26-year old righty swinging J.J. Hardy is the starting shortstop for now on the Brewers. He may be moving to 2B or 3B soon with the emergence of #1 rated prospect (according to Baseball America) Alcides Escobar rising up the food chain. Hardy played in 146 games for the Brewers last season and he was 161 for 569 (.283 avg, .821 OPS) with 78 runs scored, 24 homers and 74 RBIs. Hardy made 15 errors in 145 games at shortstop last season for the Brewers while showing average range.

22-year old righty swinging Alcides Escobar played in 9 games for the Brewers last season and he was 2 for 4 (.500 avg) with 2 runs scored. He also played in 131 games in AAA-ball last year in which he was 180 for 547 (.329 avg, .801 OPS) with 95 runs scored, 8 homers, 76 RBIs and 35 stolen bases. Escobar is also an outstanding shortstop defensively and would be a upgrade over Hardy if the Brewers let him start at short.

Craig Counsell is also around to help out at shortstop if the Brewers need it. He played in 24 games at shortstop for the Brewers last season and he made 2 errors there while showing outstanding range. Counsell would only likely be a short term replacement if something happened to Hardy. If it were serious the Brewers would no doubt call up Alcides Escobar.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: B

The Brewers have been waiting for a couple of years now for 26-year old righty swinging 2B Rickie Weeks to live up to his potential but it hasn’t happened yet. He appears to be really testing the patience of the front office in Milwaukee. Weeks played in 129 games last season for the Brewers and he was 111 for 475 (.234 avg, .740 OPS) with 89 runs scored, 14 homers, 46 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. The Brewers think Weeks is much more capable with the bat but he’s yet to show it at the major league level. Weeks does have above average range but he still made 15 errors in only 120 games at 2B last season and that needs to improve. Time is running out for Weeks in Milwaukee unless he starts to show signs of the player the Brewers once thought he could be.

Ancient 38-year old lefty swinging Craig Counsell will back up Weeks and he will also likely play some at 3B for the Brewers this season. Counsell played in 110 games for the Brewers last year and he was 56 for 248 (.226 avg, .657 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 1 homer, 14 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Counsell doesn’t have much range at 2B anymore but he didn’t make any errors in 19 games there for the Brewers last year. Time is winding down in Counsell’s major league career but he can still be effective in short spurts.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: C-