But it's playing with fire to go to spring training with only five starters, and the Brewers know it. As it stands now, there's Yovani Gallardo, Manny Parra, Jeff Suppan, Dave Bush and Seth McClung, with no established sixth option.

Last year, that fivesome combined to go 33-32 with a 4.38 earned-run average in 105 starts for the Brewers. Granted, Gallardo missed most of the season with a significant knee injury. But Bush began the season with two awful months (1-5, 6.04); Parra hit the wall in the second half (2-6, 5.32); Suppan - who is owed $25 million over the next two seasons - was a liability down the stretch (0-3, 8.44 in September); and McClung is a swing man who never has started for a full season.

Compare that rotation to the five projected starters for the division rival Chicago Cubs - Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, Ted Lilly, Ryan Dempster and, perhaps, Sean Marshall - and you see the challenge facing the Brewers in matching up on the mound.

Left-hander Chris Capuano, who had his second "Tommy John" reconstructive elbow surgery last year, could be ready to pitch again by May 1, according to Melvin. But there's no guarantee Capuano can be a reliable contributor this year, especially considering the track record of pitchers who've had that procedure twice.

"The major thing is we've got to have Manny Parra and Gallardo develop," said manager Ken Macha. "Our depth right now is of some concern. The guys we have out there, we really don't have that 34-start, 35-start history, every year."

Last spring, the Brewers thought they had an excess of starting pitching, with eight candidates reporting to camp. But Gallardo had knee surgery before the first workout, Capuano later blew out his elbow and Claudio Vargas was released in an economic move.

Getting five starters through spring training is difficult enough, much less the grueling 162-game regular season. And there is nothing of any substance likely to come up from the farm system in 2009.

"We always have to go into a season with plans for having seven starters," said Macha. "We're still kind of talking to a couple of guys (on the market). Then, if Capuano can come back, we'd have seven guys.

"We'll treat those five starters with extreme care in spring training. Throughout the season, hopefully we can make it through without any mishap."

There was internal discussion about returning right-hander Carlos Villanueva to the rotation, but the staff couldn't get past the fact he went 2-5 with a 6.43 ERA in nine starts last season, then posted a 2.12 ERA in 38 relief outings after moving to the bullpen.

In fact, Macha revealed that Villanueva would have been the first choice to fill the closer's role had all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman not been signed.

"Pitching coach Billy Castro and (bullpen coach) Stan Kyles feel with his stuff, they're real comfortable with him setting up Hoffman," said Macha.

The Brewers still have enough prospects in the system to make a trade for a starter. But, thanks to the rising cost of pitchers in free agency, teams are more reluctant than ever to trade young pitchers with low salaries.

"I haven't had a starting pitcher proposed to me all winter," said Melvin, who lost his top two starters when CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets became free agents. "Teams aren't going to give up pitching.

"There have been times I've talked about it (with other teams). As soon as you talk about the No. 1, 2 or 3 starter with another club, you don't get anywhere."

Obviously, this problem won't be an easy one to solve. But the Brewers simply must find a way before they take the field April 7 in San Francisco to strengthen their starting rotation.

The Brewers have one of the better offensive lineups in the league. And, with the signing of Hoffman and the addition of other promising arms, the bullpen seems to be in good shape.

It would be a real shame to negate those positives by not fielding a playoff-caliber starting rotation.

Protecting Gallardo

Obviously, it's more important than ever to keep Gallardo healthy for the entire season. The fly in that ointment is that the promising young right-hander has designs on pitching for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic this spring.

Leftfielder Ryan Braun is scheduled to play for Team USA, but the Brewers have no problem with that because he'll probably see regular action. Because he had not one but two knee procedures last year, Gallardo is a different matter.

"We've always been in favor of the Classic," said Melvin, who planned to sit down with Gallardo during the team's fan activities this weekend to discuss the subject. "I enjoy it, myself, personally.

"We'll look into it with Yovani, because of the time missed. He did miss substantial time from last year. You can encourage them not to play. But we don't discourage any player from playing."

Gallardo's participation in the WBC is far from a sure thing. There are three ways he might bow out: his decision, insurance liabilities or objection by the Brewers.

"Anyone who missed substantial time last year has to go through a second layer of approval," said Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash. "The Mexican team has to be able to acquire insurance on him, which isn't cheap for a player coming back from injury."

The Brewers would collect that insurance if Gallardo pitched in the WBC and was injured, but that would be very little consolation.

"We don't want the money," said Ash. "We want him to pitch for us."

Other players in the organization have been invited to play in the WBC. Because of their heritage, catcher Vinny Rottino and right-hander Mark DiFelice are on Italy's provisional roster. Others on preliminary lists include reliever Jorge Julio (Venezuela), lefty David Welch (Australia) and three Canadians, reliever R.J. Swindle, right-hander Alex Periard and top draft pick Brett Lawrie.

Melvin said Swindle will turn down Team Canada's offer because he'll be vying for a spot in the bullpen in the Brewers' spring camp.

Excitement building

In an effort to introduce himself before his first spring camp as the Brewers' manager, Macha placed telephone calls to every player on his roster. He immediately was struck by the enthusiasm stemming from the team's 2008 playoff breakthrough and possibilities for this year.

"They have a tremendous amount of excitement," said Macha. "They're really looking forward to this season.

"Rather than focusing on the losses we had through free agency, they're very upbeat and positive. I got a lot of comments that 'We're ready to go,' 'We've been working out.'

"(Catcher) Jason Kendall told me, 'This club doesn't know how good they can be.' So, we're looking forward to getting started."

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