monty57

I sure hope that Roenicke takes nothing into account when making a lineup out due to personality. :-) That was in reference to a post (I believe by endaround) noting that earlier this spring McGehee was gushing about what a great person and good locker room influence Kotsay is. It seems to be to be at least part of the reason why Kotsay was basically given a roster spot from the day he was signed, while younger, more talented players like Boggs and Dickerson have had to fight tooth-and-nail. Other than personality/"good locker room influence"/"veteran presence" I don't see any reason why Kotsay or Reed are on the team over Boggs. The argument could've been made that we needed Reed as a backup CF, but with Morgan, that argument is shot. Boggs would give us a younger, cheaper player who hits better and plays better defense than Kotsay and also hits from both sides of the plate, which is important when most of our bench is LH. That said, after the Brad Nelson/Chris Duffy experiment, I think Melvin genuinely believes that veterans are better off the bench than young, less experienced players.

While I don't think he plays great defense, Almonte has been played all over the field this spring. I'd guess he'd be the "emergency backup" if Counsell had already been used and an IF injury occurred. With so many LH hitters on the bench, I don't see Counsell being needed much as a pinch hitter, and I don't see a non-injury situation where two of Weeks, Betancourt, McGehee and Fielder would get pinch hit for. Barring injury, Fielder, Weeks, McGehee, Braun and Hart should play almost everyday, and Betancourt will play most days, with Counsell getting some starts at SS. If Weeks, McGehee or Fielder gets hurt, someone like Gamel, Cruz, Maysonet or Farris would be brought up, so really the concern is over the minor day-to-day injuries. If they start to add up, then we may need to bring someone up from AAA, as I don't see Counsell's body holding up to regular starts. Overall, I think we have a pretty solid starting lineup (insert Yuni comments here) and our bench ought to be good enough. I'd rather have someone other than Kotsay, but Melvin has a history of finding seemingly-over-the-hill OFs who have surprising seasons, so I'll give him a pass. Morgan should be a pretty good reserve OF. Reed will be in AAA when Hart's back. As I said previously, I will cheer strongly for Almonte. If he hits like he did this spring, he'll help the Brewers a lot this season. If not, we'll need to find another RH bat on the bench. Cruz is never going to earn a living as a strong RH bat off the bench, so he'll only be back up if an IF gets hurt.

I'd guess that Gomez will start the season as the everyday CF. By that, I mean he'll probably get 70% or so of the starts. How he handles that will determine whether or not the tandem will be platooned at some point in the season. It will be interesting to see who they start in RF until Hart returns. Prior to this trade, I figured Kotsay was a lock, but we'll see if they take better defense / higher OBP over slightly more power, and a better personality.

I'm glad he cleared waivers. He's not that good, but my real worry was that if another team claimed him, we really wouldn't have much depth if Betancourt gets hurt or lives down to most Brewerfan.net members' expectations. Plus, he's probably better than Counsell at this point, but there was no way they were going to cut Counsell to keep Cruz. While I don't have huge expectations for Almonte, I'm happy for him, and I'll certainly be rooting for him, as he'll have a big role as our sole RH bat off the bench. Plus, it would be a great story if he came out of nowhere and played a meaningful role in helping the Brewers to the playoffs.

I sure hope Almonte's spring wasn't a fluke, as he's now our only hope of having a RH bat on the bench. With Gomez and Morgan, why are we keeping Reed over Boggs?

I'd guess Almonte would get the spot, with Reed getting full-time CF duty in AAA, since Schafer is out. Reed's signed to a minor league deal, so you wouldn't lose him if you send him to AAA. That gives the Brewers another week to decide between Boggs/Cruz/Almonte, and probably makes it easier to slip one through waivers, since other teams' AAA rosters are set. Plus, the way things are going, who knows what injuries will occur by the time Hart's back (or Hart's injury lingers even longer), so holding on to a player for an extra week or two may prove beneficial.

Here's how I see it: Logan Schafer is hurt and will be out (I believe) 4-6 weeks. Therefore, Reed (signed to a minor league deal) should go to AAA and be the full-time CF. The "new attitude" Gomez will be the full-time CF in Milwaukee. Boggs (who would've been lost if we didn't have room for him on the 25-man) will now get a spot on the roster. He will be the RH part of a RF platoon with Kotsay (who otherwise would've been full time RF) until Hart is back and a much needed RH bat off the bench this season. He will also get spot starts in CF. He's played there multiple times this spring, and his defense will be fine for a few spot starts. If Gomez gets hurt or sucks so bad we absolutely have to completely replace him, then Reed will have been playing full time at AAA, so he will be in a better position to come up and replace him. Meanwhile, we gained a pitcher who can pick up the few starts Greinke will miss and/or can fill in for Parra if the injury is worse than we think. We had almost no backup plan for SP injury, which was spotlighted pretty brightly with a few injuries this spring. Mitre isn't a savior, but at least he's a little more MLB depth. We didn't just trade Braun or Fielder. There is a chance that Gomez fails, and if he does, I think Boggs has just as much chance of "saving the day" for a failing Gomez as Dickerson. And really, if our season hinges on either of them "saving the day," then I think we're in trouble. To me the marginal difference between Dickerson and Boggs makes this much less of a deal than people are making it out to be. The additional RH bat on the bench and additional pitching help could very well make the Brewers better.

This frees up the logjam we had for our bench, gives us much needed pitching depth, and allows us to keep 1 or 2 RH bats on the bench. I liked Dickerson as a backup OF, but we do have a lot of backup OF, and very little SP options beyond our top 5. Kotsay was going to start in RF until Hart's returns, and then would be the #1 LH bat off the bench, and Counsell was probably going to be #2, so the only PT Dickerson would've had was in CF. I liked him as a potential "soft platoon" partner for Gomez, but I think Boggs will be fine in that role. Without this trade, we probably would've lost Boggs, and Mitre should make up for the marginal upgrade Dickerson potentially holds over Boggs.

Couldn't we just pay a stand up comic to travel with the team and then fill up the roster spots with the best players available :-)

WTP, while I would rather have Dickerson in RF over Kotsay, it doesn't appear to be what's happening in the ST games I've listened to (which has been most of them). Kotsay is routinely in the lineup in the 3-5 spots, while Dickerson has been down in the order, so it appears they think Kotsay is the better hitter, and Kotsay has been getting a decent number of reps at corner OF, so they think he can play there. I think Dickerson is slated to get a decent number of starts in CF, and probably has the potential to be our starting CF at some point this season, depending on how things play out. However, I think they'll start Kotsay over him in RF, at least to start the season.

I like the idea of not starting his service clock for the most part until 2012 His service clock started a couple of years ago when Macha hid him on the bench as the #3 LH bat off the bench. It continued last season when he got injured in ST and accumulated major league service time until he was finally able to play and therefore be optioned to the minors. I do, however, like the idea of not accumulating more MLB service time as a bench player, when he should be a Brewers starter from 2012-2016 if we don't waste more service time this year. JohnBriggs, I pretty much agree with you. The Brewers are enamored with Kotsay, and if Hart isn't starting in RF (which doesn't look likely), I think Kotsay will be. I don't know which of Almonte/Cruz/Boggs makes the final cut, but we'll need a RH bat off the bench, and Cruz doesn't really qualify, so Almonte could get it. I've heard Katin plays "plus defense" in RF, with a great arm, so I wouldn't think he'd be relegated to full time DH. Maybe more of an OF/DH rotation is in order?

My guess is that Kotsay will be the starting RF until Hart comes back and will then be the #1 backup corner OF / #1 LH bat off the bench / backup 1B (please never be needed here). He's been batting in the #3-5 spot in the lineup for most of the ST games, so for some reason the Brewers brass certainly think higher of him than most here do. I think Dickerson will be at least "soft platooned" with Gomez in CF. He came in with a spot pretty well locked up, and he's done nothing this spring to lose that spot. In my mind, the real battle is who will be the RH bat on the bench between Boggs (switch-hitter), Almonte & Cruz. Hart to the DL will probably allow us to keep two for a short period. I certainly hope Reed doesn't make the cut, as we don't need three LH backup OFs on the team. I've become kind of indifferent to which of Boggs/Almonte/Cruz we keep. We need all the minor league depth we can get, and since we'd lose Boggs and Cruz if they don't make the 25-man, I guess that would be a good way to go, even though Almonte has been killing the ball all spring. To the topic of the thread, if Carroll ends up getting any significant playing time for the Brewers, I would think we'd better start shopping Prince, because the season's pretty much over.

end, I think HiandTight was talking practicality and not theoretically. Theoretically, you are correct, but if we lose all the games which Greinke would have started, then I think it's reasonable to believe that we would have won at least one of them had Greinke started. Of course it could just as easily go the other way, and we could win all three starts, but it is definitely reasonable to believe that we could lose an extra game because of the injury. Also, wouldn't it be more than three games? Because we are skipping some starts and putting the "replacement" in the 5 spot, that pitcher will likely get three starts. However, if Greinke was in the 1 spot and wasn't skipped, wouldn't he get more than three starts?

Agreed. It's quite possible that the Brewers' offer was similar to the Mets' offer, but Capuano (understandably) wanted to test the market. Then, when the Brewers added Grienke and Marcum, they withdrew their offer, as the rotation was set, and there wasn't much extra cash to spare with the new, more expensive additions. With the Brewers' offer off the table, Capuano probably felt a little more pressure to get a deal done. He has a base salary of $1.5 million and can max out at $4.5 million with 32 starts and 200 innings. With 32 starts and 200 innings, Narveson will still cost near-league minimum. The extra $1-4MM Capuano would've cost probably has something to do with the decision to slot Narveson in the #5 spot. Capuano's is a great story, which will be made better if he is able to have a decent career after his 2nd TJ surgery. He also seems like a good person, and I will continue to cheer him on. That said, I completely understand why the Brewers went the route they did, and I doubt that Capuano is bearing any malice towards the team.

It seems to me that after the Brad Nelson 0-21 season, Melvin is most comfortable with "proven veterans" on the bench. I understand this to a degree, but I would rather have Boggs, Almonte or Cruz over Kotsay this season.

Depends on the injury. Braun sounds like he was ready to play the next day. Hart sound like it's not getting better. Greinke probably would be playing, but that may keep him at less than 100% for a longer period. Lucroy broke a finger, so he can't play 100% until it heals. When I hear "tightness in the shoulder," I get worried when pitchers want to pitch through it, as it could be something which will get better with rest, but will get worse if it's not rested. In my book, unless cleared by the medical staff, pitchers shouldn't fool around when they feel any discomfort in their pitching arm/shoulder. That's what worried me when Marcum said he would have just kept pitching if it were regular season. You should always let the team know of a pitching-arm problem. Overall, you're probably correct that many of these injuries are minor, but they are injuries, and they're adding up.

What's Your Gomez Prediction? He will soft platoon with Dickerson this season, combining for serviceable CF stats. He will be traded next offseason and Schafer will be the CF of the future. (Crossing my fingers and knocking on wood... I said the same thing about Hart before last season and he had the best season of his career, so maybe it'll work again)

I really didn't like him saying that in the regular season he would have kept his mouth shut and continued pitching. That's usually the way you turn a minor problem into a major one. I'm starting to get worried about all of these injuries. Right now, the list of fully healthy players is probably shorter than the list of injured players, and we're only halfway through Spring Training. Hopefully everyone heals and we play most of the season injury-free, but things like tight shoulders for pitchers and strained ribs for hitters can have a tendency to linger throughout the season.

But they'll be on someone else's AAA roster, meaning we'd have to trade for him, and the team we'd be dealing with would have us over a barrel, since we're theoretically trying for the playoffs and can't get there without a SS. From what I garner, Cruz plays above average defense, which would really help this team, and his bat isn't bad enough to derail our fairly potent offense. I've accepted the fact that (barring injury) Yuni is our regular SS. If he were to get injured or just plain stinks, I don't think Counsell's body will hold up to everyday play at SS. Even if it does, Counsell has had a sub-.675 OPS in 4 out of the past 5 seasons and sub-.700 OPS in 7 out of the past 9 including a .640 OPS last season. The more I think about it, the more I'd like the Brewers to simply drop Counsell and keep Cruz on the roster. I don't know the ins-and-outs of Counsell's contract, but if we could get away with only paying a portion of it, we'd save money, upgrade our defense, and gain another RH bat on the bench.

I would like to see us hold onto Cruz, and think Kotsay should be gone. However, it seems Kotsay is going to be on the roster, so in my opinion the need for a decent RH bat on the bench outweighs the need for a third string SS. Cruz really doesn't qualify as a decent RH bat off the bench relative to Boggs (swtich hitter) or Almonte. The need for a RH pinch hitter arises much more often then the need for two utility IF to play at the same time. If the game's on the line with a lefty on the mound, I'd much rather see Boggs or Almonte at the plate over Cruz. I have questions about Counsell, but haven't said anything, because I don't think that there is any chance the Brewers would cut him in favor of Cruz. Nor, for that matter, would they make Cruz the primary backup with Counsell relegated to third string... at least not due to Spring Training results. If Cruz accepts a AAA position, and Yuni/Counsell both stink up the joint, then it is possible he could see MLB playing time. However, my guess is that we lose him if he isn't on the 25-man, and when Yuni/Counsell suck, we're stuck with no backup plan. Again, it would be easier to dump Kotsay and keep Cruz and one of Boggs/Almonte, but if we insist on keeping LH Kotsay, LH Dickerson & LH Counsell along with the backup catcher, then we'll need the RH Almote or switch-hitting Boggs on the bench.

While I personally think Dickerson and Boggs should be ahead of Kotsay, I've listened to most of the games, and tried to read as much as possible, and everyone seems to talk like Kotsay has a roster spot. I don't see them going with a 13-man rotation, even with Greinke missing some time, so that leaves a bench of Counsell, b/u catcher and Kotsay with Dickerson, Boggs, Cruz and Almonte fighting for the final two bench spots. TLB, was Dickerson hurt in the collision? While that wouldn't be a good thing, it would certainly make the roster decisions somewhat easier. I think Boggs would definitely be in. Almonte has had a great spring, and has a RH bat, which the Brewers could really use on the bench, however, he doesn't really add anything defensively, as they have better backups at any position he plays. Cruz would be nice to have on the bench for defensive purposes, and I'd hate to lose him, as we don't have much SS depth in the minors. However, with a set infield that doesn't take many days off, and Counsell as the primary backup at 2B, SS & 3B, I'd guess Almonte would get the nod over Cruz. If Dickerson is healthy, I think he'll get a roster spot, and may even "soft platoon" with Gomez in CF. That would mean that only one of Boggs/Almonte/Cruz would make the roster. Cruz has to be the first one out, and for me it's a toss up between Boggs and Almonte. Another wildcard is Hart's situation. If he misses much more time, he may need some extended ST to get his timing down. Hopefully he's playing again soon, so this won't be an issue, but if he's not with the Brewers on opening day, then I'd have to think Dickerson and Boggs would both be on the roster.

Melvin said exactly what he should've said to keep everyone off Greinke's back and put out any fires. That doesn't mean that participating in an activity which has a decent chance of leading to an injury is smart, even if it doesn't violate the contract. It's really easy to get minor injuries (jammed fingers, twisted ankles, etc) playing basketball, and there is a decent chance of major injuries like blown knees. The Brewers expect to pay Greinke around 1/2 million per start, and their playoff hopes ride pretty heavily on his shoulders, so I hope this incident opens his eyes a bit so that he doesn't do anymore dumb-but-not-in-violation-of-his-contract moves.

Other than having the "long man" get a spot start mid-season, I don't really like bouncing players between the rotation and the bullpen, so I'd rather keep Loe in the 'pen. My vote is for Rogers if healthy/ready and Rivas as the second option.

IIRC, Aaron Boone hurt his knee playing basketball, which allowed the Yankees to void his contract, leading to the A-Rod trade. The odds of getting hurt playing basketball are significantly higher than most other things he could've been doing, so I think it's valid to criticize him for playing hoops. That said, it would be dumb for the Brewers to pursue not paying him if they have any hopes of extending him in the future. I'm just glad he probably won't miss much time. It will have a negative effect on the season, but not that bad. Here's to hoping that whoever fills in for the game(s) will pitch well. If Rogers is back pitching this week, as a poster mentioned, then I'd guess that he would be first in line for filling the spot until Greinke's back. This might even have an added benefit of limiting Rogers' innings early in the season.

Because we have nothing else to talk about. The roster is pretty much set. True. Once the season starts, we won't care too much about the 25th man, but it would be nice to have a RH bat on the bench with some pop. At 33, you really don't care about sitting him at the end of the bench until needed. As the backup 1B, with two better fielding backup corner OFs on the roster, you'd hope he'd only get one start max for the season. That's not a position I want to put a young player in, but it suits Almonte. Since Dickerson, Counsell and the backup Catcher seem like locks and one of Boggs/Kotsay will probably make it, Almonte's chances are pretty slim, but who knows. At least it's fun to see him tearing up the ball so far in ST.