Brewers: 5 Players On The 40 Man Roster In Danger Of Not Making It To Opening Day

Turnover on the 40 man roster is a never-ending process for the Milwaukee Brewers. Currently, the 40 man is full but if the Brewers want to make any additions, someone is going to have to lose their spot. While perhaps the bulk of Milwaukee's offseason work has been done, there's still plenty more they could do and plenty more change that could be made.

We've recently seen the additions of Bryse Wilson and Wade Miley to the pitching staff, followed by the subtractions of Trevor Kelley (DFA) and Justin Topa (Trade).

Kelley and Topa were down on the fringes of the 40 man roster and their spots were never guaranteed heading into 2023.

If the Brewers make any more moves, and they likely will, who could be next to lose their 40 man spot before Opening Day?

Candidate #1: RHP Gus Varland

The Brewers selected reliever Gus Varland from the Dodgers in the Rule 5 Draft back at the Winter Meetings. He figures to be an option for Milwaukee's bullpen in 2023. However he only recently became a full-time reliever and his experience was in Double-A.

This is not to say that Varland can't succeed in a bullpen role right now, but he's also a bit of a question mark and Rule 5 selections are no guarantee to stick on the 40 man roster through the season.

Once spring training starts, Varland will be competing for a bullpen role that has a number of candidates vying for it and only a few spots available. If Varland is unable to prove he's ready for a big league bullpen role right away, the Brewers could simply return him to the Dodgers and take him off the 40 man roster prior to Opening Day.

The Brewers aren't going to make a move involving Varland until they get into spring training and see him pitch in some games. But once the Cactus League gets started, everything will depend on how he looks and how he performs in various situations. He could very well succeed and earn a spot on the roster on Opening Day, but there's just as good a chance that he doesn't and gets booted from the 40 man and back to Los Angeles.