Brewers Cut 9 Players from Spring Roster

Don’t be scared.  When I say cut, I just mean re-assigned to the Brewers various minor-league teams.  Of the 9 total players, 5 of them are pitchers and 4 of them position players.  Most of these moves were expected, but there are two players in particular that I was surprised to see on this list.  Those two players will be my focus this Sunday afternoon.

First, let’s go over the position players.  None of these are surprising to me, so let’s get them out of the way.  Jeff Bianchi, Eric Farris, Zelous Wheeler, and Patrick Arlis were the four position players excused from big league camp.  Zelous Wheeler showed some flashes of talent, but he is just not ready for the big show.  Eric Farris will be joining him on the Triple-A Nashville squad for 2012.  Both Wheeler and Farris are good infielders who will benefit from a full season in Nashville.  Jeff Bianchi will fill in the infield at Double-A Huntsville.  While young catcher, Patrick Arlis has been returned to minor league camp for seasoning.  There is some talent in this group, so none of these guys should be disappointed.  There time will come. 

As for the pitchers, some of them were obvious, while a couple of them were a bit premature I think.  Mike Fiers, Amaury Rivas, and Santo Manzanillo were all optioned to Triple-A Nashvilee.  They all belong there for now.  They were all given opportunities and in my opinion, these three young men just need more game experience.  I expect big things from Fiers and Rivas in the coming years. 

Let’s start with Mark Rogers.  This organization has wasted far too much time on this guy.  After his little drug suspension episode from last season, I fully expected the team to cut ties and let him go.  They didn’t.  He was drafted in 2004 and we have seen him in 4 major league games.  At some point, you have to cut your loses.  How long can you expect to keep this guy in the organization?  I appreciate that he was the 5th pick overall, but if he is not competing to be on the big-league roster…what is he still doing here?  We have plenty of young arms to be in the Triple-A starting rotation.  At this point in his “growth”, I can not see the benefit of having him on the organization.  Either watch him throw through all of Spring and add him to the roster, or cut him and be done with it.  This guy is a waste of time and I am officially done with him.

Wily Peralta was not given enough opportunities.  This kid is going to be something special, but you needed to give him more exposure to major league batters.  Yes, in his limited experience he got throttled, but we need a clearer view of this guy.  My only real question on his removal from the roster is, what was the rush?  In his last ST appearance, Peralta threw two scoreless innings against the Padres.  I am just surprised that he was not given more of an opportunity to excel.  Wily is so young that he could probably use another full season at Triple-A, that is not what bothers me about this.  Peralta is one of our top prospects and I wanted to see more of him.  I know that is selfish, but I don’t care. 

Today’s fat trimming has basically cemented Nashville’s pitching rotation: Rogers, Peralta, Fiers, and Rivas.  All four of these guys will benefit from pitching in Triple-A, but I just wish we could have seen more this spring.  But, they are gone and in all likelihood not going to be with the Brewers in 2012.

On an unrelated note, the Brewers will be the focus of MLB networks “30 in 30” series on Monday at 7pm CST.  For me that will be 5pm, so I will have to speed home from work in order to catch it.  Set your DVR’s, VCR timers, computers, and so on.  Don’t miss it.

Go Brewers!!