The Brewers have placed 30-year old righty starter Jeff Suppan on the 15-day disabled list due to cervical disc pain. He pitched in 30 games (all starts) for the Brewers last season and he was 7-12 with a 5.29 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP. With Suppan hurting it wouldn’t make sense to let him pitch through it based on his results from last season.

GM Billy Beane didn’t show much respect to Ken Macha in Oakland pretty much saying that he was managing the team. After watching Macha lead the Brewers to a 80-82 (49.4%) you have to wonder if he is the right kind of guy to manage this team. The Brewers have made some improvements over the winter and they are probably expecting to make the playoffs. If the Brewers fall short of that goal they will likely be pointing fingers at Macha. Macha has compiled a 448-362 (55.3%) in his 5 years as a major league manager. This year will tell quite a bit about both Ken Macha and the Brewers.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE MANAGER IN 2010: C

42-year old righty Trevor Hoffman will be back as the closer in 2010 for the Brewers. He pitched in 55 games (0 starts) for the Brewers last season and he was 3-2 with 37 saves, a 1.83 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. Hoffman has now pitched in 985 games (0 starts) in which he is 59-68 with 591 saves, a 2.73 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. Hoffman showed no signs of slowing down last season as he is the current all-time leader in major league history in saves. But, he will have to continue pitching at a high level for a couple of more years to hold off Mariano Rivera.

37-year old righty LaTroy Hawkins will be the Brewers’ top set-up man in 2010. Hawkins pitched in 65 games (0 starts) for the Astros last season and he was 1-4 with 11 saves, a 2.13 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. In his five years in the National League, Hawkins has pitched in 294 games (0 starts) in which he is 12-21 with 43 saves, a 2.75 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. Hawkins could take over as the closer if something were to happen to Hoffman this season.

29-year old righty Todd Coffey will also get some time at the back end of the pen in 2010. He pitched in 78 games (0 starts) for the Brewers last season and he was 4-4 with 2 saves, a 2.90 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Last season was a “career” year for Coffey but he should pitch well again for the Brewers in 2010.

31-year old righty Claudio Vargas was outstanding for the Brewers last season. He pitched in 28 games (0 starts) for the Brewers last year and he was 1-0 with a 1.78 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. In 36 games overall last season out of the pen for the Brewers & Dodgers, Vargas was 1-0 with a 1.74 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. He only gave up 25 hits in 41 1/3 innings last season showing that he has the stuff to dominate in short stints out of the pen.

29-year old Mitch Stetter will be the top lefty out of the pen for the Brewers in 2010. Stetter pitched in 71 games (0 starts) for the Brewers last season and he was 4-1 with 1 save, a 3.60 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. He only gave up 37 hits in 45 innings pitched last season while whiffing 44 batters showing that he has pretty good stuff. But, he also walked 27 batters which is way too many. If he throws more strikes this season he could have a breakout year for the Brewers in 2010.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE BULLPEN IN 2010: B+

The Brewers have placed 33-year old righty reliever David Riske on the 15-day disabled list as he continues to recover from Tommy John Surgery. Riske pitched in only 1 game last season for the Brewers last year and he was 0-0 with a 18.00 ERA and a 4.00 WHIP. Riske has now pitched in 46 games (0 starts) in his two years with the Brewers and he is 1-2 with 2 saves, a 5.61 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP. Riske has the potential to go down in Brewers’ history as one of the worst free agent signings.

The Brewers have traded 20-year old righty swinging 3B Edgar Trejo to the Mariners for either a player to be named later or cash. Trejo played in 75 games in Rookie+A-ball last season in which he was 59 of 255 (.231 avg, .621 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 4 homers, 20 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Trejo played three years in the minors for the Brewers appearing in 134 games in which he was 121 of 483 (.251 avg, .618 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 6 homers and 49 RBIs. The Brewers saw Trejo as a player who was regressing so anything they wind up getting for him will likely make them happy.