33 year old lefty swinging Corey Koskie is still a really good baseball player, but he missed more than half of last season with post-concussion syndrome and he still hasn’t been cleared to play this season. The Brewers could really use his solid left handed bat in their line up. Koskie played in 76 games last season and he hit .261 with 12 homers, 33 RBIs and a solid .833 OPS. He only made 7 errors last season and showed outstanding range at third base. The Brewers are a better team when Koskie plays, hopefully he’ll be cleared to play soon.

23 year old Ryan Braun could get a chance to win the 3B job for the Brewers if Koskie isn’t ready to go this season. The Brewers would likely only keep Braun if he was going to be the full time starter. Braun played in 118 games last season and he hit .289 with 22 homers, 77 RBIs, 26 stolen bases and a .871 OPS. He has never played over AA ball, so he could be overmatched at the major league level.

Craig Counsell could get some playing time at third base. He played 7 games there last season and didn’t make an error while showing off outstanding range. Tony Graffanino will likely get a lot of PT at third base this season. He played 27 games there for the Royals last season and he only made 2 errors while showing great range. It’s also very possible that if Koskie and Braun aren’t ready that Counsell and Graffanino platoon at third this season.

Soon to be 27 year old Vinny Rottino is a long shot to make the Brewers. He seems to have a similar skill set to ex-Brewer Jeff Cirillo. He played in 117 games in AAA last season and he hit .314 with 7 homers, 42 RBIs, 12 stolen bases and a .819 OPS. He also had a cup of coffee with the Brewers last September and he went 3 for 14 (.214 avg) in 9 games.

The Brewers aren’t expecting a lot of offense out of their shortstops this season, but they got guys that can really pick it there on defense. 24 year old J.J. Hardy will likely be the starter, but he will have to fight off competition from Craig Counsell. Hardy only played 35 games due to a major injury last season and he only hit .242 with 5 homers, 14 RBIs and a .693 OPS. On defense Hardy shows outstanding range and he only made 2 errors last season. Look for Hardy to hit in the .240-.250 range and play outstanding defense again this season.

The Brewers have brought back 36 year old lefty swinging Craig Counsell to compete for the shortstop job. If Counsell loses out to Hardy for the starting job, he will likely back up at 2B, SS and 3B for the Brewers. Counsell played in 105 games for the Diamondbacks last season and he hit .255 with 4 homers, 30 RBIs, 15 stolen bases and a .674 OPS. As shortstop, Counsell showed amazing range and only made 9 errors in 88 games there last season. Look for Counsell to lose a spirited battle for the shortstop job, but don’t worry, he will get a lot of playing timeand probably put up similar numbers of the ones he put up last season.

34 year old Tony Graffanino can play shortstop in a pinch as he played 13 games there last season and only made 1 error. He showed slightly below average range at the hot corner.

24 year old Rickie Weeks has the tools to become a dominant player, but he hasn’t harnessed those skills yet. He missed the last couple months of the season due to injury, but he still led all second basemen in errors with an amazing 22 in 92 games at 2B. If that doesn’t improve soon, he will have to learn a new position because you can’t have a 2B making that many errors! He does have big potential as a hitter as he hit .279 with a .766 OPS. He scored 73 runs in only 95 games and he stole 19 bases so he’s been an asset at the top of the line up when healthy for the Brewers. He does have decent power and he will probably hit 20 or more homers if he stays healthy for the whole season. He does need to cut down on his strike outs. He should have a good season for the Brewers this year.

34 year old Tony Graffanino will be the Brewers insurance policy at second base this season. Graffanino hit a solid .274 with 68 runs scored, 7 homers and 59 RBIs in 456 at bats between the Royals and the Brewers last season. He is a solid defensive player at second base as he only made 3 errors in 564.2 innings there last season.

36 year old Craig Counsell could also get some PT at 2B this season and he would do well there if needed.

22 year old lefty swinger Prince Fielder had a good rookie season for the Brewers. We’ll see how he follows that up. He hit .271 with 28 homers and 81 RBIs. He had a decent .830 OPS and that will go up if he doesn’t whiff as much as he did last season when he struck out 125 times. It will also help Fielder’s production if the better players on the Brewers stay healthy, which they didn’t do last season. He needs to improve on defense too as he made 11 errors last season.

Tony Graffanino will be the back up for Fielder, but he won’t get much time at first base. That won’t matter for Graffanino as he plays all over the field. He did look out of place last season as he made 2 errors in 99 innings at the position so he will need to improve on that.

The Brewers made a great trade in the off-season that netted 30 year old, switch-hitting Johnny Estrada. Estrada hit .302 with 11 homers and 71 RBIs with an OPS of .772 last season which are fantastic numbers for a catcher. He should be able to hit really well at Miller Park for the Brewers who need help on offense. Hitting isn’t all Estrada does as he’s quite underrated as a defender. Estrada only had 3 errors and 4 passed balls in 924.2 innings behind the plate last season. He also threw out 24% of the runners that tried to steal on him. He was a fine addition that improves the Brewers behind the plate.

37 year old Damian Miller will now serve as Estrada’s back up. He suffered through an injury-marred season last year and it hurt his offensive production as hit only hit .251 with a .712 OPS. He should be able to rebound a little bit now that he won’t be worn down by playing every day. Miller played well on defense last season as he only made 2 errors and had 3 passed balls in 840 innings. Damian Miller also still threw the ball well last season as he threw out 27% of baserunners that tried to steal on him. Look for Miller to be a great back up for Estrada. The Brewers pitchers will be in great hands with these two guys behind the plate.

30 year old Mike Rivera will be the #3 catcher for the Brewers this season. He hit the ball well for the Brewers as he had a .268 average with a .783 OPS. He also hit 6 homers and knocked in 24 runs in only 142 at bats. So Rivera proved he could hit in the majors, but his defense hasn’t been good. Rivera made 4 errors in 44 games and he threw out 17% of the attempted base stealers.

27 year old switch hitting catcher J. D. Closser has also been signed to compete for the back up job for the Brewers. More than likely, he’ll wind up in AAA unless someone ahead of him gets injured. Closser had a rough time last season as he only hit .196 with a .597 OPS for the Colorado Rockies. Closser did play well on defense as he threw out 26% of the base runners that tried to steal on him. He only made 2 errors and had 1 passed ball last season.