Third base is pretty much wide open in Milwaukee.
This past weekend, former Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks tied the knot with former NESN Red Sox sideline reporter Jenny Dell in Arizona. The couple, of course, met during their tenures in Boston.
But it will be a short hooneymoon for the now Milwaukee Brewers third baseman as he hopes to crack a roster spot on their big league club this season.
The Brewers signed Middlebrooks to a minor league contract with a spring training invite in December — which could put him in position to land the job.
So far, he looks to be the front runner for the job.
But since he is not on the 40-man roster, the Brewers unoffical depth chart says otherwise. It says Aaron Hill.
Primarily a second baseman, the 33-year-old Hill hit .230 with a .640 OPS for the Arizona Diamondbacks last season. Keep in mind he played his home games at Chase Field, a big time hitter’s park — and that was all he could manage.
Taking a look down at the depth chart (based off of who is on the 40-man roster), former Red Sox farmhand Garin Cecchini comes next. But anyone who watched a PawSox game last year saw how he hit — not well — in AAA.
He is followed by Yadiel Rivera, a shortstop who went 1-for-14 in the bigs last season and Colin Walsh, who has never played a game above AA. With that in mind, Hill should be Middlebrooks’ only real competition.
Last year did not go so well for Middlebrooks in his first and presumably only year with the San Diego Padres. Per usual, he struggled with plate discipline, but he managed to hit nine home runs in 83 games. In all, he hit .212 with a .602 OPS. But in his defense, he played half of his games at Petco Park — probably the least hitter friendly park in the game. Not to mention it was a step up from his abysmal 2014 campaign — which was marred by injury.
Both guys are versatile — and the Brewers really lack infield depth this season, so in all likelihood it would be tough to imagine both of them not making the team. The only question would be who is starting and who is a bench player.