MILWAUKEE BREWERS

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Starting Lineup
2B Rickie Weeks: lost playing time to Ray Durham down the stretch but he's likely to be the starting 2B going into spring camp; if he can stay healthy and keep his job, he's a near lock for a 20-20 season
SS J.J. Hardy: batting .280 with 50 HR's and 154 RBI's over the last two seasons, not to mention a .429 BA (6-for-14) in the 2008 playoffs; could move to 2B or 3B to accomodate top prospect Escobar at some point
LF Ryan Braun: 2007 Rookie of the Year wasn't quite as good in '08, but 37 HR's and 106 RBI's wasn't a bad follow-up
1B Prince Fielder: entering his fourth full ML season at age 24, he already has 114 career HR's and is the lone left-handed batter in the projected lineup
RF Corey Hart: back-to-back 20-20 seasons, although his OBP dropped from .353 to .300 in 2008
CF Mike Cameron: unlikely to top a .250 BA and very likely to strike out 140+ times, his value lies in his defense, power (25 HR), and speed (17 SB)
3B Bill Hall: production declined for the second straight season (.225/.293/.396) since his monster 2006 when he hit .270 with 35 HR's; questionable for opening day after a recent calf injury
C Jason Kendall: doesn't offer anything offensively, but the veteran threw out 43% of attempted base stealers in 2008

Bench
C Mike Rivera: 32 year-old journeyman is a career .264 hitter with 163 HR's in the minors; hit .306 in 62 AB's with Milwaikee in'08
IF Casey McGehee: UPDATE 3/13 - 9 -for-21 start has him in the running for a bench job; he hit .296 with 12 HR's and 92 RBI's for AAA Iowa (CHC) last season UPDATE 3/17 - making a bid to win a bench job over Mike Lamb UPDATE 3/31 - has earned a spot on the opening day roster after a terrific spring performance
IF Craig Counsell: entering his 3rd season in Milwaukee after being re-signed on 1/23; hit just .223 in 530 AB's in 2007-08 UPDATE 3/30 - might have to start the season on the DL UPDATE 4/1 - will forego surgery and continue to play
OF Chris Duffy: former Pirate will be battling Gwynn for the backup CF job UPDATE 3/2 - Manager Ken Macha says Duffy 'is kind of the front-runner right now' for a backup job
1B/OF Brad Nelson: with the injury to Gwynn, the former top prospect for the Brewers will get a look in the outfield this spring with a chance to win a backup job

Starting Rotation
RHP Jeff Suppan: in 14 ML seasons, has only one season in which he posted a sub-4.00 ERA (3.57 ERA w/ St. Louis in '05) but he has won at least 10 games nine times UPDATE 3/23 - current alignment has Suppan as the opening day starter
RHP Yovani Gallardo: talented 22 year-old becomes the staff ace with the departure of Sheets and Sabathia
LHP Manny Parra: 26 year-old had a pretty good rookie season, winning 10 games and posting a 4.39 ERA
RHP Braden Looper: went 24-26 with a 4.50 ERA as a starter over the past two seasons in St. Louis after spending his previous 8 seasons as a reliever
RHP Dave Bush: appeared to get it together after a rough start, winning 7 of his last 10 decisions and posting a 3.23 ERA in his last 18 games

Bullpen
RHP Carlos Villanueva: did not pitch well in nine starts (2-5, 6.43 ERA) but it was a different story out of the bullpen, where he posted a 2.12 ERA over 59.1 IP UPDATE 3/28 - likely to be the closer on opening day
RHP David Riske: struggled with a 5.31 ERA in his first season in Milwaukee after posting a 3.03 ERA in his previous five seasons
RHP Jorge Julio: the 29 year-old joins his 8th major league team since 2005; had an 0.73 ERA in his final 12 appearances of '08 with the Braves
LHP Mitch Stetter: will be the primary LHP out of the bullpen after posting a 3.20 ERA in 30 relief appearances in '08
RHP Todd Coffey: pitched 7.1 scoreless innings after being claimed off waivers by Milwaukee last September UPDATE 3/23 - assured of a roster spot, according to Macha
RHP Mark DiFelice: made his ML debut in '08 (2.84 ERA in 19 IP) after spending parts of 12 seasons in the minors UPDATE 3/13 - making a strong case to win a bullpen job UPDATE 3/30 - appears to have locked down a bullpen job after pitching three scoreless innings in his latest outing
RHP Seth McClung: posted a 4.24 ERA in 12 starts in '08 and 3.67 ERA in 25 relief appearances

Disabled List
RHP Trevor Hoffman: held right-handed batters to a .165 BA but lefties hit .291 against him in '08 UPDATE 3/22 - likely to miss the start of the season with a strained oblique

In Limbo
LHP Lindsay Gulin: UPDATE 3/13 - 32 year-old veteran or 11 minor league seasons has pitched well in 3 appearances this spring (5 IP, ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 K) UPDATE 3/30 - informed that he wouldn't be making the opening day roster

Released
RHP Eric Gagne: pitched well in the 2nd half of 2008, posting a 3.52 ERA and allowing only a .205 BA UPDATE 3/3 - has an ailing shoulder; no timetable for return UPDATE 3/6 - likely finished with the Brewers UPDATE 3/8 - released from his minor league deal
OF Trot Nixon: spent much of the season in AAA, where he hit .306 with 14 HR's, but should have a chance to be the backup corner OF in '09 UPDATE 3/13 - his 2-for-25 start this spring have not helped his chances of winning a bench job UPDATE 3/25 - released by the club after hitting .105 this spring
IF Mike Lamb: hit only 1 HR in 2008 after hitting 12 per season from 2004-07 but should get some AB's at 3B unless Hall has a resurgence UPDATE 3/31 - has been told he won't make the opening day roster UPDATE 4/1 - declined a minor league assignment and was released
1B Scot Thorman: former Brave hit 19 HR's in 387 AB's in AAA Richmond in '08 UPDATE 4/4 - released after the team claimed former Rockie Joe Koshansky to play 1B in AAA

Optioned to AAA
RHP Tim Dillard: pitched in 13 games with the Brewers in '08, posting a 4.40 ERA
LHP Chase Wright: went 10-3 with a 2.80 ERA in 22 starts between AA and AAA in the Yankee organization in 2008
LHP R.J. Swindle: had a 1.98 ERA with 51 K's and only 7 walks in 36.1 IP in AAA last season for the Phillies
RHP Wes Littleton: like many side-armers, his production has declined since a stellar rookie season (1.71 ERA in 33 appearances with Texas in 2006) UPDATE 3/17 - claimed on waivers from Boston, he's out of options so he must be placed on waivers again if he doesn't make the team UPDATED 3/25 - cleared waivers and was outrighted to AAA
3B Matt Gamel: team's #2 prospect, according to BA, could win the starting 3B job with a strong spring but he is not good defensively at the position and might be limited to LF or 1B defensively; likely to open in AAA UPDATE 3/25 - optioned to AAA
IF Hernan Iribarren: spent time in the majors when Weeks was hurt last season; had a good shot to make the roster until Counsell was re-signed UPDATE 3/30 - optioned to AAA
IF Alcides Escobar: defensively-gifted SS of the future is team's #1 prospect, according to BA; if he hits at AAA in '09 and Hall or Weeks are struggling, expect a position move for Hardy so Escobar can take over UPDATE 4/1 - optioned to AAA

Reassigned to Minor League Camp
OF Tony Gwynn, Jr.: the 26 year-old doesn't appear to be viewed as anything more than a reserve outfielder UPDATE 3/3 - sidelined indefinitely with shoulder inflammation UPDATE 3/19 - will make his first start in CF this spring on Saturday UPDATE 4/2 - looks like he could be done as a Brewer UPDATE 4/3 - has cleared waivers and assigned to AAA

Offered Back to Tampa Bay (Rule 5)
RHP Eddie Morlan: 22 year-old has a career ERA of 2.94 in the minors, although he hasn't pitched above AA UPDATE 3/17 - rule V pick offered back to Tampa Bay after clearing waivers; the Rays have until Thursday to decide if they will take him back UPDATE 3/19 - Tampa Bay has taken him back