As we continue to preview the upcoming season, we begin to take a look at the other teams in the NL Central, we turn to the Milwaukee Brewers, who may be in for another rough season.
We previously took a look at the Reds, what their off-season entailed, and how they’ll look for the upcoming season. Now we turn to the other bottom-feeder in the NL Central, the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers haven’t been good in a while. They haven’t finished over .500 since 2014, and haven’t made the playoffs since 2011. Like the Reds, they make big trades and signed players to big contracts despite being a small market team, and now those moves are coming back to bite them. The Brewers drained their farm system in the process. While Milwaukee will always somehow be a House of Horrors for the Pirates when they visit there, they are still likely in for another bad season.
The Brewers are attempting to rebuild, as they traded Tyler Thornburg this off-season and got Travis Shaw in return, who could be their future at third base. They also have a lot of young players looking to make statements this season, including former Pirate Keon Broxton, who will likely be the starting center fielder after a quality 2016 campaign. But they still have Ryan Braun, who is signed to a big money deal through at least 2020. Braun is still a very good player, but his contract and age, along with his history with performance enhancing drugs that’s scarred his image, has made him difficult to trade. Matt Garza is finally off the books after this upcoming season, and once those two are gone, the Brewers will have a lot of money to work with, and a lot of youth ready to be fill the team. But that’s all still at least a year away.
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Major Off-Season Moves
- The Brewers did lose a few key players. After leading the league in home runs, the Brewers did not tender first baseman Chris Carter a contract. He was eventually picked up by the Yankees last month.
- Catcher Martin Maldonado was traded to the Angels for catcher Jett Bandy in December.
- Reliever Tyler Thornburg was traded to the Red Sox for three players, including Travis Shaw, who looks to be the starting third baseman for the Brewers this season.
- In free agency, Milwaukee picked up former Pirate Neftali Feliz, who will likely close for the team, and signed Eric Thames, who looks to be the starting first baseman.
Projected 25-Man Roster
With some help from MLB.com, and some educated guesswork, this is how I see the Brewers’ 25-man roster at the moment:
Starting Rotation
Matt Garza
Position Players
1B – Eric Thames
2B – Jonathan Villar
SS – Orlando Arcia
3B – Travis Shaw
C – Andrew Susac
LF – Ryan Braun
CF – Keon Broxton
RF – Domingo Santana
Bullpen
Neftali Feliz
Bench
Jett Bandy
Kirk Nieuwwnhuis
Expert Projections
Similar to the Reds, the Brewers are not expected to do very well this season. Most outlets project them to win somewhere between 65 and 75 games. Last year, the Brewers won 73 games, and any sort of improvement on that will be a success for the team. They do have a lot of young players on the team who could surprise, but with a poor rotation and bench and a lineup that lacks much power, they should expect another poor season.
For some actual projections, make sure to check out those from Fangraphs, Bleacher Report, and USA Today.
Strengths
Speed on the base-paths is a big strength for the Brewers. The Brewers led the NL last season in stolen bases by over 40. This is in large part due to Jonathan Villar, who led all of baseball last season in steals with 62. But don’t sleep on Braun, who was twice a 30-30 player and can still get close to 20 steals, or Broxton, who had 23 steals last year and was caught just four times.
If Feliz builds off of the rebound he had last year with the Pirates, he could be a formidable closer at the back-end of the pen for the Brewers. Behind him, the Brewers also have a few other guys that could lead to an above-average bullpen this season. Carlos Torres had a great year after a poor campaign with the Mets in 2015, and his success could be sustainable, as he was a quality reliver in 2013 and 2014 as well. Jacob Barnes, Jhan Marinez, and Tyler Cravy are part of the youth movement for the Brewers, and each could pitch to an ERA under three in the pen this season. Yes, they did trade away Tyler Thornburg, and yes, this bullpen is young, but it certainly has potential.
Weaknesses
The Brewers were terrible defensively last season, as they led the National League in errors, with 26 more than the next closest team, and thus had the worst fielding percentage in the NL. They’re losing Chris Carter at first, who was responsible for 11 of those errors, so that should help. And Villar’s move to second should help as well, as he had 17 errors at short. But until we see Villar transition smoothly and see how Thames plays first base, who hasn’t played in the majors since 2012, the defense will still be an issue for the Brewers.
ESPN also notes that strikeouts could be an issue for this team. They have a lot of young players, so growth from them could help improve the team in this area. The Brewers also have to see if Junior Guerra can build off of his breakout year last season. He pitched well, but he only made 20 starts. If he doesn’t continue the success he had, the Brewers don’t have an ace of any kind. All in all, the Brewers will be bad in many areas, but still have room for improvement.
Putting it All Together
Like the Reds, the Brewers are almost certainly in for another poor season. But unlike the Reds, the Brewers have a lot of young players with potential, and by the end of this season, they could have a ton of salary off the books. If Braun gets traded, and with Garza off the books after the season, the highest paid player for the Brewers going into next off-season will likely be either Wily Peralta or Eric Thames, each of whom would make near just $5 million. But until that happens, Brewers fans just have to look to the youth on the team and look forward to the future, which could be bright sooner than they think.
Image Credit – Bryce Edwards via Flickr Creative Commons
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