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.
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.