and they have options.

[BrewerAddiction]

Rotation: Gallardo, Wolf, Davis, Bush, Parra

 

Bullpen: Hoffman, Hawkins, Coffey, Stetter, Vargas, Narveson, Suppan

 

Starters: Zaun, Fielder, Weeks, McGehee, Escobar, Braun, Gomez, Hart

 

Bench: Counsell, Inglett, Gerut, Edmunds, Kottaras

 

DL: Riske

 

If Villanueva can be sent down, I think he will be so as not to give up one of Bush, Parra, Suppan, or Narveson. However, it wouldn't surprise to see at least one other pitcher start the year on the DL and allow Villanueva to make the team. If he can't be sent down and no one is injured, it could get interesting.

 

I also wouldn't be surprised to see either Salome or Lucroy make the team over Kottaras.

[Spidey]

I was of the opinion that a main reason for bringing in Zaun was to tutor LuCroy/Salome at the major league level. I would like to see LuCroy make the team and get 1-2 starts a week, and if he is succeeding increase his load to more of an even split time with Zaun by July. (Best case scenario). Otherwise, the signing of Zaun just really doesn't make that much sense to me. I like the depth they added at Catcher, but those guys should be there only if Zaun is hurt and LuCroy/Salome can't hack it.

[TooLiveBrew]

I don't see Lofgren making the team. He will be returned. They added several lefties after he was taken in Rule 5. Now he's just redundant. No need to save a spot for him.

 

If Lofgren doesn't make the team, I hope the Brewers will work out a trade with CLE. He's got too much talent to simply give him back imo.

 

 

I don't see Parra making the team. Macha has more of show me attitude in spring than Yost ever did and I think he's going in with real doubts about Parra.

 

Macha doesn't have the last call on making the 25-man roster, Melvin does. And I sure hope Doug is wise enough to not just give up on Parra -- given his quotes wrt Parra, I'm pretty confident he won't.

[adambr2]

I think there are definitely issues between Macha and Parra, but as was pointed out, Macha isn't the final authority on the 25 man roster. Melvin has made it pretty clear that he's not at all concerned about having 3 lefties in the rotation. He even said the team has conducted studies on it and that he's not concerned.

 

I think Parra would have to have a complete disaster of a spring training not to make the rotation. And he should, really. Worst case scenario, he probably puts up Jeff Suppan numbers this year. Best case scenario, he's a #2. So we're really not risking much to keep him, and we already know what we're gonna get with Soup. We're still a franchise that needs to keep the big picture in mind, and Melvin will. He's still got 4 more years of club control, they'll wait him out. It's not like 2010 is a "now or never" season for us.

[twobrewers]

I don't see Lofgren making the team. He will be returned. They added several lefties after he was taken in Rule 5. Now he's just redundant. No need to save a spot for him.

 

 

Two & Too agree on this one. The Brewers selected Lofgren figuring he could make the roster as a left out of the bullpen. But Lofgren has been a starter in the minors and would be able to continue working as one if we work out a trade with Cleveland to keep him.

 

Parra and Lofgren have quite a bit in common. Before 2008, Baseball America had Parra as the 82st best prospect in baseball. Lofgren was ranked 81st.

[TooLiveBrew]

Lofgren's biggest issue is reportedly his mechanics, so I'd love to let Peterson get a crack at him.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Here's my take on things...

 

Rotation:

Gallardo, Wolf, Davis, Bush, Parra

 

Bullpen:

Hoffman, Hawkins, Coffey, Stetter, Villanueva, Vargas, Narveson

 

Lineup:

Weeks, Escobar, Braun, Fielder, McGehee, Hart, Zaun, Gomez

 

Bench:

Counsell, Gerut, Edmonds, Inglett, Kottaras

 

DL:

Riske

 

I think that everything but the last rotation spot, last bullpen spot, and 3 bench spots are pretty much set. I think that Bush will beat out Suppan in Spring Training. Suppan will likely be released unless he miraculously shows that he is worth something to the team. I think Narveson gets the last bullpen spot, so we don't risk losing him. He will be good insurance as a 6th starter. I think that Edmonds is pretty much guaranteed a job unless he gets hurt, and it seems as though Inglett has the upper hand as well. I think Kottaras gets the backup catcher spot, so Lucroy can get some more at-bats in AAA. Riske starts on the DL. Seems pretty straight forward to me.

[dlk9s]

Didn't want to start a new thread about this, and since this is the thread about the roster, I figured I'd mention that ESPN's Jayson Stark ranked the Brewers as the 3rd most improved team in the NL. No reasons given, although I assume it's because of the pitching.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com...=stark_jayson&id=4918467

[Invader3K]

Here's a shocking fact from that article: The Brewers ($54.4 million) spent almost as much on free agents this winter as the Yankees, Cubs and White Sox combined ($54.8M).

 

Of course some of those were simply re-signings.

[DHonks]

Adam, the Brewers can easily carry both Salome and Lucroy in AAA since they play a lot of games with a DH.

[brewmann04]

The biggest question on spring training is what type of Impact Coach Peterson will have on these pitchers Especially the ones who have the Talent but not have put it all together yet.

[stalton]

This made me laugh and feel comforted in the fact that we don't have Moore at the helm: In talking about Kendall getting the 2nd Worst FA signing this offseason

The Jason Kendall Fan Club was stunned that the Royals would give a two-year deal to a 36-year-old catcher who was once a three-time All-Star but hasn't made an All-Star team in 10 years, threw out 16.9 percent of opposing base stealers last year and has hit fewer homers over the last eight seasons combined (20) than Miguel Olivo hit for them last year.

[Milltownhooker]

Gotta agree with Briggs12. This will be Narversons year to breakout. Hopefully Parra can turn it around or he maybe off to the Royals.

[TheCrew07]

Adam, the Brewers can easily carry both Salome and Lucroy in AAA since they play a lot of games with a DH.

Why would we want Salome for example to only be catching every other day? He didn't do anything to be demoted last season, he just couldn't stay healthy, so I don't see why the organization would limit the opportunities of 2 players just to push Lucroy up to AAA.. I realize Lucroy is the catcher on most people's radar but I really don't have a problem with him repeating AA at least to start the season. I don't mind the idea of Lucroy catching Rogers, Rivas, Bowman, etc at all, in fact it might be a positive in the long run. As long as they signed these stop gap catchers for the MLB level why not let both of the young players catch everyday? I say again it's not like AAA is some sort of proving/seasoning ground, it's mostly a storage area for MLB depth. If Angel explodes and ends up in Milwaukee at some point then Lucroy can get bumped to AAA. I'm not a fan of young players getting their ABs in as a DH when most of these guys have defensive work to do yet, and Lucroy isn't a finished product defensively yet either.

 

I've been firmly against this idea of both young catchers in AAA from the start, and while it makes sense to want to promote Lucroy, it makes no sense to me to demote Salome to do so, or limit the catching opportunities of either player.