Opening Day Roster

[brewmann04]

The only thing I see is that Hiura is not on the final roster and the bullpen will be in flux 

[Outlander]

The hitting group is far from set, a ton of question marks. 

[young guns]

4 hours ago, MVP2110 said:

At this point the Opening Day hitting group seems pretty set barring any other injuries 

C: Contreras, Caritini

1b Rowdy, Voit

2b Urias

SS Adames

3b Anderson(also RF)

LF Yelich

CF Mitchell

RF Naquin

Util: Brosseau & Miller

-Naquin & Brosseau platoon with Anderson shifting between 3B & RF 

-Miller backups CF for a couple weeks to start the year

-Keston is traded or DFAd, Toro goes to the minors

-Frelick & Turang head to AAA for a few weeks and then inevitably replace Naquin & Miller unless other injuries pop up

 

Pitching is tougher, specifically the end of the bullpen

Rotation: Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Lauer, Miley

Closer: Devin

Set up guys: Bush & Strezlecki 

Middle/Long Relief: Houser, Guerra, Milner, Wilson, Payamps 

-last spot for me came down to Payamps & Varland but I could see us making a trade with LA to be able to keep Varland in the minors 

-it'll be tough to carry all 3 of Guerra, Wilson, and Payamps all season without being able to send them to the minors but I think all 3 start the season in the bigs and then see who is ineffective or if any injuries occur

 

Unless I'm missing someone, it looks like you only have 25 here.

[MVP2110]

1 hour ago, young guns said:

Unless I'm missing someone, it looks like you only have 25 here.

Ah, I forgot Winker. Thanks

[MVP2110]

2 hours ago, Outlander said:

The hitting group is far from set, a ton of question marks. 

I really don't see it that way outside of Voit/Hiura. It's clear they are prepping Miller to be the backup CF to start the season, and I don't see any of the other hitters as question marks

[MVP2110]

2 hours ago, brewmann04 said:

The only thing I see is that Hiura is not on the final roster and the bullpen will be in flux 

I don't think Hiura makes the opening day roster, I think he gets dealt for some random mid level prospect 

[torts]

7 hours ago, MVP2110 said:

I don't think Hiura makes the opening day roster, I think he gets dealt for some random mid level prospect 

I think he's just DFAd

[Pugger]

10 hours ago, MVP2110 said:

I don't think Hiura makes the opening day roster, I think he gets dealt for some random mid level prospect 

What a disappointment.  Talk about going from the penthouse to the outhouse...

[Outlander]

Hiura isn't really any different than the end of last year. If they had no intention of keeping him they would have non-tendered last year. I don't necessarily disagree that he isn't a great fit for this team but don't see the Brewers throwing away $2 million with a DFA.

[MVP2110]

14 minutes ago, Outlander said:

Hiura isn't really any different than the end of last year. If they had no intention of keeping him they would have non-tendered last year. I don't necessarily disagree that he isn't a great fit for this team but don't see the Brewers throwing away $2 million with a DFA.

It is interesting how much they have played him in LF this spring, but I still think it comes down to him or Voit and I don't believe they signed Voit just to not put him on the roster. I can't see Hiura taking Brosseau's spot and they need a backup CF which seems like Owen Miller to start.

[Outlander]

I would like to see if they have to pay Voit his $2million as well if they add him to the 40 man and option him. Even if that money would be guaranteed might not be bad for depth.

[edfunderburk]

11 hours ago, MVP2110 said:

I don't think Hiura makes the opening day roster, I think he gets dealt for some random mid level prospect 

I surely hope they can trade him - otherwise he will be paid $2M to be DFA’d

[edfunderburk]

4 hours ago, torts said:

I think he's just DFAd

Which will cost Milwaukee $2M

What a terrible decision to sign him this year

[edfunderburk]

43 minutes ago, Outlander said:

Hiura isn't really any different than the end of last year. If they had no intention of keeping him they would have non-tendered last year. I don't necessarily disagree that he isn't a great fit for this team but don't see the Brewers throwing away $2 million with a DFA.

Two bad choices …

DFA him & lose $2m

Keep him on the roster & have a terrible defensive player with a 40% strikeout rate hoping he “gets into one” from time to time

It was a terrible decision to tender him a contract this season

 

Hopefully - there will be a third option …

Some desperate team takes a flier on him via a trade & assumes his contract

[torts]

2 hours ago, edfunderburk said:

Which will cost Milwaukee $2M

What a terrible decision to sign him this year

$2 on a 120+ million payroll is not that big of a deal

[edfunderburk]

56 minutes ago, torts said:

$2 on a 120+ million payroll is not that big of a deal

Agreed … but that $2M could have gone to another LH bullpen arm like Will Smith 

[nate82]

I think both Hiura and Naquin have played themselves out of the OD roster.  I think the Brewers will try and keep one but not both.  I think it will be Hiura but I believe the Brewers will try and sneak them through and DFA both.  Whoever doesn't get picked up stays which maybe both.  I think Hiura will start in AAA and won't make the OD roster.  The Brewers will still be on the hook for the $2m but he won't be on the OD roster unless there is an injury or two. 

[MVP2110]

3 minutes ago, nate82 said:

I think both Hiura and Naquin have played themselves out of the OD roster.  I think the Brewers will try and keep one but not both.  I think it will be Hiura but I believe the Brewers will try and sneak them through and DFA both.  Whoever doesn't get picked up stays which maybe both.  I think Hiura will start in AAA and won't make the OD roster.  The Brewers will still be on the hook for the $2m but he won't be on the OD roster unless there is an injury or two. 

Barring an unexpected trade I don't see how Naquin misses the roster, the Brewers just don't have enough outfielders for him not to make it 

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

4 hours ago, edfunderburk said:

Which will cost Milwaukee $2M

What a terrible decision to sign him this year

I mean, I get it. Major League Baseball is difficult. But Keston Hiura has shown absolutely no growth whatsoever in his time in the majors. If anything, he's actually regressed. I'm sure that he's trying behind the scenes to right the ship (I would hope at least), but there has been no visible sign of any improvements or adjustments. 

[edfunderburk]

Do we have a 2nd LH arm in the bullpen in addition to Milner? We look thin there with Ashby on the IL. I don’t think Small is the answer.

I say no to Varland on the OD roster - even if we lose him back to LA.

[wiguy94]

2 minutes ago, edfunderburk said:

Do we have a 2nd LH arm in the bullpen in addition to Milner? We look thin there with Ashby on the IL. I don’t think Small is the answer.

I say no to Varland on the OD roster - even if we lose him back to LA.

Why do we need a 2nd LHP on roster? Suter was our only LHP who was in a flexible role in 2021. 

[edfunderburk]

24 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Why do we need a 2nd LHP on roster? Suter was our only LHP who was in a flexible role in 2021. 

Need ? ?
Desire … might be the better word

I believe we had Ashby in late 2021 too

[JohnBriggs12]

Frelick is a consensus top 100 prospect.  MLB has incentivized having top prospects on the opening day roster and I think Frelick is the perfect guy for this especially on a team short of outfielders.  If Frelick starts the season on the roster and wins the ROY and/or finishes in top 3 of MVP voting,  Brewers would get an extra first round pick in next year's draft.  My gut feeling about Frelick is that once he's inserted into the lineup, he's never looking back.  While I like Mitchell a lot too, I think Frelick is the surer bet to provide consistent offense and hit lefties.

[Ro Mueller]

FanGraphs’ Roster Resource page for the Brewers now projects Owen Miller on the Opening Day roster, Tyler Naquin out.

They also still have Gus Varland and Jake Cousins as the odd men out in the bullpen.

It’ll be interesting how they react if/when Luke Voit’s contract is selected later this week.

[Lathund]

I think Naquin is very unlikely to make the roster, and that they'll go with players already on the 40-man. If they release some out of options guys or make some trades perhaps the roster spot won't matter and he'll make it, but I think it's unlikely. 

I also still don't think Voit makes it, even if I think the chances of it are higher than for Naquin. Brewers already have a 1B and a DH, and Voit has reverse splits and isn't a good complement to them. I don't think they want yet another positionally limited guy on the roster. They might go with rostering and immediately optioning, but I generally think Voit was more signed as injury insurance. But he has enough of a track record that him being on the roster certainly can't be ruled out. Kinda feel like both he and Hiura have less than 50‰ chance of making it, but that one of them is likely to do so 

I'm also still convinced that the only reason Turang might not be on the roster is to gain that extra year of service time. With Anderson likely playing a lot of RF early on and Urias at 3B I think he's the best option at 2B as well as the only real backup at SS as well as a potential CF backup. 

C Caratini, Contreras

Inf: Tellez, Turang, Urias, Adames, Brosseau

Inf/OF: Miller, Anderson

OF: Mitchell, Yelich

DH/OF: Winker

This leaves one spot for Hiura, Toro, Voit, Naquin or Frelick. Undecided which way they go. 

SP: Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta, Lauer, Miley, Houser (+ Long Relief)

RP: Williams, Bush, Strzeslecki, Milner. 

These I'm fairly certain about. I think they'll want Wilson, Guerra and Payamps but it could also be Cousins, Varland or others. Good chance they'll pick up another reliever on waivers or in a minor trade, they often do.