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3 players on the Brewers Opening Day roster who won't finish on it

By Drew Koch |
Milwaukee Brewers hat and glove
Milwaukee Brewers hat and glove / John Fisher/GettyImages
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We're barely into the 2023 season, but baseball fans are always looking to the future. And when it comes to the future of the Milwaukee Brewers franchise, things are looking bright.

Youngsters like Bryce Turang, Garrett Mitchell, and Joey Wiemer have already made their presence felt. Brewers fans are hoping to see the likes of Sal Frelick and Robert Gasser make it The Show sometime later this season as well.

But with so many young prospects working their way up through the minor league system, one has to think that the 26 players who broke camp with the big league club will not be the same group who finishes the season. Which three players on the Brewers Opening Day roster who won't finish on it?

1. Brian Anderson will not finish the 2023 season on the Brewers roster.

Brian Anderson inked a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers during the offseason. There's every reason to believe that Anderson could be a solid contributor for this year's club, but his future is not going to be in Milwaukee.

All Brewers fans want to believe that with the starting rotation and firepower in the batters box, this year's team can contend for the NL Central crown. That may be true. But if the St. Louis Cardinals are running away with the division by the All-Star break, Matt Arnold is going to have some interesting decisions to make at the trade deadline.

Anderson adds depth to the infield and the outfield and can provide some pop in the backend of the Brewers lineup. But once the outfield contigent of Joey Wiemer, Sal Frelick, and Garrett Mitchell are all in the big leagues, there's just not going to be enough at-bats to go around.

If Milwaukee is in the playoff hunt, it feels like a safe bet to suggest that Brian Anderson will be part of the team. But being that he's a free agent after the season, Anderson could be the prototypical rental player at this year's trade deadline.

2. Corbin Burnes will not finish the 2023 season on the Brewers roster.

No one wants to go here, but let's just rip the Band-Aid off, shall we? It seems incredibly unlikely, given what's gone on recently in terms of contract talks, that Corbin Burnes and the Milwaukee Brewers are going to come to terms on an extension. As much as it stings, this may be Burnes' final season in a Brewers uniform, and he could be gone before the trade deadline.

Again, as was mentioned with reference to Brian Anderson, if the Brewers are in the hunt for the postseason, they're not moving Burnes. He, along with Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta, would likely be one of the biggest reasons Milwaukee is in the playoff race to begin with.

However, once the trade deadline approaches, Brewers fans had better brace themselves for the constant trade rumors involving Corbin Burnes. Much like Luis Castillo and Frankie Montas from a year ago, teams are interested in trading for top-flight pitchers who have more than one year of team control remaining.

Last year, both the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees had to give up a ton in order to land Castillo and Montas respectively. Can you imagine the haul that Milwaukee would receive if Corbin Burnes was on the trade block?

If Milwaukee has no intention of re-signing Burnes for the long haul, there will be no better time to shop the former Cy Young Award-winner. If the Milwaukee Brewers are atop the NL Central by the All-Star break, consider this argument null and void. If they're more than five games in the division or the Wild Card race, all bets are off.

3. Owen Miller will not finish the 2023 season on the Brewers roster.

Unlike the aforementioned Corbin Burnes and Brian Anderson, don't look for Owen Miller to have a completely different address. However, the 27-year-old may be the odd man out when it comes to find a roster spot as the 2023 season unfolds. Look for Miller to be optioned to Triple-A Nashville instead.

At this time, it would look as though Miller is the team's top utility player. Miller is versatile enough to play on the infield dirt and the outfield grass. But as the season unfolds, it may become more of a priority to get some of the organization's young talent up the bigs.

Remember, while Bryce Turang, Joey Wiemer, and Garrett Mitchell have already made it, Sal Frelick and Jackson Churio are still in the minors. While it's unlikely Brewers fans will see Churio in 2023, Frelick is already knocking on the door.

There's certainly a section of the Milwaukee faithful who would love to see the team move on from Christian Yelich. Unfortunately, no team is going to take on that massive salary after seeing the former MVP put up numbers that are well below what earned him that nine-year contract extension.

The Milwaukee Brewers could go any number of ways when it comes to this year's trade deadline or how the roster is managed based on the performance of the team's top prospects. One thing is for sure, though, the 26 players who finished the year on the Opening Day roster will not be the same ones who will be there at season's end.

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