It is a rite of spring as honored as the planting of gladiolas and the ridding of the back yard of winter dog poop.
It's the great debate about the Brewers Opening Day roster, and it'll only heat up in the days ahead. As of this writing, the first meaningful pitch of the 2019 season is a mere two weeks away, giving talk show hosts, bloggers, podcasters and anyone else with a portal to the free world 14 days to chat up the masses about something that really, truly means nothing.
The Opening Day roster is a snapshot, not a mural, of what the upcoming season portends. Sure, there are fixtures that won't be moved unless hurt–guys named Yellich and Braun. Injury is a flinagle factor but the underlying fact is that teams in general and the Brewers in particular run their rosters based on situational need, not on the merits of who earned their way to one of the 25 big league spots. What matters most to GM David Stearns and manager Craig Counsell is ability and availability. Sure, you have to be able to play the game but there's so much more involved in this age of out-getters, launch angle and saber-metrics. What matters more is how many minor league options a player packs, moves that give the front office the ability to tweak a day's available number of bodies by the hour.
Remember this: the Brewers used more than 50 players last season en route to winning the NL Central and coming to within a win of a National League pennant. While beset by a few injuries, they weren't ravaged, not by a long shot.Â
So yak all you want about Jimmy Nelson not being the Opening Day starter, or the injustice of a Cactus League phenom who didn't get to make the trip up north with the big club. There's a strong chance that kid will get a cup of coffee at the show before the leaves turn colors because that's the way baseball is these days.Â
Don't waste time in needless Opening Day roster debate. Save that for the Packers, a topic whose chatter is eternal.
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