27-year old righty swinging Corey Hart will be the starting RF for the Brewers again in 2010. He played in 115 games for the Brewers last season and he was 109 of 419 (.260 avg, .753 OPS) with 64 runs scored, 12 homers, 48 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. The Brewers hope that Hart can stay healthy and get back to putting up the kind of numbers he did in 2007+2008 when he averaged 81 runs scored, 22 homers, 86 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. Hart played in 112 games in RF for the Brewers last season and he made 5 errors while showing poor range. He also had 3 assists while playing RF. The Brewers need Hart to improve all the way around in 2010.

32-year old lefty swinging Jody Gerut will likely backup Hart in 2010. Gerut played in 122 games for the Brewers & Padres last season and he was 63 of 274 (.230 avg, .654 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 9 homers, 35 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Gerut is a better hitter than he showed last season as he has a career .264 batting average with a .765 OPS in 542 games. Gerut didn’t make any errors in 37 games in RF while showing good range but he didn’t have any assists as runners challenged him often.

31-year old lefty swinging Joe Inglett played in 11 games in RF for the Blue Jays last season and he made 2 errors there while showing poor range. On the bright side he did have 2 assists last season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE RF IN 2010: C

24-year old righty swinging Carlos Gomez came over in a trade over the winter from the Twins and he will likely be the starting CF in 2010 for the Brewers. Gomez played in 137 games for the Twins last season and he was 72 of 315 (.229 avg, .623 OPS) with 51 runs scored, 3 homers, 38 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. Gomez has speed to burn and if he can just be a .250 hitter in 2010 he will be a huge asset to the Brewers. Gomez only made 1 error in 132 games in CF last season and he showed outstanding range. He also had 3 assists from CF so he has a decent arm.

32-year old lefty swinging Jody Gerut played 19 games in CF for the Brewers last season and he only made 1 error but he showed poor range there. He is not a natural CF.

39-year old lefty swinging Jim Edmonds is going to try to win a job this spring for the Brewers. He sat out the 2009 season because no one wanted to sign him. Edmonds played in 111 games in 2008 for the Padres and Cubs in which he was 80 of 340 (.235 avg, .822 OPS) with 53 runs scored, 20 homers and 55 RBIs. Edmonds has a career batting average of .284 with a .905 OPS in 1,925 career games so the upside is there is Edmonds still has it.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2010 SEASON: D+

Left Field is the domain of 26-year old righty swinging Ryan Braun. Braun played in 158 games for the Brewers last season and he was 203 of 635 (.320 avg, .937 OPS) with 113 runs scored, 32 homers, 114 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. Look for numbers similar to the ones that Braun put up in 2010 as long as he stays healthy as he is one of the best hitters in all of baseball. Braun only made 2 errors in 158 games in LF last season while showing good range. Braun also had 8 assists as he has a strong throwing arm. Braun has already established himself as one of the best all around players in all of baseball.

32-year old lefty swinging Jody Gerut can handle all three of the outfield spots defensively. He only played in 3 games in LF for the Brewers last season and he didn’t make any errors there while showing poor range. Gerut won’t likely be needed in LF much in 2010 as Braun will get almost all of the playing time there.

31-year old lefty swinging Joe Inglett is very versatile as he can handle almost every position in both in infield and outfield defensively. He played in 36 games for the Blue Jays last season and he was 25 of 89 (.281 avg, .695 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 6 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Inglett has a career batting average of .293 with a .745 OPS in 211 major league games so he has potential to improve on last years numbers. Inglett didn’t make any errors in 14 games in LF last season while showing slightly above average range.

27-year old lefty swinging Trent Oeltjen will also battle for a backup job for the Brewers this spring. Oeltjen played in 24 games for the D-Backs last season and he was 17 of 70 (.243 avg, .707 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 3 homers, 4 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He also played in 114 games in AAA-ball last year in which he was 134 of 442 (.303 avg, .862 OPS) with 78 runs scored, 10 homers, 64 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. Oeltjen made 1 error in 11 games in LF for the D-Backs last season while showing outstanding range. He also had 1 assist from LF in 2009.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE LF IN 2010: A+

27-year old Casey McGehee better play well this spring if he’s going to hold off Mat Gamel for the starting job at 3B in 2010. McGehee played in 116 games for the Brewers last season and he was 107 for 355 (.301 avg, .859 OPS) with 58 runs scored, 16 homers and 66 RBIs. He played in 71 games at 3B for the Brewers last season and he made 13 errors while showing below average range. McGehee will get challenged this spring and it will be interesting to see if he’s up to it.

24-year old lefty swinging Mat Gamel is one of the best prospects the Brewers have and he will try to steal the starting job away from Casey McGehee this spring. Gamel played in 61 games for the Brewers last season and he was 31 for 128 (.242 avg, .760 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 5 homers and 20 RBIs. He also played in 75 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 76 for 273 (.278 avg, .840 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 11 homers and 48 RBIs. Gamel made 7 errors in 27 games at 3B for the Brewers last season and he showed slightly below average range. Gamel will need to step up both offensively and defensively to reward the Brewers for their faith in him as they got a lot of trade offers for him last winter which they turned down.

39-year old lefty swinging Craig Counsell will also likely get some P.T. at 3B in 2010 for the Brewers. He played in 43 games at 3B last season and he made 4 errors while showing outstanding range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 3B IN 2010: C+

23-year old righty swinging Alcides Escobar will finally get his shot in 2010 as the Brewers’ starting shortstop. He played in 38 games for the Brewers last season and he was 38 for 125 (.304 avg, .701 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 1 homer, 11 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. Escobar also played in 109 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 128 for 430 (.298 avg, .762 OPS) with 76 runs scored, 4 homers, 34 RBIs and 42 stolen bases. Escobar has a nice upside and I have a feeling that he will make Brewers’ fans forget about J.J. Hardy. Escobar made 6 errors in 37 games at SS last season while showing good range.

39-year old lefty swinging Craig Counsell will backup Escobar in 2010. He played in 27 games for the Brewers at SS last season and he only made 1 error there while showing outstanding range.

26-year old righty swinging Luis Cruz will likely start the season in AAA and get a call to Milwaukee if the need arises. He played in 27 games for the Pirates last season and he was 15 for 70 (.214 avg, .511 OPS) with 5 runs scored and 2 RBIs. Cruz made 2 errors in 17 games for the Pirates at SS last season but he showed out of this world range there.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SS IN 2010: B