This guy just wants to play baseball.

Vinny Rottino's overwhelming preference is to be warming up Seth McClung or David Riske in the bullpen when the Milwaukee Brewers open their season April 7 against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Instead, Rottino will probably be spending his 29th birthday that day finding some place to live in Huntsville, Ala., the Brewers' Class AA farm affiliate.

After being demoted by the Brewers during a meeting Monday with manager Ken Macha, general manager Doug Melvin and assistant GM Gord Ash, Rottino agreed to play in Huntsville, where he will get a chance to play regularly as the Stars' third baseman.

So after being groomed as a catcher at Class AAA Nashville last season, Rottino is going back to the future with Huntsville, where he played in 2005.

"They called me in and said, 'We're going to have to send you back to the other side,'" said Rottino, a 1998 St. Catherine's High School graduate. "What they said was they couldn't guarantee me everyday at-bats in Triple A. They got guys down there who are locked in, they're prospects and they need to play.

"So I asked them, 'Do you have any other opportunity elsewhere in the organization?' If I'm in the minor leagues, I need to be on the field and show I can play and show other teams I can play. They said, 'Right now, you can have the every-day job at third base in Double A.'

"I said, 'Well, that sounds like a no-brainer to me.'"

The handwriting was on the wall for Rottino considering his lack of playing time once he returned to the Brewers' training camp in Phoenix, Ariz., after representing Italy in the World Baseball Classic. He went 2-for-15 (.133) with one RBI with the Brewers during spring training.

But even though Rottino is moving back down the ranks with the Brewers, he remains optimistic. Just ask him what his mindset is.

"You know me," Rottino said. "You know what I'm going to say. I look at this as an opportunity to get my at-bats, put myself back on the map a little bit and go from there. We'll see what happens."