Brandon Hicks already went back down, and Conrad is needed right now while Chipper is gimpy (again). There's no other position players with an option, and hard to send down a reliever when Venters will have to serve suspension time sometime this week. You can't keep McClouth in AAA any longer without the league office getting involved, he's been there on rehab from a concussion for over a month, it's getting suspicious. Hell, he said directly yesterday that he's felt fine for a while, he's just been working on his swing.
McClouth is coming up to see if he can at least hit well enough to be traded for something. For anything. Maybe swap for someone with a much bigger bad contract, but is actually somewhat productive. Mike Lowell maybe? They won't drop him for nothing with how much they owe him for next year, they'll at least wait and see if he can fix himself by ST next year. If he continues to suck, they might DFA him and hope he accepts a minor league assignment.
I think he will continue to suck. I read his quotes yesterday about his rehab. He talked about working on his swing, but never once said anything about uppercutting too much. I don't think he realizes yet he's not the power hitter he thinks he is.
Blanco will be back, at the latest in September. He had been forgotten, after failing to produce in several past chances, but he's played his way back into the mix for next year. I expect him and Schafer to compete for the job come ST.