4 Difficult Roster Decisions The Brewers Front Office Must Make Before The End Of June

The Milwaukee Brewers front office has a lot of difficult decisions awaiting them. As the team gets (hopefully) healthier, a lot of roster shuffling will take place and it won't be easy to decide who stays and who goes.

The Brewers have several players out on major league rehab assignment that will return soon. They also have several replacement players who have done well in their absence.

There can only be 26 players on the active roster, and before the month is out, the Brewers will have to make difficult choices such as these.

1. Brewers activate Jesse Winker and designate Jon Singleton for assignment

It's a great comeback story for Jon Singleton to make it back to the big leagues for the first time since 2015. The move came out of necessity after the Brewers lost Darin Ruf to the injured list with a knee injury. Singleton fills that backup first baseman and DH role.

Jesse Winker, who has struggled this year, is on a rehab assignment and is due back soon. The Brewers aren't going to be moving on from Winker anytime soon, as Craig Counsell gave him a vote of confidence and preached patience prior to his IL placement. His $8.5MM salary is another factor that will stop the Brewers from moving on from Winker.

Instead, they'll end up having to move on from Jon Singleton. In his first big league stint in eight years, Singleton is hitting a paltry .136/.174/.182 in 22 ABs. He has a double and two RBIs, but also an OPS+ of negative-1, which is not good.

Singleton is out of minor league options, meaning taking him off the roster will require a DFA. As cool of a story it has been for Singleton, he isn't forcing the Brewers to keep him on the roster right now, so when Winker returns, they'll have to move on from Singleton, although there's a chance he could pass through waivers unclaimed and return to Triple-A Nashville.

2. Activate Wade Miley from IL, option Colin Rea to Triple-A

The Brewers starting rotation has been ravaged by injuries this season, forcing the Brewers to rely on a lot of their depth very early on in the season. Colin Rea was one of those arms the Brewers weren't expecting to use, but have needed to use, a lot.

Wade Miley's return will be much needed, as he'll give the Crew the left-handed starter they currently lack and because prior to his injury, Miley had a 3.67 ERA. Miley had a stellar 2.31 ERA prior to his blowup start against the Dodgers, which directly preceded the start where he left with an injury in the 2nd inning.

Colin Rea has actually been quite solid this season. He has a relatively middle of the road 4.47 ERA in his 11 outings this year, but he has kept the Brewers in every game he's started. He's given them a solid chance to win every time out there. That's going to make it quite difficult for the Brewers to option him down to Triple-A, but they're going to be faced with that decision when Wade Miley is activated off the IL soon.

While Adrian Houser has struggled more in the rotation this year, Houser is out of minor league options. The Brewers likely aren't at the point where they want to DFA Houser, knowing that some other team will definitely scoop him up. Rea, however, does have a minor league option remaining.

With the way newcomer Julio Teheran has pitched, the Brewers aren't going to be moving him out of the rotation. When Wade Miley returns, someone has to move out of the rotation.

One possible path the Brewers could take is to activate Miley and send down one of the middle relievers, opting to move either Rea or Houser to the bullpen as a long reliever. But as the pitching staff returns some of the original players, Rea is likely to see himself optioned down to Nashville at some point soon.

4. Activate Eric Lauer off IL and option Lauer to Triple-A

Let's face it, the results haven't been there for Eric Lauer this year. He struggled in the rotation, was pushed to the bullpen for one turn, then injury forced him back into the rotation. Shortly after that, Lauer got injured himself.

Lauer is set to be on a lengthier rehab assignment than Wade Miley or any of the other pitchers because he's not just looking to feel healthy, he's also looking for results, since he hasn't gotten much in the way of those this year. When Miley returns, the rotation will be Burnes-Miley-Peralta-Teheran-Houser/Rea. Can Eric Lauer crack that group? I'm not entirely sure he can.

Miley is going to push one of Rea or Houser out of the rotation, and Lauer may not be able to push the other out of the rotation. The Brewers would already have a lefty in that group with the return of Miley and wouldn't need a lefty as desperately when Lauer is ready to come back.

Lauer also has a minor league option remaining while Adrian Houser doesn't. That makes Houser likelier to stay up through his struggles while Lauer can continue to work in Triple-A beyond his rehab assignment until he proves he's ready for a big league rotation spot once again.

Considering how important Lauer has been and was expected to be for this club, the Brewers front office will be faced with the difficult decision to potentially activate and option Eric Lauer when the time comes.