Projecting the Brewers' 2024 Opening Day Roster, v 1.0

Obviously, there will still be significant changes to the Brewers roster between now and late March. We don't yet know whether Matt Arnold and his staff will elect to trade Corbin Burnes or Willy Adames, and either move could beget a huge cascade of other changes. For the moment, though, let's assume no further subtractions or additions, to see what the roster could look like with only the existing, internal options.

Starting Lineup

1. Christian Yelich, LF
2. William Contreras, C
3. Sal Frelick, RF
4. Willy Adames, SS
5. Jackson Chourio, CF
6. Jake Bauers, 1B
7. Tyrone Taylor, DH
8. Brice Turang, 2B
9. Andruw Monasterio, 3B

Guessing the Opening Day batting order is obviously folly, but this gives us a good anchor. Yelich is, at this point, the clear and established leadoff hitter, and there's little reason to consider moving him out of that spot. Notably, Monasterio is manning the hot corner in this formulation, but there's some version of spring training in which Tyler Black forces his way past Monasterio and into the lineup. Black is the one player who could compel the team to move Yelich back down into one of the power positions in the lineup, but given his ground-ball rate, that would still be a less-than-ideal solution. 

The glaring, blinking segment of the lineup begging to be upgraded is Taylor and Bauers at designated hitter and first base, respectively. Platoons could keep each away from bad matchups most of the time, but the need for a reliable middle-of-the-order hitter at one of those bat-first positions is pretty stark.

Bench

• Jeferson Quero, C
• Oliver Dunn, IF
• Jahmai Jones, UTIL
• Garrett Mitchell, OF

Quero's 90 games at Double-A Biloxi in 2023 are his only experience above High A, and I deeply doubt that the Brewers want him on the roster come Opening Day. At the moment, however, they have no credible alternative. Signing a backup catcher remains high on the offseason to-do list, but it will need to be done cheaply. 

Depending on their respective Cactus League showings, it's not at all inconceivable that Dunn could be the starting second baseman, with Turang on the bench. Either way, Dunn's left-handed bat will provide depth on the infield and a pinch-hitting option when Taylor starts at DH and a tough righty comes on. Jones gets the nod here over Owen Miller, because Miller can be optioned without being exposed to waivers, whereas Jones can't. Mitchell makes it over Joey Wiemer and Blake Perkins because of his superior mix of power, defensive tools, plate discipline, and fit for the outfield mix from a handedness perspective.

Starting Rotation

• Corbin Burnes
• Freddy Peralta
• Wade Miley
• Adrian Houser
• Colin Rea

One of the key questions the spring will help us answer is whether or not the Brewers will revert to a six-man rotation. It's still not quite the norm, league-wide, but the six-man group is becoming increasingly popular, and the Crew have had trouble keeping starters healthy when using only five in rotation over recent seasons. Still, in this projection, we stick to five, figuring that Pat Murphy's old-school essence will win out in the battle with new-age thinking. 

Burnes is the elephant in the room, of course. If he's traded, a healthy Aaron Ashby is a candidate to claim the extra spot, but so is fellow southpaw Robert Gasser, about whose profile I wrote not long ago.

Bullpen

• Devin Williams
• Joel Payamps
• Trevor Megill
• Hoby Milner
• Abner Uribe
• Bryse Wilson
• Joe Ross
• Robert Gasser

Many of these choices will be shaped by the simple test of whether a given pitcher has minor-league options. Wilson and Ross have to be waived in order to be sent to the minors; Elvis Peguero and Taylor Clarke do not. The surprising name here might be Gasser, who would give the relief corps a second lefty and third long man. If the team does stick to five starters, they might want that length and flexibility out of the pen, especially early in the season. As we've discussed in the past, too, Gasser's arm slot and arsenal make him a tough matchup for lefty batters.

What do you think of this projection? Who are the players you most fervently hope to see added or subtracted between now and spring training? Fire up the conversation.