Brewers Settle on Broxton, Nieuwenhuis for Final Outfield Spots; Opening Day Roster Set

Earlier this morning news broke about the Brewers and free agent reliever Carlos Torres signing a major league deal to settle the final available bullpen spot. The club has now announced that they've made their final decisions in the outfield, electing to break camp with Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Keon Broxton.

#Brewers have informed Alex Presley he will not be added to 40-man roster, which means rookie Keon Broxton and Kirk Nieuwenhuis are in.

— Tom (@Haudricourt) April 2, 2016

According to MLB Trade Rumors, the odd man out, Alex Presley, has a clause in his contract that stipulates that the Brewers make him available to all 29 other teams to see if any are interested in giving him a 25 man roster spot. Presley hit .289/.396/.556 with three home runs in 24 games this spring but hold a less impressive .259/.299/.393 slash line with 23 home runs across 1,105 plate appearances for the Pirates and Astros. He'll be 31 this season and it's unclear at this time if he would accept a minor league assignment with Milwaukee.

Nieuwenhuis had a solid spring, hitting .263/.333/.386 in 25 games while playing all three outfield positions. The 28 year old has played in parts of four seasons for the Mets and Angels, hitting .232/.306/.389 with 17 home runs in 693 plate appearances. The left-handed hitter has been prone to strikeouts in his big league career, whiffing an astonishing 31.5% of the time. He's about an average defender and has seen the majority of his time in center field, where he's posted a 3 Defensive Runs Saved and a 2.1 UZR across 723.2 innings.

Broxton was acquired from the Pirates over this past offseason and got off to a hot start this spring before cooling off in the last couple of weeks, finishing with a .224/.339/.265 line in 26 games. The 25 year old has just two plate appearances at the big league level, but he hit a strong .273/.357/.438 with 10 home runs and 39 steals in 133 games between AA and AAA last season. Like Nieuwenhuis he struggles with strikeouts and owns a 28% strikeout rate in his minor league career. He's an outstanding defender in center field and has been praised for his athleticism. He bats right handed and would make for a natural platoon candidate with Nieuwenhuis, and could start on Opening Day again lefty Madison Bumgarner and the Giants.

With today's impending moves, the Brewers Opening Day roster figures to look like this:

C Jonathan Lucroy
C Martin Maldonado

1B Chris Carter
2B Scooter Gennett
SS Jonathan Villar
3B Aaron Hill
INF Colin Walsh
INF Yadiel Rivera

LF Ryan Braun
RF Domingo Santana
OF Ramon Flores
OF Keon Broxton
OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis

SP Wily Peralta
SP Jimmy Nelson
SP Matt Garza
SP Taylor Jungmann
SP Chase Anderson

RP Jeremy Jeffress
RP Ariel Pena
RP Michael Blazek
RP Tyler Thornburg
RP Blaine Boyer
RP Chris Capuano
RP Carlos Torres

Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs