Milwaukee Brewers: Who Will Be Removed From the 40 Man Roster?

The Milwaukee Brewers have signed free agent lefty Boone Logan to a one year contract. With his addition to the roster, someone will have to be removed from it.

The 40 man roster is full right now. Now that Boone Logan is on board, a spot will need to be cleared for him. An official announcement of Logan’s contract is expected on Monday. At that time, the Milwaukee Brewers will need to announce who is designated for assignment or released.

Considering Logan is a reliever, it would make sense that he would take the roster spot of a different reliever on the team. There are a few candidates for removal from the 40 man. But who could it be?

Tyler Webb

Webb was acquired from the New York Yankees last July for Garrett Cooper. In Webb’s first appearance in a Brewers uniform, he gave up a grand slam. He was demoted to Triple-A shortly after and hasn’t seen the big leagues since. In Colorado Springs, things didn’t get much better as he posted a 5.63 ERA after his demotion.

Webb is a lefty, and he fits the same mold of a situational lefty that Boone Logan provides. Now that Logan is on the roster, Webb isn’t needed. Since Webb doesn’t appear to figure into the Brewers current bullpen plans, his roster spot has become expendable.

He still has two minor league options remaining, so he could still have some value despite his lackluster performance. But for him to be DFA’ed, he will need to be placed on waivers where any other team can claim him.

Wei Chung Wang

The Wei Chung Wang experiment has been a disaster for the Milwaukee Brewers. When they took him in the Rule 5 Draft in 2014, he was terrible all season, and he effectively forced the bullpen to pitch a man down all season. After that he was sent down to the minors for his necessary development before making his return to Milwaukee in 2017.

Wang was terrible again in the big leagues, rarely pitching to more than one batter in any of his appearances and generally allowing the only batter he faced to reach base. Wang made eight appearances and only got four outs in them, with a WHIP of 3.750.

The Brewers love Wei Chung Wang, for some reason, and have kept him around. He’s another left handed reliever, but just like Tyler Webb, is now expendable with the addition of Boone Logan. Wang doesn’t figure to be in the bullpen plans for the Brewers this year and Craig Counsell showed us last year that he doesn’t trust Wang.

It’s time to move on from the Wang experiment. Other teams would be free to claim him if he’s DFA’ed and he will now be their problem. But the Brewers wouldn’t be too upset if Wang goes unclaimed on waivers and returns to the organization.

Jorge Lopez

Lopez used to be a fairly highly regarded prospect in the Brewers system, but has fallen off as of late. With a number of young rotation options with a ton of potential, Lopez may be viewed as expendable. Guys like Freddy Peralta, Corbin Burnes, Luis Ortiz, Aaron Wilkerson, and Brandon Woodruff have leaped over Lopez in terms of potential.

However, Lopez is still only 24 years of age and he could find his groove once again. If he is placed on waivers to make room for Logan, there’s a good chance he would be claimed by another team. The Milwaukee Brewers will not want to lose the potential they know he has but in order to make room on the roster, someone needs to be taken off. Lopez doesn’t appear to figure into the rotation plans this year and he isn’t a bullpen candidate either.

If Lopez is the choice, the Brewers will be crossing their fingers that he isn’t claimed.

Taylor Jungmann

A former first round pick, Jungmann hasn’t lived up to the hype that he had back then. He was a pretty good starter for the Milwaukee Brewers for a short amount of time, but he’s lost his effectiveness. Now he’s more of a long reliever/swingman and the Brewers already have a few options for that.

With Brent Suter showing a lot of promise last year and the addition of Yovani Gallardo, Jungmann is no longer needed on the roster. He is out of options, so the team picking him up would need to either place Jungmann on their roster or put him on waivers again for another team to claim him.

Jungmann is now 28 years old and has shown himself to be a Four-A player, going back and forth between Triple-A and the majors without making an impact. His spot on the 40 man can be used elsewhere.

Andrew Susac

The Milwaukee Brewers have five catchers on their 40 man roster. That’s something that’s almost never seen. Yes, catching is important but five of them aren’t needed on the roster. Manny Pina and Stephen Vogt figure to get most of the playing time. Jett Bandy is a wild card at this point and Jacob Nottingham is supposed to be the future at the position.

Andrew Susac doesn’t appear to be a part of the catching future. He would see significant time in Triple-A but he doesn’t need a 40 man roster spot to do that. Susac battled injuries all of last season and struggled at the plate.

The Brewers don’t need five catchers on the roster and Susac is the most expendable of the bunch. If he’s claimed, the Crew still has plenty of depth. If not, then the catching depth is even better.

Any of these players are likely candidates to be removed from the 40 man roster. None of them have much of a chance to make the 25 man roster out of Spring Training. While this isn’t a comprehensive list of candidates, these five appear the most likely to be removed from the roster for Boone Logan.

Next: Q&A With Corbin Burnes

With the announcement of Logan’s signing expected on Monday, we will find out soon who will receive the unfortunate news that they have been designated for assignment.