Milwaukee Brewers: In the News (April 6)

It was a very busy weekend for Right Field Bleachers with our First Pitch event. Thanks for everyone who came out. It was a blast! And the Brewers were busy too. This might be the biggest In the News post ever…

Brewers News

—The roster has been finalized.

—The Brewers won their final spring game.

—And the one before that too.

—Gallardo and Parra will be key for the Brewers postseason hopes in ‘09. And Anthony Witrado and the Journal-Sentinel agree.

—Braun says ‘09 “has a chance to be a special year for me, and for the team.” 

—Sveum continues to impress as hitting coach as he made some nice alterations to Jason Kendall’s swing, resulting in more pop.

—Trevor Hoffman will need more than 15 days on the DL. This is expected but disappointing news. Hopefully he can get on track soon and start helping this team.

—Jason Kendall, 34, says he wants to play at least six more seasons and he’d like them all to be in Milwaukee:

"

“This is one of the best cities I’ve played in, if not the best city,” Kendall said. “I take that back. It is the best city I’ve played in. The atmosphere, the fan interaction on a daily basis, the guys in the clubhouse. Not very often do you get 25 guys that actually get along and play the game the right way.”

"

Kendall just won some major points with me.

—If  you’ve read any Brewers season preview, you know that they all hammer how hard it will be to replace the production of Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia. Well, roguejim at Brew Crew Ball says their losses are being overstated. I agree completely.

—Manager Ken Macha is impressed with his coaching staff.

—The Brewers payroll is slightly up from last year’s opening day salary despite a down economy.

—Alcides Escobar made a major impression on Peter Gammons, who also picked Rickie Weeks as a breakout player and Yovani Gallardo as a player that is back from an injury.

—Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, and Gallardo are too big to fail.

—Casey McGehee says his 2-year-old son has taught him a lot and helped him achieve his dream of landing an opening day spot on a MLB roster.

—Between the Green Pillars asks if a fire sale is possible in Milwaukee if the economic times catch up to the team. Let’s hope not…

—Don Walker of the Journal-Sentinel chatted with Mark Attanasio.

—Braun got a kick out of Manny being Manny.

—Mike Woods of the Post-Crescent writes a negative column on the outlook for the Brewers pitching in ‘09. He says it’s hard to be optimistic about the pitching going into the season. It must be hard for Mike to be optimistic about anything because I’m pretty sure I’ve never read a single positive word from him on any Wisconsin sports team.

—Midwest Swing previews Brewers pitching.

Predictions

—Accuscore has the Brewers finishing second in the NL Central behind the Cubs with 85 wins.

—Al Leiter and Sean Casey of the MLB Network have picked the Brewers to finish fifth in the NL Central.

—MLB-teams?CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=49" target="_blank">Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports says the Brewers pitching is so thin that even a mid-season acquisition like Sabathia might not be enough this season.

—David Hannes at Brewers Bar expects the Brewers will finish at .500.

—Chris Richards of BrewerChatters.com doesn’t see the Brewers topping 85 wins.

—Winks at The Bucky Channel picks the Brewers as the NL Wild Card representative.

—Jason Trumpy of True Blue Brew Blog predicts 85-90 wins for the Crew in ‘09 on a guest post on The View From the Dugout.

—Wiscosota Sports picks the Brewers to finish second in the NL Central behind the Cardinals with the Cubs in third.

—Sully Baseball also picks the Cubs third, but has the Brewers in fourth with the Reds winning the division and the Cardinals winning the Wild Card. Wow, that’s an interesting take to say the least, but I do agree with some of his opinions on the Cubs’ weaknesses…

—The Big Lead picks 80 wins and fourth-place finish.

—Bob Warja of Bleacher Report says two teams could compete with the Cubs this season for the NL Central title and neither of them are the Brewers.

—Odibe Young of Bleacher Report previews the ‘09 Brewers.

—Big League Baseball Blog previews the NL Central in video form.

—Viva El Birdos says the Brewers will finish in the middle of the division with the Cardinals and Reds, but will need to get lucky to get back to the postseason.

—Raise the Jolly Roger thinks the Brewers will take second in the NL Central and contend for the Wild Card.

—NY Mag puts the Brewers at 17 to 1 to win the NL pennant.

Minor Leagues

—Will Brett Lawrie be able to stick at second base?

—The Nashville Sounds roster is set with Alcides Escobar and Mat Gamel as the top prospects on the roster. More HERE and HERE.

—Tony Gwynn Jr. will also be on the Nashville roster.

—Over 2,000 people visited Greer Stadium in Nashville to see the renovations the new Sounds owners have made. It’s good to see so much excitement for the team down there. The new owners have to receive great grades for the way they’ve run the team thus far.

—Andrew Wagner of OnMilwaukee.com says the deal between the Timber Rattlers and the Brewers is paying off for the T-Rats.

—Rattler announcer Chris Mehring has a weekly post on Sports Bubbler now.

—Brett Christopherson of the Post-Crescent reminds Brewer/Rattler fans that watching Brewers rehab in Appleton might seem cool, but it wouldn’t be good for the Brewers if it happens often…

—TheJay at Brew Crew Ball links to an interview with Brevard County Manatees' hitting coach Corey Hart.

—Some video of outfield prospect Cole Gillespie getting a spring training hit:

NL Central

—Sean Marshall, Ted Lilly, and Rich Harden all struggled as spring training came to a close for the Cubs.

—The Cubs released Chad Gaudin and optioned Jeff “Tramp Stamp” Samardzija to AAA. I can’t believe they couldn’t find a trade partner for Gaudin, despite his horrible spring.

—Carlos Zambrano said the Cubs need a new stadium this weekend and then backed off his comments. There’s no question that Wrigley Field is a dinosaur, but it’s sacrilegious on the North side to suggest it’s anything but a jewel. Zambrano made similar comments after throwing his no-hitter against the Astros at Miller Park last year.

—Bronson Arroyo has also had a tough spring.

—The Reds cut Jonny Gomes.

—Bernie’s Crew takes a look at the Reds’ offseason.

—The Astros will not finish above .500 this year, yet many of their fans, some media, and even their manager continue to have delusions that they’ll be competitive.

Other News

—The Rays might be going with a Gabe platoon in the outfield. Former Brewers Gabe Gross and Gabe Kapler would make up the platoon.