Opening Day

**Update** Jim Edmonds is going to start in RF today for the Crew (sorry Hart)

****Update II****Here is the 2010 Opening Day roster

Rickie Weeks 2B
Carlos Gomez CF
Ryan Braun LF
Prince Fielder 1BJim Edmonds RF
Casey McGehee 3B
Gregg Zaun C
Alcides Escobar SS
Yovani Gallardo RHP

My take: This line-up will look drastically different come June.

____________________

It's been a long wait; but after 6 months of anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Twenty-Ten baseball season....it is finally here.

Sadly enough, I will be unable to make to the game today despite "winning" the lottery and purchasing 2 excellent seats for today. Instead, the wife and I decided to sell them because our 3 is expected over the next couple of weeks. What really pisses me off is that the roof will be open today. This is the first time in the history of Miller Park where they had the roof open on Opening Day!

Milwaukee's new ace, Yovanni Gallardo, will take to the mound today against the Rockies and Ubaldo Jimenez. HERE are the probables for the forthcoming series against the Rockies.

There are NO SURPRISES with Milwaukee roster.

Praise for Escobar from The Chicago Tribune. He went error-less in 19 games this spring....impressive.

Brewers' Projections

Projections for Starting Rotation, Closers, and fielders

Gallardo:200+ innings, 210+ K's, 180+ innings, 3.25 ERA, 16-10
Wolf: 180+ innings, 3.50 ERA, 15-12
Davis: 200+ innings, 4.75 ERA, 12-12
Bush: 150+ innings, 4.50 ERA, 10-9
Parra: 100+ innings, 4.50 / Jeff Suppan: 100+ innings, 5.25 ERA / Chris Narveson (RP)

Hoffman: 25 saves
Hawkins: 10 saves

Rickie Weeks: .290 avg, 50 RBI, 10 HR, 10 SB(he will make it 3 months this season!)
Carlos Gomez: .250 avg, 40 RBI, 8 HR, 25 SB
Ryan Braun: .315 avg, 115 RBI, 40 HR, 25 SB
Prince Fielder: .310 avg, 120 RBI, 45 HR, 3 SB
Jim Edmonds/Corey Hart/Jody Gerrut: .260 avg, 30 combined HR's
Casey McGehee: .270 avg, 50 RBI, 15 HR
Elicides Escobar: .290 avg, 65 RBI, 12 HR, 20 SB
Greg Zaun: .270 avg, 10 HR
P

Craig Counsell: .280 avg, 2 HR, 40 RBI
Joe Inglett: .290 avg, 4 HR, 30 RBI

Opening Day is 5 Days Away!

The beloved Brew Crew is on their way back to Milwaukee! Tomorrow night they will take on the Detroit Tigers in exhibition play at Miller Park.

Chris Narveson & Manny Parra have been sent to the bull pen today. Too bad, I really thought (on paper) that Narveson would be named the #5 starter. Ken Macha's thinking is that he doesn't need a starter until April 14th. So that will allow some time to sort this matter.

"He has a tendency to stay with guys who have been here throughout camp because you know what you've got. That is, unless it's an upgrade. With that being said, he's still checking out some things." -Ken Macha on Doug Melvin

Ken Macha might be on to something here. Do I see him pulling off a trade to start the season? One never knows with ol' Doug. Considering the fact that Suppan is owed 12MM+ this season, who in their right mind would take that on? So....that leaves me with the thought of Parra getting packaged (perhaps with Hart)....It appears that Milwaukee showed some interest in Jermaine Jackson...I mean Dye as well.

This STORY goes out to all those morons who argue that Milwaukee needs to increase it's payroll......They ranked 4th in the MLB in spending this off-season. Take that and smoke it.
As a fan faithful, I'm happy that we have solid ownership.

Although Macha hasn't set his line-up yet for Opening Day....it's looking like Jim Edmonds is going to start over Corey Hart. Considering the fact that this choke artist has gone 7-52 this spring.....This, I personally like. Hart needs to check himself. It's looking like his rant against the fans back in 2008 is going to haunt him for years to come. What a nice thank-you to us fans for voting him in to the All Star game.

2010 Predictions

World Series

NY Yankees over the San Fransisco Giants

NLCS

Giants over the Cardinals

ALCS

Yankees over the Mariners

NL Cy Young

Johan Santana

AL Cy Young

Justin Verlander

NL MVP

Prince Fielder

AL MVP

Joe Mauer

AL ROY

Matt Weiters

NL ROY

Alicides Escobar

* denotes Wild Card team

AL EAST

NY Yankees

Boston Red Sox*

Baltimore Orioles

Tampa Bay Rays

Toronto Blue Jays

AL CENTRAL

Detroit Tigers

Minnesota Twins

Cleveland Indians

Chicago White Sox

KC Royals

AL WEST

Seattle Mariners

LA Angels of Anaheim

Texas Rangers

Oakland A's

NL EAST

Philadelphia Phillies

Washington Nationals

NY Mets

Atlanta

Florida Marlins

NL CENTRAL

St. Louis Cardinals

Milwaukee Brewers*

Chicago Cubs

Cincinnati Reds

Houston Astros

Pittsburgh Pirates

NL WEST

SF Giants

Colorado Rockies

Arizona Diamondbacks

LA Dodgers

San Diego Padres

Am I a little bit biased about the Brewers? Perhaps. But if they had just a marginal improvement in starting pitching....they could easily win 88 to 90 games. Winning 89 games in the NL should do it for the Wild Card. The entire NL has improved from the Nationals on up to the Cardinals. The only team that didn't improve were the Pirates. They somehow have gotten worse. I guess trading away your maturing players will do that to a team.

27 Days Left

Only 27 days remain until Opening Day is here for the Milwaukee Brewers!

In order for this time to pass by quickly for me, I have taken on liking the Milwaukee Bucks (yet again). I was always a fan of this team in the later part of the 90's and early 2000's (Eastern Conference Finals). Hell, I won some good money out in Vegas, betting on the Bucks. Granted, I, like many other fans had jumped off the band wagon. But I am now back on it.

The Bucks are the hottest team in the NBA, since January. They have won 10 of their last 11 games and hold the 5th seed in the playoffs. Their only lost came to Atlanta a few weeks ago in overtime.

Now back to the beloved Crew.....

MLB's "30 Days 30 Clubs" is going to profile the Brewers next week Friday. You could set the dvr, but it's going to be on through out the following week numerous times. This is the show that I absolutely love watching; well this show and "Seasons". They spend an entire hour on the Crew and critique every part of this young team.

Sporting News (which I like better than SI) did their season preview on the Milwaukee Brewers. HERE it is. Oddly enough, they handed out a "B" to the offense. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Milwaukee SHOULD have the most powered offense in the National League and compete with the Cardinals and the Phillies. Of course, the edge will probably go to the Cards; but the Brewers will be right there at the top. Especially if Casey McGahee repeats his performance from last season; Weeks & Hart bounce back and Carlos Gomez improves his horrible swing.

Trevor Hoffman has been taking it easy so far in Spring Training. That's fine by me.

Jason Kendall is doing well....

It appears that Jason Kendall is having some problems with his estrange wife and the custody of his children. Nothing that a cool 6MM can't fix....right?

Leading up to the first game

Granted, it's exhibition; but you can't help but be excited that April is just around the corner. Milwaukee opens play on Thursday vs the Giants.

Fans will be limited to radio broadcasts and webcasts to enjoy the Crew this spring. One date to mark down is next Monday (March 8th) when the Brewers play on FSWisconsin vs Seattle @ 2:05pm.

The Spring Rotation has been set. This of course means about as much as Princes' vegetarian diet, but it's worth posting. Dave Bush is set to start on Thursday vs the Giants. Suppan will get the nod against Ben Sheets and the A's.

From this point on, I will no longer poke fun at Jeff Suppan until the season is under way. Let's give the guy a fair shake.....but be quick to pass judgement after his second start of the season.

Hitting Coach, Dale Sveum has his work cut out for him. It's single-handidly up to him to bring all the bits and pieces together that is Carlos Gomez. He has his work cut out for him, that's for sure. Gomez can make an impact if the damn kid would just lay-off the first pitch and show some patience at the plate. Evidentally Gomez has a lightning quick swing that can be wild at times. The guy only 14 stolen bases last year, so it tells you how many times he (didn't) reach 1B.

More contract talk on Prince Fielder. Attanasio claims that the Brewers will make a legit offer to the heavy weight and there won't be any deadlines. I can't locate the link, but ESPN's Buster Olney questions whether or not Prince and agent Scott Boras can get much better out there in the market? Most teams are squared away at 1B and this position can be quickly addressed on must teams without having to sign a star studded player like Prince. Say what you will, but Prince isn't just any typical player. The guy isn't even close to peaking yet.

Additionally, Prince Fielder was ranked 2nd on ESPN's fantasy draft list for 1B's; Ryan Braun was listed at the very-top for OF's. Impressive.

Ryan Braun is opening up a new bar/grill in Lake Geneva very soon and is eyeing the old Fratello's space (102 N. Water Street) for a riverfront restaurant/bar. This space can seat 275 and boasts a large patio along the Milwaukee riverfront. Those not familiar with Milwaukee's Third Ward might be quick to pass judgement on this location. However, this district has been and continues to become the premier area for entertainment, dining, and night life. This location would be perfect for such a place. The only thing I don't like about this location is that there is limited parking (a small lot north of the building). So that could cause some problems. This marks one of a a few other business ventures that Braun has explored. We all know of his horrific t-shirt line for douche bags called Remetee.

Honestly, if I hear one more story about the Brewers rotation being compromised because there are 3 (could be 4) LHP's in the rotation....I'm going to lose it. There are plenty of teams in the NL who had 3 lefties in the rotation last season and this season. This isn't a rarity these days and Macha knows it. Rick Peterson (aka 80's hair-job) has his work cut out for him as well. I am anxious to see if this video game (biomechanics) approach is the real deal or not.

Milwaukee sold 95,000 tickets through last Sunday. This is the 3rd fastest time in franchise history. Of course, last year's pace was tops with 104,000.

Remember the Mitchell Report? Catcher Greg Zaun does; he was on it. Regardless, I can't decide who I would rather NOT want to face in an alley fight....Jason Kendall or Greg Zaun? I would probably side with Kendall.

Carlos Villanueva is a little bit slimmer.

......and so it starts with Derrick Turnbow in Florida......

I'm going to be one pissed of fan when Rickie Weeks goes out with an injury in May or June and the Crew is left scrambling trying to find a replacement. Not only that, but it's going to suck facing Felip Lopez when they face the Cardinals. Lopez returned to the "city of cheats" for a second stint.

Probably considered one of the worst signings of the off-season (2 years x 6MM), Jason Kendall is set to take over the catching duties in Kansas City. He was a work horse; but that was also his problem! The guy refuses to rest and therefore it effects his batting stats....GREATLY.