Don’t Count The Brewers Out (For Next Season)

Last winter, the Milwaukee Brewers took a look at the NL landscape, their team as constructed, and the impending free agency of their best player, and decided that this was the year to go for it. They made big trades for starting pitchers Zach Greinke and Shaun Marcum and made their best play at winning a championship. Of course, they didn’t win the Word Series, it starts tomorrow and features the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers, but they came awful close. The big worry in Wisconsin going forward will most certainly be about life after Prince Fielder, who will almost definitely play for someone else next year but I’m here to tell you, Brewers fans, that not all is lost. The 2012 Brewers will, at the very least, strongly compete for consecutive NL Central crowns.

The Brewers definitely showed some deficiencies in the NLCS. They proved that they can’t field and that they are not as deep in the starting rotation as they need to be. But they proved some other things too. Clearly they can hit. Top to bottom in the Milwaukee order showed that they can hit and hit for power. And they did it largely without Prince Fielder who was all in all pretty quiet in the series. They also showed that they have a solid bullpen. Francisco Rodriguez will probably not be back next season but John Axford is one hell of a closer and will be next year too. The Brewers definitely have some holes but they have a good, deep core of players to build around and the additions of a few key guys could make a big difference.

The Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said that his team will be major players in the Prince FIelder sweepstakes. Now, I don’t think they’ll get him but their willingness to throw probably about $160 million at a guy is a big indication that they have money to spend in free agency. I think there are three key guys that Milwaukee should target, (other than Fielder and assuming they don’t get him) to greatly improve their roster. None of these three guys are starting pitchers, and they definitely need one of those but take a look:

• Jose Reyes, shortstop- Reyes is a free agent and fresh off beating Brewer Ryan Braun for the batting title. He’s an excellent shortstop, a definite upgrade over Yuniesky Betancourt, and a true leadoff hitter. He would allow Milwaukee to move Corey Hart to the middle of the order where he belongs to help replace Fieder’s production and would get on and get over for Braun and Hart and Casey Mcgehee to drive in. It would be a bit of a coup for Reyes to end up in Milwaukee as he’s going to receive huge and high-profile offers from the Mets and Giants  but if the Brewers overpay a little, they could get him.
• Aramis Ramirez, third base- Another free agent, the Brewers are very familiar with Ramirez from his days with the Cubs and Pirates. Aramis is a superb defensive third basemen (some thing the Brewers clearly need after watching the NLCS) and a very productive offensive player too. Out of the three guys on this list, he comes the closest to replacing Fielder’s level of offensive production. Ramirez offers homers and a good average but is a questionable clubhouse guy. If you can put him in a position where he doesn’t have to lead (at all), I think he could be a hugely valuable guy.
• David Wright, third basemen- This one is definitely different than the other two. Wright is not a free agent, he is a member of the New York Mets. But the Mets aren’t going anywhere and they know it. Before they traded Carlos Beltran this summer, there were rumors that they were fielding offers for Wright. I think for the right package of money and prospects (especially money), the Brewers could get him. I’ve always said that I thought Wright would thrive in a situation where he is not looked to to provide all the offense and in a lineup with Hart, McGehee and Braun, that would not be the case. What ever you think about this, it’s definitely an interesting option