Brewing a 25 man Crew
All this talk of opening day and 20 game packages has me thinking
who is actually going to be on the team in April?
Will Doug Make another major move? Who do you think will be on the 25 man roster?What will their roles be? How long untill Randy Choate is out on the street?
Talk about it here.
Labels: McHung
posted by SteveWoodardrules @ 12:03 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I think the 25 man roster will shake out something like this.
Starting Pitchers
1. Sheets
2. Yo
3. Suppan
4. Villy
5. Cappy/Bush
This seems like an area with the most certainty going into spring training. Doug has recently refered to Villy being in the rotation for sure but he may be more of a 5 starter just because he might need to keep his innings down. I think Para starts the year in AAA for sure. He could use more work there and there really is no reason to start his arby clock with the number of arms we have. I also think one of Cappy, Vargas, and Bush gets traded between now and opening day when another team looses a starter or two. That will give us at least two decent backup starters and Zack Jackson as a last resort. That should be acceptable considering the rotation's injury history lately.
Bullpen AKA "roidspen" or Team 2002
6.Gagne
7. Riske
8. Torres
9. Turnbow
10. Shouse
11. Mota
12. Bush/Vargas/Cappy
I like what Doug has done with the place, but this part of the team is a little more murky in the 11th and 12th spots. I think Mota is a lock to make the team out of spring training due to his contract. But he also probally has an elmer dessens like leash. At least one and more likely two of the reclaimation projects is going to fail so we need good depth in AAA. Hopefully we can get McClung back to AAA because it is always nice to be able to call up a designated bullpen goon if you need one. With possibly McClung, and for sure Setter, Bray, and Pena in AAA we have a few arms to call up if we need some help in the Roidspen.
For each Fielding Position I assumed about 650 ABs for the year
Catchers
13. Ken Doll 450 ABs
14. Munson/Rivera 200 AB's
I think Munson has the inside track for the backup spot. The thought of Ken Doll as our starting catcher is unappealing but at least he should be able to put up a .330-340 obp which is a nice change from the sub .300 asspiles we had back there the last few years. On the downside though is Ken Doll's Barbie arm, maybe he traded it in for a GI Joe arm or at least an actual Ken Doll arm either way he still will have no genitalia. It could be really really ugly on the basepath's this year.
Infielders * denotes significant PH chances
15. Fielder 1B - 630 AB's
16. Weeks 2B - 600 AB's(Healthy?)
17. Hardy SS - 600 AB's
18. Dillon 3B/2B/1B - 350 AB's *
19. Counsell3B/SS/2B - 200 AB's *
20a.Branyan 3B/1B/OF - 300 AB's *
20b.Rottino 3B/C/OF - 200ish *
Outfielders
21. Hart RF/CF 580 AB
22. Hall CF 550 AB
23. Braun LF 620 AB
24. Gross OF 250 AB *
25a. Gwynn 200 AB *
25b. Kapler 150 AB *
25c. Lofton 250 AB *
25d. Nix 200 AB *
The The backup postion players and their roles aside from Counsell are really up in the air right now. The two big questions right now are. 1) Where will Braun Start? - In my mind there should be no way he is the starting third baseman on opening day. His epicaly bad defense cannot be lived with on this team. If this where 2004/5 it would be a different story but this team has a shot now. I think with his athleticism he could be a leauge average LF by opening day. I think his peek potential at 3B is being moderately below average and that would take probally 2 more years of work to get too. He has to be the left fielder even if that means a Dillon(yay)/Counsell(eww) platoon at 3B. Which Brings us to the other major question. What role does Ned Yost/Doug Melvin think Joe Dillion is capable of? I know that the common belief is that Dillon can walk on water and turn around on a 100 MPH fastball at the same time but will he be allowed to do that? I think if he got about half the ABs at 3B and they could sign someone like Branyan or possibly Ensberg to be the other half of the the Platoon it would be about the best we could hope for right now and signing one of them is fairly realistic. I really don't think they are moving Hall back to the infield and I think with another year in the OF he should be ok defensively. Keeping Counsell's Ab's to a minimum is critical to the success of the Brewers and I don't think Rottino despite his honorable Racine origins is good enough to be on this team as more than a September call up. Lofton would be a nice guy to sign for some outfield depth although he doesn't strike me as "I love playing in Milwaukee guy." I really don't want to see Gwynn on the Brewers next year unless he is strictly the 5th outfielder/pinch runner/defensive replacement. The fact that Yo has infintely more major leauge HR's and only 3 less XBH in 1/5 the AB's than the prototypical punch and judy hitter with the famous name should tell you all you need to know. I even had thoughts of prefering Lance Nix or Kapler making the team instead of him.
In summary I don't think Doug is going to make any other major moves aside from one of Cappy, Bush, or Vargas departing. Signing a Lofton/Branyan/Ensberg type player is pretty likely and In my mind a smart thing to do. If they do that and maximize the amount of Dillon we receive and cut back on Counsell with his "stick" exposure . The Crew should have a good team. Especially if some of the Roidspen comes back into form. Wow, I have been writing too long. Let me know what you guys think.
Branyan? Ugh.
Ensberg. I like him.
Kapler? Do we have him?
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I think we're gonna be stuck with Brauntosaurus at 3b.
I hate this patchwork shit. Can't Molitor still play 3b?
I am happy that the Brewers didn't do anything to cripple their 2009-2010 seasons this offseason. But, it is disappointing to see them fall behind the Cubs for 2008. It's too early to know the roster, especially the bullpen, but I can't see the Brewers doing much more to help themselves this season. In fact, it's more likely that the cubs will acquire talent at this point.
The bullpen has a lot of dead weight. While we'd like to see what guys like Mitch Stetter, Steven Bray and/or Luis Pena can do, they'll have to move past the Turnbow, Mota, McHung, Vargas, Bush, Capuano, Shouse and Torres types. Unlike other years, the Brewers are kinds stuck with what they've got right now. If Mota puts up a 5.50 ERA, what are they going to do? They can't send him down to the minors in mid-April, and they aren't going to cut him until at least June.
The thought is that trading Capuano, Bush or Vargas is the right strategy right now. First, I don't think the Brewers should trade more than one unless they get some sort of starting pitcher fill-in type in a trade. Unfortunately, I don't think any one of those guys could net any player in the league that would contribute enough for this team.
The Crew appears stuck at third base, too. Hall isn't moving back, and the chances of the Brewers winning the Central are not very good with Hall in center and Braun making 50 errors at third. The hopes really rest in Braun. If he can improve substantially on defense and not regress much offensively, it'll be the biggest addition of the off-season.
At this point, I'd say the chances of making the postseason are about 20-25%. I am disappointed, but it could be a lot worse.
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