The Brewers traded Alcides Escobar to the Royals in Zack Greinke deal and they got back 29-year old righty swinging Yuniesky Betancourt who will replace him as the starting SS in 2011. Betancourt played in 151 games for the Royals last season and he was 144 of 556 (.259 avg, .692 OPS) with 60 runs scored, 16 homers, 78 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Those were career highs in both homers and RBIs, but who knows, he might be able to do it again. Betancourt had 18 errors in 151 games at SS for the Royals last season while showing good range. Last season was the best of Betancourt’s career, so it might be a reach to see him play that well again in 2011, but the Brewers sure hope he can.

40-year old lefty swinging Craig Counsell played in 42 games at SS for the Brewers last season and he made 2 errors while showing pretty pathetic range. Counsell is going to be the top backup infielder again this year, so expect him to get some P.T. at SS this season.

27-year old righty swinging Luis Cruz played in 7 games for the Brewers last season and he was 4 of 17 (.235 avg, .588 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI. He also played in 129 games in AAA-ball in which he was 137 of 488 (.281 avg, .723 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 10 homers and 68 RBIs. Cruz didn’t make any errors in 5 games at SS for the Brewers but he showed pretty awful range. He’s a better defensive SS than he showed last year in the majors. Cruz is a longshot to make the Brewers’ opening day roster.

29-year old righty swinging Edwin Maysonet played in 86 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 76 of 302 (.252 avg, .643 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 2 homers, 36 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. His only major league experience came back in 2009 with the Astros. He played in 39 games for the Astros in 2009 and he was 20 of 69 (.290 avg, .696 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs. He is also a longshot to make the Brewers’ opening day roster.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE BREWERS SHORTSTOPS IN 2011: C+

24-year old righty swinging catcher Jonathan Lucroy had surgery to repair his fractured left pinkie finger yesterday and that makes him questionable for opening day. The Brewers better hope the Lucroy heals soon because he’s by far the best catcher the Brewers have on the roster right now. If Lucroy isn’t ready to start the season, the Brewers would likely platoon 27-year old lefty swinging George Kottaras & 33-year old righty swinging Wil Nieves behind the plate.

For the first time in his 7 years with the Brewers, 28-year old righty swinging 2B Rickie Weeks played in more than 129 games and he was as good as the Brewers always thought he would be. Now can he repeat his good health in 2011…..only time will tell. Weeks played in 160 games for the Brewers last season and he was 175 of 651 (.269 avg, .830 OPS) with 112 runs scored, 29 homers, 83 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Weeks is a free swinger as he whiffed 184 times last season so don’t expect him to hit .300 any time soon. The Brewers don’t care much about Weeks’ batting average as long as he stays healthy and keeps hitting for power. Weeks made 15 errors in 159 games for the Brewers last season while showing slightly above average range. The sky is the limit for Weeks as long as he can just stay healthy.

40-year old lefty swinging Craig Counsell will back up Weeks at 2B in 2011. He played in 102 games for the Brewers last season and he was 51 of 204 (.250 avg, .640 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 2 homers, 21 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Counsell is what he is at this point in his career. He’s a .250 hitter without any power who is very versatile in the field as he can handle playing SS and 3B too. He only played in 3 games at 2B for the Brewers last season while making 1 error while showing excellent range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE BREWERS 2B IN 2011: B+

Most players would love to have 26-year old lefty swinging 1B Prince Fielder’s numbers of 2010. He played in 161 games for the Brewers last season and he was 151 of 578 (.261 avg, .871 OPS) with 94 runs scored, 32 homers, 83 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Fielder did lead the majors in walks with 114 so that was a positive for Fielder. From 2007-2009, Fielder averaged 99.3 runs scored, 43.3 homers and 120.7 RBIs per season and the Brewers hope he gets back to those kind of production numbers in 2011. Fielder might not have much range at 1B but he only made 4 errors in 160 games there, so he’s not too bad. This is Fielder’s contract season, so look for him to have a monster year in 2011 for the Brewers.

35-year old lefty swinging Mark Kotsay will back up Fielder in 2011. He played in 38 games for the White Sox at 1B last season and he only made 1 error as he appears pretty smooth there despite being a career outfielder. Look for most of Kotsay’s time to be in the outfield in 2011. But I can see him playing 1B with Fielder DHing on the road in interleague play.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE BREWERS 1B IN 2011: A

The Milwaukee Brewers have signed 35-year old lefty swinging 1B/OF Mark Kotsay to a 1-year deal. Kotsay played in 107 games for the White Sox last season and he was 78 of 327 (.239 avg, .683 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 8 homers, 31 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Kotsay has now played in 1,624 games in his first 14 years in the majors and he is 1,654 of 5,933 (.279 avg, .746 OPS) with 755 runs scored, 121 homers, 663 RBIs and 95 stolen bases. Kotsay will give the Brewers a solid bat off the bench and he will be an insurance policy in CF if Carlos Gomez doesn’t step up in 2011. I really like this signing for the Brewers.