30 Teams in30 Days: Milwaukee Brewers

It seemed like everything the Milwaukee Brewers felt they needed to do this off season, they did. They added a right hander power hitter to the middle of their lineup, they upgraded at the catcher spot, adding a pitching prospect, kept their ace pitcher, and even got a new owner.

It was quite an off season to be a brewer fan, for the first time a while, the club has a plan and a plan they are sticking to. General Manager Doug Melvin knows how to build a successful team, and he is well on his way to doing it in Milwaukee. It is an exciting time to be a Brewer fan, something you haven’t been able to say since 1992.

Last year served as a great springboard for this team. They overachieved and played above .500 for the first half of the season, only to have injuries derail any chance at ending their streak of 11 straight losing seasons. It started in spring training where they won on a regular basis. The winning exhibition season did wonders for improving the club’s morale and confidence, it allowed the Brewers to enter games in the regular season expecting to win.

The biggest development made last year was not the play of Lyle Overbay, or the continuing progression of Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder, it was Ben Sheets. Sheets finally stepped up and pitched like the ace the Brewers envisioned him to be. He set the Brewer record in strike outs, and would have been a serious cy young candidate had his offense not failed him, giving him no run support. Ben Sheets showed last year that he is going to be one of the best pitchers in this league for years to come.

The rotation got great performances from guys other than Sheets too. Mike Maddux, anonymously one of the best pitching coaches in this league, did wonders for the development of Doug Davis and Victor Santos. By going 12-12 with a 3.39 era, Doug Davis proved he can be a legitimate second starter in this league. The Brewers also have a group of young pitchers with the ability of being quality and in one case great starters in this league Jose Capellan, a young hard throwing prospect acquired from the Braves for Dan Kolb could feasibly make his way into the starting rotation to begin the season. Ben Hendrickson pitched in the majors for much of the second half of last season, and struggled much of the way compiling a 1-8 mark with a 6.22 era. He did end the season pitching a lot better and has the potential to be a very good bottom of the rotation guy in this league.

The other young guy they are looking at is Jorge de la Rosa. It was de la Rosa, not Overbay who was viewed as the centerpiece of the Richie Sexson deal. The Brewers made that move and got great production from Overbay, Junior Spivey, Chad Moeller and Chris Capuano when he was healthy. The Brewers made that move then hoping that de la Rosa could be a star in this league, the reality now is any contribution from de la Rosa is just a cherry on top of the Sunday. Much like Hendrickson, de la Rosa struggled in his appearances last year going 0-3 with a 6.35 era, but recent indications reports out of spring training have stated that de la Rosa has looked very sharp in camp (with the exception of his first start) and could push to crack the opening day rotation. One way or another de la Rosa will be on the opening day roster, because he is out of options, and there is no way the Brewers will risk having him claimed off waivers.

The bullpen is where Mike Maddux will have to work his magic once again. Dan Kolb is gone, so is their best set up man Jose Vizcaino and their best long reliever and spot starter Dave Burba. The Brewers signed veteran reliever Ricky Bottalico this off season. Bottalico went 3-2 with a 3.38 era while pitching for the Mets last year. Despite the fact that he has 114 career saves, Bottalico will probably take over the role of set up man for this team.

The Brewers acquired Justin Lehr from the Athletics for Keith Ginter in January. Lehr is a young guy who throws very hard, but has a history of command problems. If he can correct his control he could develop into a very good setup man for this team. Middle reliever Matt Wise and middle reliever/pinch hitter Brooks Kieschnick are both back and both pitched very well last season. Last years Rule 5 pick Jeff Bennett may or may not make this team out of camp because of a numbers game. Bennett still has all of his picks left while some others, most notably Jorge de la Rosa are out of options and probably wouldn’t clear waivers.

The biggest question out of camp is who is going to replace Dan Kolb as the closer. Bottalico, Lehr, Bennett and Mike Adams have all been given the chance to win the spot. When it’s all said and done Mike Adams will be the Brewers closer. Adams came on as an unheralded rookie for the crew last year to become one of their better relievers. The 26 year old Adams turned some heads going 2-3 with a 3.40 era. Adams went through most of the season with an era hovering around 1.00 until he struggled in the final month of the season. After watching his progression last year, there is no reason to believe that Adams can’t handle the job as closer.

Offensively the Brewers were inept last year. Aside from Lyle Overbay, nothing stood out offensively on this club, and Overbay even experienced his share of struggles for much of the second half of the season. After dealing Sexson before the beginning of the season Geoff Jenkins was expected to be the offensive leader, but he was anything but that. Jenkins struggled at the plate, hitting just .264 with 27 homers and 93 runs driven in. The offensive disappointments didn’t stop there, the Brewers brought in Ben Grieve and hoped he could add offensive production, but Grieve hit just .260 with 8 home runs and 35 RBI.

Wes Helms and leadoff man Scott Podsednik were both major disappointments in their own right. Helms struggled through most of the season with a knee injury and batted only .263 with just 4 home runs and 28 driven in, after hitting over 20 home runs the previous year. Podsednik was able to steal bases, and still scored 85 runs, but he batted just .244 and had an on base percentage of .313, which is absolutely horrible for a lead off man.

Realizing they needed to do anything they could to add pop to this lineup the Brewers shook things up in December by trading Scott Podsednik and Luis Vizcaino to the Chicago White Sox for right handed slugger Carlos Lee. Last season Lee batted over .300 (.305), had more than 30 home runs (31) and drove in 99 runs. He’s a career .288 hitter and now hitting in a hitters park, so all indications are he will at least equal those numbers this year while sandwiched between Lyle Overbay and Geoff Jenkins in the Brewers lineup. The addition of Lee also allows the Brewers to break up the string of left handed hitters in their lineup, especially if Russell Branyan wins the third base job.

Brady Clark will enter the season in a battle with youngster Dave Krynzel for the centerfielder and leadoff man job. Krynzel is fast, can steal a lot of bases and is a good outfielder, but struggles at the plate. Clark was the Brewers best reserve last year batting .280 with an on base percentage of .385, and is a fine fielder in his own right. Brady Clark will probably end up winning the job, and Krynzel may get optioned down to AAA to begin the season, allowing the Brewers to have Chris Magruder as their fourth outfielder. Magruder can play all three outfield spots and saw some action in Milwaukee last year.

Another young guy fighting for a starting spot is rookie shortstop JJ Hardy. Hardy would have been called up midway through the season last year had he not experienced a shoulder injury. Defensively he is more than ready to play in the majors, but offensively he’s not there yet. The Brewers don’t care so much about that, they have time to allow him to find his swing. JJ Hardy will start the season as the Brewers starting shortstop.

At second base Junior Spivey is back, which is huge. The Brewers struggles both record wise and offense wise came to a head last year when Junior Spivey went down with injury. Spivey was the guy who made that offense go. Spivey batted .272 with 7 home runs and 28 RBI in about half of a season of work. He helped out that lineup by being quality right handed hitter at the top of the rotation. He’s a guy who will bat around the .280-.300 mark with 15-20 homers and about 60 or 70 RBI. He can hit for average, has some decent pop, and can steal some bags when asked to. Rickie Weeks is the future, and will probably be a September call up again, but Spivey is here to stay for another year or two.

The last offensive change made was done when they brought in veteran catcher Damian Miller. Miller is a guy who has played for winners, won a World Series ring with the Diamondbacks, and has caught and helped develop some very good young pitchers. Oh yeah he’s also a Wisconsin native. The Brewers needed to do something to upgrade their catching from last year. Chad Moeller did a great job defensively, and calling games, but Miller and Gary Bennett both left little to be desired offensively. Miller is a guy who can bat about .280 for you, and provide good clutch hitting and good protection down at the end of the lineup.

The last position battle the Brewers have on their hands is the battle for the third base job. Wes Helms, Russell Branyan and former Brewer All-Star Jeff Cirillo will all be in competition for the job. The Brewers invested their future and quite a bit of money in Helms, but are very intrigued by Branyan’s power. Jeff Cirillo was brought in to compete for a bench job. There is pretty much no chance that he wins the starting job now, but he could be a Brady Clark type infielder off the bench that the Brewers are in need of. I think Branyan will probably end up winning the job here, and the Brewers will explore any trade options for Helms. There is one rumor out of Chicago that would have them sending Helms to the White Sox for Willie Harris, which would make sense, but I don’t see it happening.

5 Burning Questions

5. Who’s on Third?
Wes Helms or Russell Branyan? They are nearly identical players, they both have some pop (although Branyan has a lot more) neither guy is going to bat over .300, and both guys are going to strike out a lot. I think the one advantage Helms holds is he is right handed in a left handed heavy lineup, that and he’s Ned Yost’s guy.

4. Keep it Up
Can Doug Davis and Victor Santos turn in another performance like they did last year? If one of them would fall off a bit you’d think it would be Victor Santos.

3. Back at it Again
Ben Sheets was great last year, but pitched most of the second half of the season with a back injury and it started to show the last few starts. Back injuries are serious, especially for pitchers. Hopefully it was just a minor injury that’s behind him now.

2. Back-to-Back
Can Geoff Jenkins bounce back from a bad 2004, or will it be back to back bad seasons. If Jenkins can have an offensive year he is capable of having (.300, 30 and 100) then Lee and Jenkins back to back in the lineup, with Overbay in front is a very dangerous lineup.

1. The Fireballer
Is Jose Capellan major league ready, and if does he start, does he close, is he a set up man? All signs form spring thus far have Capellan ready to contribute to a major league team. He throws hard consistently and looks to have controlled his command issues he had early on in the Braves organization. If he progress to his potential this year he could become the Brewers third starter before the All-Star break.

Fearless Predictions

Carlos Lee will have a monster year (40 home runs) and make the All-Star team.
Mike Adams will win the closers job.
Russell Branyan will win the third base job, and Wes Helms will get shipped out of town.
Jose Capellan will start the season in the Brewers starting rotation.
Jeff Cirillo will make a solid bench contribution to this team.
Ben Sheets will have another tremendous year.
Doug Melvin will win executive of the year.
The Brewers will finish above .500 for the first time in 12 years.
The Brewers will finish in third place in the NL Central.