monty57

This is the only game I've ever attended where a person starts the game for one team and then comes in as a replacement for the opposing team.

Wren starting over Taylor confuses me.

T Archer P Berberet J Betancourt J Bradley J Chapman G Cooper D Gagnon R Garcia J Hader A Houser H Johnson B Macias C McFarland J Nottingham N Orf J Ortega Steve Peterson B Phillips N Ramirez V Roache J Salas N Shaw T Taylor D Tillman M Viramontes W Wang K Wren From the exhibition game guide. Also, Kirk N beat out Presley for 5th OF

Also from Adam McCalvy's tweets: "Jacob Nottingham is also making the trip with the Brewers and will begin the year at Double-A Biloxi with Brett Phillips." I'm making the 15 hour road trip to Biloxi tonight to watch the Brewer/Shucker game on Saturday, so I'm pretty exited to see the kids play.

Perez just doesn't have any skill that really stands out. He's okay at a lot of things, with no plate discipline. Rivera's just okay at a lot of things as well, but he trumps Perez because of good defense. Perez either needs to get "plus" at one skill, or he needs to get some plate discipline if he ever wants to stick at the MLB level. When you have poor defense across the MLB infield, having a plus defender on the bench in Rivera is nice, as is having a guy who will give you a solid PA late in games like Walsh should. The only reason I could see for keeping Perez would have been if they wanted Rivera starting everyday in AAA. I think Rivera's long-term outlook seems to be as a defense-first utility guy, so it makes sense to use him in that role now.

...and that you will not be committed to paying $2-3MM even after you cut him. Since this player is only expected to be with the team short term, I'm sure the guaranteed money has more to do with the decision to keep Capuano over Morales than who is actually the better player at this point in time.

If you could combine Rivera's defense with Walsh's bat, you could have the makings of a pretty special middle infielder. However, as it stands Rivera looks like he will be a good long-term option as a utility IF, while Walsh really needs to work on his defense to hopefully eventually become a starting 2B. For 2016, I'd try to get both of them plenty of PAs. Villar is starting, but he will have to show that his bat is good enough to keep him ahead of the vastly superior defense of Rivera. Of course, this is Arcia's future job, so both Rivera and Villar are in "showcase" mode to determine their future role. Meanwhile, Hill is keeping 3B warm to see if he can show any signs of life in order to flip him. If not, some combo of Walsh/Rivera should take over the starting 3B job sooner or later. At 2B, just go with the platoon, getting some extra PAs for Rivera/Walsh, while giving the vast majority of PAs to Gennett, who is still young, talented and has team control. The OF to me is: Braun and Santana are givens, and Broxton seems the obvious choice for CF, as he is an actual CF. Meanwhile, Flores gets all the starts in the corners when Braun/Santana are off, and at 1B when Carter is off. The 5th OF is there solely to play CF when Broxton is off. Everyone but the 5th OF should get plenty of PAs

I guess if someone with diminished skills is going to make the team based on veteran leadership, I'd rather it be the "long man" in the pen making relatively little money, instead of someone taking up a starting spot with a big paycheck. He can't hurt the team nearly as much as someone like Lohse, Garza, Aramis, Looper, Suppan, Hill, etc. I just hope that Counsell's personal relationship with Capuano doesn't make him hesitant to cut ties when a better option arises.

You and your strikeouts, I tell yah. Well, it is nearly a 50% rate for a guy who came to camp as a fringe player. I agree that if he's kept, it's for his defense. Hopefully whoever wins the position won't get more than about 4 PA every two weeks as backup CF. Either way, I hope there is a way that one of them is in Milwaukee and the other is stashed in AAA. However that happens, I'm completely fine with. Depth. Depth. Depth. Going to need it. I generally agree with the need for depth, but we have lots of OF in the minors right now that are probably going to be better than any of the guys fighting for the final MLB OF spot this spring. I only advocate for holding onto the loser of the "battle" if they do not take AAA PAs away from an actual prospect, or keep an actual prospect at AA if he's ready for AAA.

I agree with most of this. The one point I'll say is that the person who wins the 5th OF spot probably won't be called on much to be the late innings pinch hitter. The primary LH pinch hitters will likely be Flores and Walsh, so the main role of the 5th OF will be to be the backup CF so we don't have to move Santana to CF when Broxton needs a day off. That makes your last statement a big one. Will Broxton be able to hold his own for the season? I'm really pulling for him, as it gives us another good player, either as a Brewer or as a trade chip, and it allows us to hold off on starting Phillips' clock until next year, when he will very likely be the starting CF at the MLB level.

The backup IFs are all young-ish with some potential, so they could use PAs, and should all be able to hit LHP better than Gennett. I would also argue that if we are looking to trade him, Gennett at .800 OPS hitting solely vs RHP will be more enticing in trade than Gennett at .710 OPS playing everyday. Hitting Gennett vs LHP is a slightly better idea than telling a RHP to occasionally pitch left-handed to showcase his versatility. Let him do what he's good at and not what makes him look bad. I like Gennett and think he will have a good season as long as he is used properly. I also like Walsh, and think he will do well if he is given some playing time. I'd like for him to get 25% of the starts at 2B, and a decent number of starts at 3B, potentially even taking over at 3B if Hill plays like he has in the recent past.

I suspect that whoever made it would only be on the team until Will Smith comes back. Smith could be a while, so I'd say that Cappy will probably be there until Nolin returns.

Perez put up solid minor league numbers in 2013 in AA: .301/.325/.423 at age 22 and in AAA in 2014: .287/.331/.401 at age 23. Those are much better numbers than Rivera put up at those levels and everyone seems ready to hand him the utility job. Don't let your disdain for my opinions cloud your view of Perez. He's not a bad player. Guys don't get major league looks at age 21 like Perez did without ability. Yeah, Rivera's career minor league numbers are .244 avg / .289 OBP / .349 SLG / .639 OPS, including 2015 numbers of .253 / .298 / .331 / .629. Perez's career minor league numbers are .262 / .304 / .357 / .660 at roughly the same age. If Rivera gets the utility IF job, it should be because he is a slick fielding defender, who is the best option to be our backup SS, not because he is having a hot spring. If he is indeed figuring something out at the plate, then he should be sent to AAA to play everyday. For those who say Rivera should get the nod over Perez because Perez doesn't walk, look again at Rivera's OBP vs AVG. He doesn't exactly walk a ton. I like Rivera over Perez as a player because of his defense, but we lose Perez if we don't keep him on the 25-man, while Rivera can be sent to AAA, so I would probably keep Perez and Walsh on the MLB roster, with Rivera in AAA. I'd give Walsh more playing time at 2B/3B, as I like his bat better than either Perez or Rivera, and I would let Perez be the backup SS. After typing this, I realize this is the OF thread, so sorry. The top four OF look locked at Braun, Broxton, Santana, Flores (also backup 1B), and the final spot is either Presley or Kirk N. Kirk is probably the better defender, so I would probably keep him solely as the backup CF, starting once every couple of weeks. I want to see what we have in Broxton, so I want him playing nearly every day.

Well, yeah. If you sign a lease, you're on the hook for it, so he could be out quite a bit of money since it sounds like he's looking for a place for his family, and not just getting a place with several of his teammates. If he assumed he'd be traded, why throw away thousands of dollars for nothing? There's a reason many pro athletes end up broke shortly after they retire... he probably doesn't want to be one of them.

68-94 and losing Lind, KRod, Davis with Luc on the way and adding waiver wire guys, most of which so far look like guys even we should cut, will get us to 82 wins? No one is arguing they are expecting 82, but last year's Brewers were like a race horse that tripped out of the gate. The horse may not have been the favorite to win the race, but future expectations should not be predicated upon the horse tripping in the race. You can continue to say the baseline is 68 wins, and any additions or subtractions are based off of that point, but I think that is the incorrect way to look at things. Not that it makes too much difference, but I'd guess the baseline for the 2016 Brewers to be around 72-90. Being better than that is a good thing as it means some players are doing well and can help us going forward. I would love to see some young guys step up and push us to an upper-70's win total, because when we replace Villar with Arcia and Broxton with Phillips in 2017, along with having money to spend on other holes, we could then realistically look at a winning team as soon 2017.

I guess at least one person isn't buying into the Brewers tanking for draft pick mantra. That line jumped out at me too. I don't think I'm putting on too big of "Brewer goggles" when I say that while this year's team isn't making the playoffs, they are going to be better than most teams are in the first year of a rebuild, especially if we get half a season of Lucroy. We have a solid, probably around MLB average, rotation to go along with what could be a close-to-average MLB offense. There are holes, and we won't be near the top of the NL Central standings, but we could be a low-to-mid 70's win team with a lot of talent coming up through the system. Considering that for most of my life the Brewers have been a low-to-mid 70's win team with little-to-no talent coming up through the system, I'm pretty excited. We are better off than I would have hoped when looking at things over the past few seasons. Thank God Gomez "found it" after being extended, and that we stunk so bad to start last season that Attanasio finally realized a rebuild was in order while he still had tradeable assets.

How can Perez not fill in at SS when he's played more career games at SS than any other position including full AAA season in 2014? If Rivera isn't going to start and get a ton of ABs then he needs to be in AAA playing every day. Perez and Walsh cover every IF spot. Because Hill sucks so much and Scooter is historically bad vs lefties having Rivera on the team means he'll still get a lot of PT floating between 3 IF spots. He needs 400ABs otherwise put him in AAA. Thank you. If Perez is capable of backing up SS, and if Villar is going to be the starter, then I would start the season with Rivera playing full time in AAA. Platoon Gennett at 2B, and have Walsh and Perez get a decent number of starts across the infield. Rivera's the highest upside of the group, and I'm fine with them naming him the starting MLB SS, in which case Perez will probably be cut, but I think Villar will start the season there. I'm also higher on Walsh than Perez, so if they are the backup IF, I hope Walsh gets most of the 2B/3B starts when Gennett and Hill are off. Why is Hill the consensus started at 3B? The guy has been brutal so far. Hill will start the season there, probably because of veteran status, some hope of flipping him in July, and no other real standout option. Perez simply does not take walks, and that isn't widely accepted in baseball these days. Meanwhile, Walsh is a Rule 5 guy. I like Walsh, but he's not going to be handed a starting job out of the gate based on Spring Training numbers over a veteran like Hill. I really hope Cecchini re-establishes himself, tears up AAA, and becomes our starting 3B for the next 5-6 years. Whatever the end scenario, Hill is nothing more than a stopgap, and hopefully he plays well enough that we can flip him in July. And it's impossible to have Broxton, Flores, Reed on team getting them all plenty of ABs. At this point, I think Broxton will be the starting CF, Flores will be the main backup at the corners and at 1B, and the 5th OF will be someone who can backup CF, likely one of Kirk N., Young or Presley. Reed should see full-time action in AAA.

Assuming Villar is the starting SS, can either of Perez or Walsh play SS well enough to be the backup, allowing the Brewers to send Rivera to AAA? I think Rivera is deserving of a spot on the 25-man roster, but if he's not starting, I'd rather he be the everyday 2B at AAA. However, I don't see this as an option if no one else can play SS behind Villar. I think Walsh could be a decent utility IF, and keeping him and Rivera on the MLB roster basically means Walsh will be the 25th man who is never heard from, which could seriously hamper the development of a promising player.

How do we know Stearns is holding out for a monster deal? We don't know what's being offered, but it could be nothing acceptable has been offered. Plus, it further complicates things if another team is looking for Smith or someone else to package. So everyone thinks about it forever, never gets done. While in the heat of a pennant chase, those decisions are made in a day. For example, what if someone offered a return similar to the Lind trade? Would you do that? I wouldn't, concussion concerns or not. I don't believe Stearns is waiting for a monster deal, or perfect deal- just a fair return. And I'm completely in his corner on that one. Search "Lucroy" on MLBtraderumors, and every article says something like "the price tag on Lucroy is steep." Stearns has been asking a lot for Lucroy (as he should), and the fact that Lucroy is still a Brewer shows that he is not coming down to what other teams are willing to give up. There's basically no chance that the best offer was comparable to the Lind deal. It's more likely whether he'll get four top prospects instead of three. I didn't mean to imply that this is a bad thing, just that he is betting that at some point teams will come up to his price tag. If Lucroy stays healthy and productive, they probably will. The concern is that he gets hurt, which could mean we get nothing in return. Therefore, the question shouldn't be (as someone posed earlier) "would you take a bad deal over offering a QO," but rather "is the relative difference between a great return vs. a good return worth the risk of potentially ending up with nothing?" That risk is probably small, but it's there. Stearns probably wouldn't be holding out if he was really concerned about Lucroy getting hurt, so that's a good sign. I just hope it works out and someone bites at Stearns' price tag.

Segura has been really bad for most of his MLB career, so it shouldn't be hard for Villar to match up with the production he's replacing. Even if Segura finally does "find it," it was a trade that needed to be made. GM's can't sit on their hands forever waiting for players to finally "find it." Eventually, they have to cut the cord on non-performing players, and if they can somehow end up turning that non-producing asset into an MLB starting pitcher, an MLB starting 3B, and a very high upside young prospect, then I think they've done pretty well. Hill and Anderson may not be world-beaters, but they at least allow for us to have actual MLB players on the MLB roster during the first year of the rebuild, before the prospects take their spots. The real prize will hopefully be Diaz, who could turn into a special player, and at the very least adds to the growing talent pool in the minors, making it much more likely the farm will produce a number of good MLB players going forward.

The concussion concern is real. It took Justin Morneau a few years to get over his. Joe Mauer has admitted his concussion has effected his vision and Mauer's came from a foul tip. Lucroy's already had one which means he's more susceptible to others. There is also a lot more concern over concussions than there has been in the past. Whether it's from fear of lawsuit or genuine concern over player health, teams in all sports are taking concussions very seriously. I wouldn't be too surprised to see Lucroy moved off of catcher if he gets another concussion like he had last year. Plus, the thought that other teams wanted to see him catch wasn't to wait for him to get a foul tip off the head. After his concussion last year, he came back and played first base. There had to have been concern this offseason that he may not be able to catch anymore. Now that we're a few weeks into spring and he's catching, that concern should be lessened. If he has been the everyday catcher and remains uninjured by trade deadline, that fear will be pretty much non-existent. It looks at this point as if Lucroy will be the Brewer catcher for the first half of this season. Stearns is gambling a bit by holding out to get a monster deal, and hopefully his bet pays off.

Things change as well. They may have been planning on sending Broxton to AAA, leaving them with no real leadoff guy, so Santana's OBP made sense. With Broxton looking like the odds-on favorite to win the CF spotnow, he makes sense at leadoff, allowing Santana to hit in more of a traditional power spot.

which is all you'd need a 5th OF for right now Yeah, I think that if Liriano was the starting CF, it would make sense to have a defensive replacement on the bench, but no need for that if Broxton's starting.

Brewers' site confirms he will start the year on the DL

Thoughts and prayers going out to Liriano after getting hit in the face with a pitch. The Brewers' site is saying he will start the year on the DL, which I think virtually assures that the Opening Day starting OF will be Braun (LF), Broxton (CF), Santana (RF). Flores will likely get a spot as backup OF/1B, leaving the final spot down to probably Presley and Niewenhuis. Presley is the better bat, while Niewenhuis is the better defender. Presley has logged 63 MLB games in CF over his six seasons, so he could be a backup there if they're comfortable with Broxton playing nearly every day, and of course Santana could fill in as CF here and there if they decide to go with Presley.