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The Brewers’ offseason began with a changing of the guard in the front office, as longtime president of baseball operations David Stearns stepped into an advisory role and handed the keys over to general manager Matt Arnold.
Major League Signings
- Wade Miley, LHP: One year, $4.5MM
- Brian Anderson, 3B/OF: One year, $3.5MM
- Justin Wilson, LHP: One year, $1MM (plus club option for 2024 season)
- Blake Perkins, OF: One year, $720K
Total spend: $9.72MM
Option Decisions
- Exercised $10MM club option on 2B Kolten Wong
- Declined $3MM club option on RHP Brad Boxberger in favor of $750K buyout
Trades and Waiver Claims
- Acquired C/DH William Contreras and RHP Justin Yeager from the Braves and RHP Joel Payamps from the A’s in a three-team deal sending OF Esteury Ruiz from Milwaukee to Oakland (A’s sent C Sean Murphy to Atlanta and received LHP Kyle Muller and RHPs Freddy Tarnok and Royber Salinas from the Braves)
- Acquired RHPs Janson Junk, Elvis Peguero and Adam Seminaris from the Angels in exchange for OF Hunter Renfroe
- Acquired OF/DH Jesse Winker and INF Abraham Toro from the Mariners in exchange for 2B Kolten Wong and cash
- Acquired RHP Joseph Hernandez from the Mariners in exchange for RHP Justin Topa
- Acquired C Payton Henry from the Marlins in exchange for OF Reminton Batista
- Acquired RHP Javy Guerra from the Rays in exchange for a player to be named later
- Acquired INF Owen Miller from the Guardians in exchange for a player to be named later or cash
- Acquired RHP Bryse Wilson from the Pirates in exchange for cash
- Claimed RHP Tyson Miller off waivers from the Rangers
- Selected RHP Gus Varland from the Dodgers in the Rule 5 Draft
Extensions
- None
Notable Minor League Signings
- Luke Voit, Tyler Naquin, Alex Claudio, Josh VanMeter, Eddy Alvarez, Colin Rea, Monte Harrison, Skye Bolt, Thomas Pannone, Jon Singleton, Thyago Vieira, Robert Stock, Tobias Myers, Andruw Monasterio, Collin Wiles
Notable Losses
- Hunter Renfroe, Kolten Wong, Taylor Rogers, Andrew McCutchen, Omar Narvaez, Jace Peterson, Brent Suter, Brad Boxberger, Trevor Rosenthal, Esteury Ruiz, Pedro Severino, Trevor Gott, Jandel Gustave, Pablo Reyes, Justin Topa, Jonathan Davis, Trevor Kelley, Luis Perdomo, Mario Feliciano, Miguel Sanchez
Early in the offseason, there was some belief that between Stearns stepping down and some of the early transactions under Arnold, the Brewers were shifting into a rebuilding mode. After all, they’d traded Josh Hader at the deadline, missed the playoffs and opened the winter by dealing away both Hunter Renfroe and Kolten Wong.
However, moves of that ilk have become par for the course in Milwaukee as players approach the end of their club control. The Brewers are not and never have been a large-payroll club, and though they’ve made some big-scale splashes (e.g. extending Christian Yelich, signing Lorenzo Cain), Milwaukee generally operates on the margins and makes extreme value-driven decisions that often look a bit befuddling.
This is the same club that non-tendered Chris Carter after he led the league in home runs and the same club that has regularly declined affordable options on role players like Brad Boxberger, Jedd Gyorko and Eric Thames over the years, believing (often correctly so) that slightly better values will surface late in the offseason.
In the case of Renfroe, he was only acquired in the first place as a means of Milwaukee jettisoning the remainder of their ill-fated contract with Jackie Bradley Jr. The Brewers parted with a pair of prospects in order to shed that contract, but the Renfroe swap was a financially motivated one to begin with. Moving one year of control over Renfroe on the heels of a nice season for three near-MLB righties feels like an on-brand move for this team, given Renfroe’s OBP and $11.9MM salary. It’s a reasonable price, but the Brewers probably didn’t consider there to be much surplus value.
The decision on Wong was somewhat similar. The Brewers have depth in the middle infield, headlined by prospect Brice Turang — the favorite for to succeed Wong at second base. Wong’s $10MM salary was effectively market value for a player of his age and skill set — perhaps a bit over — and the Brewers flipped him for a buy-low DH/corner outfield candidate who could help cover for Renfroe’s departure (Jesse Winker) and a controllable infielder who has had his share of struggles but was once a well-regarded prospect (Abraham Toro). Winker, in particular, is an interesting rebound candidate after he played through knee and neck injuries last year, both of which required offseason surgery. Prior to that, he was one of the game’s most productive bats against right-handed pitching.
The trades of Renfroe and Wong weren’t as much about shedding payroll — though that was surely a piece of it — as converting one year of control over a near-market-value asset into several years of control over a handful of largely big league-ready players, even if they’re seen as projects with limited ceilings.
Many fans and pundits braced for subsequent trades of stars like Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Willy Adames, but the Brewers instead told other clubs they planned to hang onto that trio of core players. It’s fair to wonder just how long that’ll last. Woodruff and Burnes are both controlled two more seasons, both owed over $10MM in 2023 and will both likely top $15MM in salary for the 2024 season. Neither seems likely to take a discount on an extension at this point — certainly not Burnes, after voicing frustration regarding the Brewers’ tactics in arbitration. Adames is more affordable, but only slightly so ($8.7MM). He’s also the youngest of the bunch and recently commented on how this offseason’s class of free-agent shortstops “set the bar” for future free agents at the position.
All three of those All-Star-caliber talents will be Brewers to begin the season, but by this summer, there’ll be increased focus on them. If the Brewers are out of contention or even on the cusp of it, they could be forced into decisions that rival last summer’s Hader dilemma: either ride out a star player’s penultimate year of club control in hopes of reaching the postseason (and in doing so lessen his trade value in the offseason), or make a trade that’s unpopular in the clubhouse and among fans in the name of restocking the system with near-MLB pieces.
It’s an unenviable spot, but that’s life for many small- and mid-market clubs with payrolls in the bottom half of MLB. Unpopular as the Hader trade was, the Brewers secured Esteury Ruiz in that swap — in addition to a near-MLB-ready rotation piece in Robert Gasser — and just months later flipped Ruiz to acquire five years of control over slugging catcher William Contreras.
The acquisition of Contreras (and righties Joel Payamps and Justin Yeager) pushed back on any notion that the Brewers were rebuilding. Contreras was a win-now piece with less team control (albeit by just one year) than the prospect surrendered to add him. He’ll step right into the heart of the lineup. The younger brother of Willson Contreras, William slashed .278/.354/.506 with 20 round-trippers in 376 plate appearances last season. His defense is a work in questionable at best, but Milwaukee has developed a reputation as one of the better clubs at improving catchers’ defense (as Omar Narvaez can attest). If Contreras can even be just slightly below-average in terms of framing and overall defense, he could rate among the game’s best all-around backstops.
The rest of Milwaukee’s whopping eight trades were more minor — depth moves that came at little expense to the farm or MLB roster. Out-of-options righties Bryse Wilson and Javy Guerra give Milwaukee a seventh/eighth rotation candidate and a flamethrowing bullpen wild card, respectively. Neither is guaranteed to make it through spring training, but the cost was cash and a PTBNL, so there’s little harm in rolling the dice on a pair of somewhat interesting right-handers.
Owen Miller, also picked up for a PTBNL, gives Milwaukee a right-handed-hitting depth piece who faded after a hot start with Cleveland in 2022. Milwaukee knows catcher Payton Henry quite well, having drafted him in 2016 and traded him to the Marlins in 2021 to acquire John Curtiss. He returns as a slugging third or fourth catcher who’s yet to hit above Double-A but cost only a Dominican Summer League lottery ticket (18-year-old Reminton Batista).
On the free-agent front, the Brewers stayed true to form and eschewed big-money deals, instead waiting out some potential bargains who all signed after the new year. A one-year, $4.5MM to bring southpaw Wade Miley back to the organization was a bit of a head-scratcher at the time, with Burnes, Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer, Adrian Houser, Aaron Ashby and Wilson already on the roster. Just a month later, the Brewers announced that both Ashby and righty Jason Alexander were out at least a month of the regular season due to shoulder troubles. Miley suddenly looked like a more sensible addition, whether the Brewers knew at the time of the deal that their rotation was compromised or whether that proved to be sheer serendipity.
With Miley stepping in behind Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta and Lauer, it seemed as though the out-of-options Houser could find himself moved to another club with a clear rotation vacancy. That could still potentially come to pass, but with Ashby and Alexander ailing, the rotation depth is thinner. Houser’s the next man up in the event of an injury to any of the top five, and with a reasonable $3.6MM salary and two seasons of club control remaining, the Brewers aren’t going to just give him away even if there’s no rotation spot open.
Anderson is a classic buy-low candidate on the heels of a non-tender from the Marlins. Shoulder and back injuries have derailed his once-promising trajectory, as he’s only appeared in 165 games and posted a tepid .233/.321/.359 batting line over the past two seasons. Prior to that, he was one of Miami’s best players. From 2018-20, Anderson split time between third base and right field, batting .266/.350/.436 in Miami’s pitcher-friendly home park. Picking him up at a $3.5MM price point has the potential to prove one of the offseason’s best bargains for any club, if he can recapture that peak form.
The defensive versatility Anderson offers shouldn’t be undersold. It may already be coming into play, in fact. While it looked early on as though he’d handle the bulk of the work at the hot corner, that’s no longer certain. Tyrone Taylor, the Brewers’ lone righty-swinging outfielder, is dealing with an elbow sprain that’ll cost him at least the first month of the season. Anderson can slide into right field, with Luis Urias slotting back in at the hot corner and Turang — assuming he shows well this spring — taking up everyday reps at second base. If Taylor returns as quickly as the Brewers hope, Anderson can either slide back to third base and push Urias into a utility role — or the Brewers can simply deploy Taylor as a traditional fourth outfielder. Even the Milwaukee brass probably doesn’t quite know how it’ll all shake out, but the mere fact that there are multiple courses of action to ponder is a testament to Anderson’s flexibility.
Beyond that group, most of Milwaukee’s offseason transactions exist around the periphery of the roster. Outfielder Blake Perkins landed a 40-man roster spot due to his ability to play all three positions and a .246/.357/.456 showing between Double-A and Triple-A with the Yankees last year. It’s a league-minimum deal if he’s in the Majors, and if not, he gives Milwaukee some depth.
The team inked veteran lefty Justin Wilson to a one-year contract with a 2024 club option as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. He can perhaps help down the stretch, and if he returns to form, a net $2.35MM option on him for 2024 makes this a vintage Brewers type of move.
Minor league deals with veterans are commonplace, but Luke Voit and Tyler Naquin are fairly high-profile names to receive such deals, given Voit’s pre-injury track record and Naquin’s performance in Cincinnati over the past couple seasons. The injury to Taylor thins the outfield and seemingly increases Naquin’s chances of landing a roster spot. If the team instead prefers to push Winker into more of an everyday outfield role, that could help Voit’s chances. Right-handed bats Mike Brosseau and Keston Hiura make Voit perhaps redundant, but Hiura could be in for a make-or-break spring himself. The former first-rounder and top prospect is out of minor league options and has never replicated his huge rookie year, struggling with massive strikeout rates and poor defense at multiple positions in the seasons since.
Just as there’s uncertainty surrounding the final bench spots, there are questions in the bullpen. Milwaukee did little to address the relief corps, adding only a trio of out-of-options righties via trade: Wilson, Guerra and Payamps. Of the bunch, Payamps is coming off the best season and is the likeliest to make the roster. If Milwaukee carries all three, they’ll join Houser and Matt Bush as out-of-options arms in the bullpen, leaving Milwaukee with minimal flexibility.
It’s a big bet on a largely unproven group, but the Brewers seem comfortable with a back-end featuring All-Star Devin Williams, Bush and breakout rookie Peter Strzelecki (2.83 ERA, 27% strikeout rate, 10.1% walk rate in 35 innings). Southpaw Hoby Milner quietly enjoyed a nice 2022 season as well. Milwaukee makes enough moves around the edges of the roster that it shouldn’t surprise anyone if they move on from a less-established, out-of-options arm in the name of greater flexibility, but spring training will serve as a proving grounds for Wilson and Guerra.
In the outfield, the Brewers will hope that even with Renfroe gone, they can get a resurgence from Yelich and lean on a combination of Winker, Anderson, Taylor (once healthy) and perhaps Naquin in the corners. They didn’t add a center fielder, which is likely reflective of the thin market at the position, Taylor’s ability there and the organization’s faith in former first-rounder Garrett Mitchell, who hit .311/.373/.459 in 68 plate appearances as a rookie last year. The 24-year-old whiffed in 41% of those plate appearances and was propped up by a ludicrous .548 BABIP, but Mitchell also batted .287/.377/.426 across three minor league levels with far less concerning strikeout numbers. Behind him are prospects Sal Frelick and Joey Wiemer, both of whom made some top-100 lists in the offseason. Both annihilated Triple-A pitching in 2022 and both have experience at all three outfield slots. Outfielder Jackson Chourio, meanwhile, is one of the top ten prospects in the entire sport. He’ll turn just 19 this weekend but already briefly reached Double-A in 2022. That youth makes him a long shot for 2023, unless the Brewers put him on a Juan Soto-esque fast track.
For all the fretting post-Renfroe/Wong, the Brewers still have a dominant rotation, one of the game’s best relievers, and a lineup with several solid regulars and multiple intriguing youngsters (Mitchell, Turang, with Frelick and Wiemer looming). Neither Pirates nor the Reds are threats in the NL Central, with both at differing stages of their rebuilding processes. The Cubs are improved but still building up and may be another year from truly reemerging. They could beat expectations and find themselves in the race, but right now, the division again looks like a battle between Milwaukee and St. Louis.
The Brewers have a good shot at competing, and if they get to the postseason, the presence of Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta and Williams is so formidable that they can’t be counted out. But if things are more borderline this summer or they’re totally out of it, Burnes, Woodruff and Adames could become some of the most fascinating (and expensive) names on the market.
One way or another, we’re nearing the end of this group’s run together, but the Brewers have proven that they’re willing to make difficult trades in the name of establishing a new core, and they’ve managed to be competitive more often than not under the Stearns/Arnold regime. We’ll see if that changes with Stearns stepping to the side.
How would you grade the Brewers’ offseason?
Would have given it a C, but that Contreras trade is too good not give them a B.
Same reasoning here, but it was a C instead of a D.
This season is the last dance with by far the best rotation in team history. Perhaps Attanasio and the Brewers truly are cash-strapped, but to hold back anything in terms team improvement (and morale) is utterly asinine. We’ll see what happens.
As far as signings, I’m not sure who would have been ideal to go after. Idealy they need a middle of the order hitter but that would have cost 7/200+ to get someone like that, which doesn’t make sense for a team in a small contention window. They have some solid bounce back candidates in Winker/Anderson, and are a core of prospects that are becoming ML ready. Plus none of the trades were terrible, they now have some solid depth across the board. Would have liked a signing or traded for more RP. That to me gets a C, as a core strategy, not D.
With that pitching staff and the weak NL Central, it’s not far fetched to see a wild card birth, possibly winning the division. I do think you’ll see a resurgence from a few of their players with the shift gone. (Yelich, tellez).
It’s a last hurrah push for the brewers before the upcoming fire sale of woodruff and more importantly Burnes. If they fail this year, you might see one or both gone by AS break. Pissing off Burnes was possibly the stupidest move I have seen in a long time. Especially over the small amount difference in arb.
The weak NL central won’t help them now with the balanced schedule. Brewers improved slightly on offense not sure they’re better than St. Louis. Probably fighting for a Wildcard with the Phillies and Padres again.
Been plenty of years on paper StL was supposed to win the central and then either injuries or just weren’t as advertised, they didn’t. I see the central wide open. No team is really that impressive in it.
Weren’t the Brewers supposed to win the division last year?
“Pissing off Burnes was possibly the stupidest move I have seen in a long time.”
afsooner02;
That is on Burnes, not the team – and that’s the problem…..
The Brewers point-blank quit in 2022. OK, there was a lull when Hader was traded. But he wasn’t closing out games, was going to be unaffordable after the 2023 season, so they got something for him with a year-and-a-half remining on his contract. Nothing odd about that. But that lull stayed with them through September, when for weeks they were losing games they should have won. I watched – did you? They missed the playoffs by one game.
Like Burnes the majority of the players on that team had no heart. When a team gets like that it’s best to get rid of the negativity and defeatist attitude. The Brewers FO dumped some guys this past offseason, but they need to dump more because a team can’t win with that mentality.
They have 4-5 quality young OF’s. Their coaching staff is exceptional working with Catchers. Contreras may well anchor the position for the next 4-5 years…and teams are built around their Catchers (Indirectly he was a part of the return from the Hader trade, and will be a star years after Hader fades). Adames is not only a very good SS, he’s a true team leader (his being injured the 2nd half of 2022 is a part of the reason for the choke). Extend him. So they’re set at OF, C and SS. They have a nice group of young veteran pitchers. If Woodruff can show the leadership of an ace, then pay the bucks and extend him. If he has Burnes Entitlement Disease then get some young pitching and infield prospects for him. I’d suggest they couple Yelich with Burnes and trade them off for a couple of quality prospects. Sure, they could get more just trading Burnes, but Yelich’s contract is going to be a negative through 2028. That money can be spent elsewhere. With the young OF’s Yelich will only eat into their playing time.
Making those moves throughout 2023 the Brewers can still compete, but going into 2024 they’ll have a very good young team along with a payroll that’s in line with their small market status. That will leave them with a positive attitude, hungry young players with lots of upside, the money to pay their young veterans,, and enough to make a nice free agent (or two) signing.
Agree with much of that. I just think the Yelich contract isn’t nearly as bad as fans make it out to be. He’s talented. Injuries have hampered him, but I think he’s got some real quality seasons left in him. Not worried about him. Woody seems to be a guy that feels like a long-term Brewer. Burnes is great, but he’s looking to get crazy money. Will be a fun season, let’s get er going!
Yup, have the mlb subscription and watched almost all of them. Did they “quit” as you suggest? Ehhh…the team just wasn’t that good, especially the hitters. Most seem to think that they folded once Hader was traded. It’s possible. He was going to be traded anyway in the off season, the brewers just did it a half season early. I wasn’t a huge fan of the returns but it is what it is. I do feel management felt like the team wasn’t going to make much of a postseason run if they DID make the playoffs last year and an offer on Hader came up they liked so they parted with him.
And disagree it’s not on Burnes at all. He’s trying to get as much $ as possible and the team is trying to pay as little as possible. He is WOEFULLY underpaid as a top 3 Cy young winning pitcher in the NL (possibly MLB) so the fact this went to arbitration and the brewers insulted him just to save 7.4 hundred grand was stupid. I get he wasn’t going to resign anyway as he is going to likely get a 9 figure salary once he hits the market and the brewers can’t afford that. This guy is the greatest pitcher the Milwaukee Brewers has ever had (not counting braves) and I just didn’t see the point of burning the bridge over 700k. If you gotta go to arb, then so be it, but apparently they said some really garbage stuff in that hearing that I didn’t agree with and made the brewers seem petty.
To be fair, the Brewers and Burnes were only $740K apart on the salaries they submitted to the MLB. Because the Brewers are know to have an analytically driven front office, and the arbitrator rules in their favor, I would conclude the team felt they were offering Burnes a fair arbitration salary. I agree the difference in asking prices was minimal but we don’t know if one or both sides weren’t willing to budge off their asking price.
Regardless, I don’t see any reason why the Brewers should have felt obligated to meet Burnes asking price since the difference could mean the difference in signing someone like Voit, Naquin or Justin Wilson.
Again when you’re a small market team ever little bit helps. As fans it’s easy for us to say, “it’s only $740K” but in reality that would be life changing amount of money to most of us.
To put this in perspective, this would’ve increased Burnes salary by 7.3%would’ve been 9
To be fair, the Brewers and Burnes were only $740K apart on the salaries they submitted to the MLB. Because the Brewers are know to have an analytically driven front office, and the arbitrator rules in their favor, I would conclude the team felt they were offering Burnes a fair arbitration salary. I agree the difference in asking prices was minimal but we don’t know if one or both sides weren’t willing to budge off their asking price.
Regardless, I don’t see any reason why the Brewers should have felt obligated to meet Burnes asking price since the difference could mean the difference in signing someone like Voit, Naquin or Justin Wilson.
Again when you’re a small market team ever little bit helps. As fans it’s easy for us to say, “it’s only $740K” but in reality that would be life changing amount of money to most of us.
To put this in perspective, this would’ve increased Burnes salary by 7.3% where the additional $740K would be a 1000% raise for someone earning a salary of $74K. So we are definitely not talking about chump change and billionaire owners didn’t become billionaires by giving away $740K to avoid hurting an employee’s feelings.
Milwaukee’s pitching will get them to between 81-85 wins. If they can get bounce back years from Winker-Anderson-Voit, they could well be in the 88-92 win range. The team will still strongly contend, and then you never know. Look at the 2022 Phillies. It pays to get hit at the end of the season.
Philly’s lineup was loaded with talent. Even if Milwaukee’s bats get hot they are not in the same realm as PHI.
The Brewers were 10th in baseball in runs scored last year and only scored 22 runs fewer than the Phillies. Not like they were miles better than the Brewers last year.
They played a division heavy schedule in the worst division in baseball last year. Phillies played in toughest division with the best pitching.
C+
C. Would be worse but they basically stole Contreras. The rest? Yikes!
Solid 87 win team.
Even with balanced scheduling, winning the division is a playoff berth. If the Cards fall on their beak the Crew are a shoe-in. It would be very different in the other NL divisions.
Health provided, Anderson and Winker look like potential steals. Milwaukee did a nice job improving overall depth, which gives them a shot at the NL central.
The team loses half a grade for a guaranteeing Burnes’ departure. It’s pretty easy to see why Stearns left when Attanasio’s refusal to meaningfully raise payroll results in the same cost cutting rituals year after year. Trading Harder in the midst of a playoff chase was a major blow to clubhouse morale
At this point – u really think burned is as mad as he was ? Or at this point do u think he’s regretting venting through the media ?
He was always gone. He’s never been in their long term plans and I’d say he feels more foolish today at himself than angry at brewers
Burnes departure was already guaranteed. There was zero chance he’d sign a below marker extension.
Anyone getting the chance to watch spring training games closely? Who is turning heads/strong performances/look like garbage to this point? From the few I’ve seen, the rotation looks ok, Heuer isn’t sharp yet – might be working on some things, Mitchell and Frelick look good, Anderson had some nice approaches. Any word on how the catchers are doing with the staff?
you guys are nuts. we have a good team. the young guys remind me of 2008. and “the presence of Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta and Williams is so formidable that they can’t be counted out.” 94 wins. i’ll wager a case of high life. anyone near sheboygan can take me up on that in october.
I’d take 94. Somewhere in the 88-94 range seems probable. As always, it depends on injuries, but with the starting staff and run-prevention based philosophy, that should be enough to get into the playoffs. The Cards are so loaded offensively that won’t make it easy on us.
But do the Cardinals have the pitching? I don’t see a starting pitcher in their rotation that would be more than the fifth starter on the Brewers.. Jack Flaherty might be number four, if he could stay healthy (big if).
“…the favorite for to succeed Wong at second base…”
Um, what? Proofread your work, please.
To that end, you can’t just say “unpopular as the Hader trade has been,” it has to be “AS unpopular as the Hader trade has been.” Proper English is not optional just because you want it to be, Steve.
Also, you can start a sentence with the word meanwhile. It is permissible. And it works way better at the front of the sentence than in the middle.
Ben, Ben, Ben….
Being a dickbag isn’t optional for you, is it?
Ah, now you’re a stalker too! You’re obsessed with me pdxbrewcrew, admit it. Constantly updating these articles to come find my comments.
I’m commenting on the ONE article where you show what a pile of garbage you are. And I only know when you post when the notification bell shows you commented. Although, a dickbag like you probably corrects grammar on every article they read. You can’t help. You’re a dickbag, so you can’t control being a dickbag.
Cardinals offense looks to be fantastic, but the pitching mediocre. Brewers pitching looks to be fantastic, but the offense mediocre. Bullpen edge goes to Brewers, but St. Louis defense is much better. Counsell has to get the nod over Marmol but Cardinals ability and willingness to spend exceeds Milwaukee. Brewers front office has shown a true knack for acquiring undervalued players and making them work; Cardinals player development pipeline vastly superior to Milwaukee.
I find it fascinating both team’s strengths are so different, but the end result is they’re both good ballclubs.
Spot on, both teams have the edge to win the NL Central, I’d give St. Louis a slight edge only because they have a Arrenado and Goldschmidt manning the corners.
First, Corbin Burnes is a professional baseball player. That means he will let his agent handle his complaints about the Brewers.
Second the Brewers should have spent some money on their bullpen. It will be a weakness all year. There is very little depth on hand if there are injuries.
I like the Brewers for 86 wins and just missing the playoffs.
Crazy I missed this.
Crazier to think Ruiz not only brought back Contreras but 2 other players! I figured it was only 1.
This team has something special brewing. It is a must watch season on Jackson Chourio who may change the dynamic of Brewers offense come September. Sal Frelick all he does is hit. WBC included. Complete overlook on what he’ll add to team offensively. Winker is this season’s likely failure on upside much like Cutch, Bradley, Cain additions during this stretch. He’s probably #1 Brewer to see traded at or before deadline to push Yelich in DH full time and allow these OFs to play far better defensively.
Brewers win division easily if their trio Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta all achieve over 160IP this year. Think Houser finds his calling as a RP that secures it as better than most vs being a question. This is the sleeper team to win it all division and World Series.