We've known for awhile that three fifths of the Milwaukee Brewers' starting rotation this season would be Yovani Gallardo, Randy Wolf, and Doug Davis.  With spring training winding down, we've all taken turns guessing who the #4 and #5 starters are going to be, and when Tom Haudricourt guessed yesterday that Jeff Suppan had the inside track on the #4 spot despite being the worst of the starting pitching candidates this spring, David Hannes took him on and guessed Dave Bush was going to be the guy.

Well, turns out David was right.

According to Haudricourt, Bush's rest is being lined up as if he's the #4 guy in the rotation, and Chris Narveson will be moved to the bullpen for the time being.

So that still leaves us with the question of who's going to take the final spot in the rotation between Suppan and Manny Parra.  In reality, we may not know that answer until we get a couple weeks into the regular season -- barring any rainouts, the Brewers won't need their fifth starter until April 15th.

Who deserves the spot?  If you're basing the decision off performance this spring, it's probably Manny Parra.  If you're basing it off potential performance this spring, again, the choice is probably Parra.  In my mind, the only way you put Suppan in the rotation as the 5th starter is if you're really that worried about having three left-handers in the rotation (and Doug Melvin has said he isn't) and you keep trying to justify his contract.

The problem with putting Suppan in the rotation -- other than the poor performance that's likely to follow -- is the fact that suddenly the bullpen becomes heavily left-handed.  Other than Narveson, you'll have Mitch Stetter returning to the LOOGY role and Manny Parra would be relegated to long relief duty.  With that many left-handers, it would be hard to find enough innings for Narveson and Parra to keep them sharp and stretched out in the event that they do need to make a spot start.

Would the bullpen be much better with Suppan holding down a spot?  Probably not, and the thought of a $12 million long reliever is probably enough to make a few fans throw up in their mouth.  Carlos Villanueva will give you roughly the same numbers, so instead of shipping him off to Nashville to make room for everyone, why not just cut your losses with Suppan and pay him his money to go away?

With an off day today, Brewers GM Doug Melvin, skipper Ken Macha, and pitching coach Rick Peterson are, we hear, deciding the 12 pitchers to keep for opening day.  In his blog, JSOnline.com writer Tom Haudricourt makes his prediction about the Brewers' 25-man roster on April 5, which I think he nails on the head--even the part about sending reliever Carlos Villanueva to AAA Nashville to keep Manny Parra and Chris Narveson, who are both out of minor-league options.  I also agree with him on the entire roster--all 12 pitchers and all 13 positions players, as well as his acknowledgment that Jim Edmonds is still undecided about playing.

Furthermore, he nails the #1-#3 starters for the Brewers: Yovani Gallardo, Randy Wolf, and Doug Davis (personally, I'd start the veteran Wolf ahead of Gallardo so as to have your veteran take on the role of "ace" plus not have two lefties back-to-back in Wolf and Davis, but Macha has already decided against this).  Haudricourt even, I think, correctly surmises that the Brewers will opt for a right-handed pitcher for the #4 spot, so as not to have three southpaws in a row.  But Haudricourt picks Jeff Suppan as the Brewers' choice, largely because of his experience and large contract.

I think Macha will be bold and go with Dave Bush for the #4 starter.

First, some qualifiers: Of the four pitchers vying for the last two spots, I think Chris Narveson has done the best and shows the most promise, with Manny Parra close behind.  We've pretty much seen what Jeff Suppan and Dave Bush are capable of over the past two seasons and--unless Rick Peterson is a miracle worker--neither Suppan nor Bush are capable of 15 wins or an ERA of under 3.50.  Parra has yet to prove that he can, as well, but at least there is some hope still at this point.

And while Cactus League stats are rather meaningless, it is hard to ignore that Bush has a 2.13 ERA over 12 2/3rds innings, while Suppan has a 9.00 ERA over 12 innings; Suppan has given up 6 HR's versus none for Bush.  True, Suppan's 9 K's are better than Bush's 5, but Suppan is allowing 1.5 hits/IP against a mixture of regulars and minor-league hitters.

As for the 5th starter, Macha has the luxury to see how Suppan, Narveson, and Parra do in long relief before naming him for the April 18th game at Washington.  My guess is Suppan gets this slot and the first of about 5 starts to see if he still has anything left as a starter.

Caveat: Haudricourt is much more familiar with the demeanors of certain players and the chemistry of the team, which means he may opt for the veteran Suppan for the #4 starter role and the Friday, April 9 game against his former team, St. Louis.  The benefit to doing this: earlier knowledge if Suppan can be effective as a starter or not.  Suppan would also draw the Wednesday, April 14 game at Wrigley...so by making Suppan the #4 starter, Macha would know four days earlier how Suppan stacks up against the two best opponents in the division...nice, but I still hope it is Bush.

Every week until the start of the season, I'll preview one of the Brewers' division rivals.  In addition to recapping the last season, we've tried to get bloggers to answer a few questions about their team, because really, who knows what's going on better than the team's own fans? First we took a look at the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Then it was the Cubs.  And then the Cincinnati Reds. Today, it's a (Rated-R) look at the St. Louis Cardinals with Aaron Hooks of Cards Diaspora.

2009 Finish: 91-71, 1st NL Central

Last Season in a Nutshell: The Cards rode a midseason acquisition of Matt Holliday into an easy division crown, but took a hit to the gut against the Dodgers in the NLDS.  In hindsight, we probably should have had a feeling the Cards were in trouble when they lost 8 of their last 10 games in the regular season, including a season-ending sweep at the hands of the Brewers.

2010 Prediction: 1st, NL Central -- they're too talented and the difference between the Cards and the rest of the division should make for another easy division crown.

Q&A: Aaron Hooks of Cards Diaspora
Thoughts on Matt Holliday's new contract?  Is it going to tie the club's hands at all?
Matt Holliday needed to be in St. Louis. He's a perfect Robin to Pujols' Batman. He's in the NL where he's MUCH better. He's in a city that has completely forgiven him for trying to field a ball with his nuts and bouncing the team from the playoffs in the process.

It was as much of a no-brainer as you can get.

Will it effect the the club at all? Probably. I mean if the guy just takes a big fat dong and starts honking it the first couple of years and teams would rather trade for HIV than Holliday- well yes. Yes it would.

But if he's 75% of what he showed for 4 months in 2009, then it's just what the Cardinals need to keep them in contention for the next 4-5 years.

He's also working with the club to earn his money back. The switch to #7- you don't think that was a way to get a couple milly back and have the fans foot the bill?

The Cardinals are savvier than people think.

It seems highly unlikely Albert Pujols will play with anyone else in the future, but can the team stay competitive if it's paying a large chunk of its payroll to Holliday and Pujols?
Don't ever let the Cardinals fool you.

They've got enough money to Pay Pujols and Holliday whatever the hell they want and still wipe their asses with Morton's steaks.

No, they don't want to be the team that has a 200 million dollar payroll. But nobody, not even the Yankees do at this point. I think every MLB team has entered a point in their existence where they know they need to have 1 or two superstars and then surround those guys with a couple other stars, a couple other veterans and some young talent that are cheap. It's kind of the blueprint for everyone.

Except the Pirates. Who suck at everything.

When you play in a city that would (probably) donate to keep a player if the team asked (and don't put it above them, they're rich, but cheap, if that makes sense), then I don't think you'll ever be truly out of competitiveness.

Unless you move to Pitsburgh. Then you'll marry a 3.

The front of the rotation looks to be strong again with Carpenter and Wainwright, but what's the plan for the bottom of the rotation?  Is losing Joel Pineiro going to hurt?
The Cardinals rotation is better in 2010 than 2009. Much better.

In 2009 we didn't know what Chris Carpenter was going to give the Cardinals. We hoped for a full season, but now we know he's back and ready to be an ace. Wainwright has another year of starting under his belt. And Kyle Lohse was hampered by a bum forearm after a fluke comebacker for 3/4 of the season. He's finally 100% healthy.

Brad Penny is perfect for pitching coach Dave Duncan. We've all seen the guy that can get 20 wins in a season with little bits and flashes of brilliance... but never for more than a couple of outings before getting pillaged for 8 runs in 2 and 1/3. But Dunc has made guys (like Pinero) who absolutely suck the life out of life into 8 million dollar arms again. Penny may be a dark horse for the Cy Young out of the gate. Serioulsy.

The fifth spot is up for grabs, but as I predicted before Spring Training, I think Jamie Garcia, the rookie, will claim it. He's got the talent to be a 2 in the future. So penciling him in as a #5 seems like cake to me.

Is Mark McGwire serving as hitting coach going to be a positive thing for the Cards, or do you think he'll be a distraction?
Mark McGwire is the best thing to happen to the Cardinals this off-season.

Yes, his initial hiring was messy. And yes, the PED story will be trotted out all summer by ink-stained wretches still bitter they wrote fawning columns about the guy in 1998.

But those that watched the younger Cardinals close, know that the team had the wrong man in the job of hitting coach. Hal McRae is perfect for a veteran team that needs some tweaking here or there. But he's not proactive, he let's the guys come to him when they need help. Big Mac, meanwhile, has been ultra-aggressive in getting out in front of problems he sees and correcting them ASAP.

Players have been raving about what he's done for them all spring long. Regardless off what he put in his ass in the 90's, McGwire loves baseball and seems like a man re-born after all this admission circus left town.

Any feelings on Jim Edmonds joining the Brewers?  Assuming he stays on the roster and doesn't retire at the end of the spring, do you think he can still be an asset, or is he more of a liability at this stage in his career?
Jim Edmonds overplayed his hand big time. Back in December, in a way to force the Cardinals hand, he announced at an ARF (Animal Rescue Foundation) event that he was un-retiring and that he wanted to play for the Cardinals.

Fans of half-shirts and brooding in St. Louis rejoiced.

Then the Cardinals pretty much said in a round about way- go fuck yourself, Jimmy Baseball.

Not wanting to look like a complete douche, Edmonds took a job from the Brewers. And as you mentioned, had been planting seeds of another retirement with the press still over a week away from the regular season.

Edmonds wanted to play for the Cardinals. I don't think he ever considered what it takes physically and mentally to get through an entire baseball season and in reaction to being scorned by the Cardinals took a job he now regrets terribly.

I have no doubt this will not end well in Milwaukee.

You folks in St. Louis seemed to have a problem with the Brewers untucking their jerseys after wins the last couple years.  I thought the outrage from St. Louis beat writers was a little dumb, but what did you think?
Personally, I fucking love the un-tucking. I don't want to see it at a game I'm at, but I sure as shit wish a team I rooted for thought of it. Especially because I spent 12 years in Catholic school with a strict uniform and un-tucking was the ultimate sign of dis-respect.

Or so that one old nun told me.

When the Rams had the Bob-n-Weave banned by the NFL back in 2000, I was upset. pro sports is so antiseptic anymore- people are offended by everything. But unless Prince Fielder's penis flops out during an un-tuck, I have absolutely no problem with the thing.

As we wrote last week, Bob Uecker is being inducted into this year's class of the WWE Hall of Fame.  Ueck made appearances at WrestleManias III and IV, and his most memorable pro wrestling moment was probably when he got strangled by Andre the Giant.  The announcement was made official last night with a video feature on last night's episode of WWE Raw.  The video is embedded below, as long as the video lasts on YouTube.  I thought they did a pretty good job with it, even if they had to edit out a few words for the TV-PG audience.

Meet the new backup catcher for the Milwaukee Brewers -- George Kottaras.  He's essentially assured of the job after the Brewers traded his primary competition, Matt Treanor, to the Texas Rangers today for utility infielder Ray Olmedo earlier today.

The return isn't great, but it's probably not important who the Brewers got in exchange for Treanor.  What is important is that it looks like the Brewers have made the right decision when it comes to the backup catcher spot.  Kottaras is better offensively, bats left-handed, and is under team control for five more years.  The only thing Treanor had going for him?  He's married to Misty May.

I liked the addition of Kottaras back when the Brewers claimed him off waivers from Boston, so I'm glad that it appears he'll be making the team.  As far as what this means for Jonathan Lucroy and Angel Salome, it looks like a lock that they'll start out in the minors.  As David noted a few days ago, we could have probably guessed that based on the lack of at-bats they've been getting this spring.  The only question now is if they both start the year at Triple A, and if so, how the playing time will be divided.  By most estimations, Lucroy has leapfrogged Salome on the organizational depth chart, but doesn't have the experience in the system that Salome has.

In other Brewers roster moves today, Adam Heether and Josh Butler were both optioned to Nashville.  Heether's demotion, combined with the injury of Mat Gamel and trade of Hernan Iribarren, means that Joe Inglett is likely your second backup infielder, teaming with Craig Counsell.