It's only mid-January, but with the Nori Aoki (that's what we're going to call him this season) signing, things are starting to come together with the 25-man roster for the Brewers.
We are 31 days until pitchers and catchers report to Maryvale Baseball Park, so it's expected things would start clearing up by now, but it's just crazy to think about baseball with temperatures falling at or below zero this week. That said, I'd say about 20 of the 25 roster spots can be set in stone, leaving five open for discussion.
I'll start with the position players because of the two spots that could be open there, I'd say they are about locked up. Of course the starting eight (around the horn) should go Ryan Braun, Nyjer Morgan, Corey Hart, Aramis Ramirez, Alex Gonzalez, Rickie Weeks, Mat Gamel and Jonathan Lucroy. The bench should be Carlos Gomez and George Kotaras as the returners with Aoki as another outfielder and Brooks Conrad and Cesar Izturis as the nonroster invitees who have the inside track on making the team. Bopth Conrad and Izturis are switch-hitting infielders, that should help give the team some solid bats (and gloves) off the bench.
The pitching staff is a bit more wide open in the middle. Of course, all five starters return with Yovani Gallardo, Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum, Randy Wolf and Chris Narveson back in the fold. In the bullpen John Axford anchors the back end and the surprise return of Francisco Rodriguez solidifies the eighth inning quite well. Also back is Marco Estrada and Kameron Loe who were both valuable in the sixth and seventh inning (and beyond) last season.
That leaves three roster spots if the team is going to go with 12 pitchers. That's where spring training will decide how things fall. Manny Parra, coming off a year where he spent more time on the operating table than the baseball diamond, can show if he's healthy and be a solid lefty in the bullpen. Also, Zach Braddock could show whether or not he will be Major League worthy this season. Wily Peralta is also an option to make the move from Nashville to Milwaukee. An outside shot to make the club on Opening Day is Jed Bradley and Taylor Jungman, last year's first-round picks.
Spring Training will give Ron Roenicke time to straighten things out, but there shouldn't be many surprises unless the team makes a couple moves. Those moves would be likely financially based to get the team closer to $90 million from the $100 million the payroll is at right now.
**On a programming note, I know haven't been blogging lately, but I am planning on amping things up a lot more as we had into On Deck on the 29th and down to Phoenix for Spring Training next month. It should be a fun and interesting spring with plenty of storylines that have to sort themselves out**
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What about the Brewers new pick up Bianchi? do you see him making the 25 out of Spring training?
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