Fans of the Milwaukee Brewers have an awful lot to be thankful for this week. The thrilling September run in 2008. The "Kuenn's Kuties" of 1982. The ... uh, I'm sure there's more.
There has to be, right? Maybe there isn't. In fact, for all their gustatory charm -- the beery home park, the anthropomorphic tailgate meats that scamper around it mid-game -- the Brewers are quite the sad-sack franchise.
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| Corey Hart is one trade chip the Brewers could cash in. (Getty Images) |
In short, it's going to take some roster black magic to Save This Franchise!™©® -- and wouldn't you know it, I've got my wand and a book of incantations handy. Let's do this thing.
Overview: Anyone who didn't foresee the Brewers' backslide in 2009 wasn't paying attention. Faced with the prospect of replacing C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets, two of the National League's best starters in 2008, GM Doug Melvin signed straight-thrower Braden Looper and called it an afternoon. From that moment on, the team didn't have a shot, even in the feeble NL Central.
To make matters worse, the Brewers have engineered two moves of dubious worth since the 2009 season ended. Trevor Hoffman is a righteous dude and the Michael Jordan of loving, supportive teammates, but he's still a 42-year-old with a single effective pitch. Committing $7.5 million to him at a time when better relievers can be had for less reeks of prioritizing character over ability. Say, you know who else is a great guy? Brad Ausmus. I bet he's available!
As for the trade in which the Brewers parted with infield mainstay J.J. Hardy for Carlos Gomez, I wonder if the Brewers could've netted a stronger return if they'd waited longer. Given more time to flesh out their budgets and whatnot, perhaps another team might've been willing to part with something more than a speedy defensive ace psychologically incapable of accepting a walk.
Assets: Yovani Gallardo is an ace-ace, not an ace-by-default. Team defense should be reasonably decent, even with Rickie Weeks turning the double play as if hog-tied. No fewer than six of the eight projected regulars are bound to below-market-value contracts. It has been said that Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder can hit a little.
Liabilities: If the season were to start today -- and oh, that it would! -- the Brewers would trot out a dented-hubcap rotation, populated by mediocrities (Dave Bush) and the instruction-retardant (Manny Parra). The bullpen put up great numbers in 2009, but would you stake a brat on the proposition that Coffey/Stetter/DiFelice will again prove one of baseball's better late-game trios? Nope.
The wild card here is the addition to the coaching staff of former A's and Mets pitching guru Rick Peterson, who brings with him all sorts of wacky ideas about biomechanics and time travel. He'll have the Brewers staff in tune with its collective ch'i, that's for sure.
Non-helpful and semi-realistic suggestions:
1. Reorient the pitching search before it's too late. In most quarters, it's taken as a given that the Brewers will sign Mark Mulder and Jarrod Washburn to fill the rotation chasm. If that's the case, the Brewers might as well check in on Jon Lieber and Rodrigo Lopez as well, just to see if they can retroactively win the 2005 NL Central.
Washburn won't be effective unless he pitches in a ocean-vast ballpark canvassed by three rangy outfielders; Mulder is Mike Hampton with better PR. As such, neither is likely to outpitch the less-heralded options on the market.
For much the same reason I like Carl Pavano for every other NL team with a vacancy sign in the window -- he throws strikes and his numbers will look shinier in the no-DH sphere -- I like him for the Brewers. If the team chooses to go the lefty route, how about a return engagement for Doug Davis? He's been consistently, uh, consistent while pitching in a teensy little ballpark the past three seasons, and won't demand the dollars/years that Randy Wolf or Washburn will.
Meanwhile, just think of how many tickets the Brewers might sell after announcing the Pavano/Davis signings. Heck, the team might have to move its home games to Lambeau Field. The best moves are always, always, always the sexiest ones.
2. Cash in your trade chips. The Brewers have two: Corey Hart, coming off a down season but still due a nice raise in arbitration, and Mat Gamel, who disappointed in his first big-league season. Still, both would be coveted if put up for sale, and there are obvious trading partners.
Hart would be a nice short-term solution in Atlanta, which could offer Derek Lowe and some cash to offset the three years left on his deal. Gamel, whose calamitous throws from third to first make me wonder if he has webbed fingers, could stick as a DH in Oakland (with a B-grade reliever coming back to Milwaukee) or Baltimore (for a prospect like Jake Arrieta?).
3. Make a plan for Prince. The Brewers can forestall the inevitable if they want, but the bottom line is this: They won't be able to afford the guy once he's up for a new contract. By the time Scott Boras has finished inserting double-reverse out clauses and NLDS MVP bonuses into Fielder's next deal, it'll amount to at least 20 percent of the Brewers' payroll. You can't tie up that much cash in a corner man.
Hence it's time to start laying the groundwork for a Fielder deal, whether you plan to complete it tomorrow or on July 31. There was chatter last offseason that the Giants were willing to deal Matt Cain straight up for him, which may have changed (if the Giants see Pablo Sandoval as their first baseman of the future) or may not (if the Giants decide they can't bear the eventual price of keeping the Lincecum/Cain duo intact). Either way, it doesn't hurt to ask.
The Brewers also oughta put in a call to Boston, which has the young, cheap arms (Clay Buchholz et al) that the Brewers would need to make a Fielder deal feasible. If they can make a trade along those lines, they can take the current-year savings and get in on the John Lackey bidding. Filling first base won't be tough in this saturated market, either. Carlos Delgado, Adam LaRoche, etc.
Unrelated to the to-deal-or-not-to-deal discussion: Raise your hand if you think Prince Fielder will age well. Yeah. Me neither.
4. Leave well enough alone: Nothing in Casey McGehee's track record suggests that he's capable of sustaining his 2009 success. Nothing about a Mike Rivera/George Kottaras platoon excites the imagination or the senses.
Who cares? Both options are economically appealing, plus any attempt to upgrade could create headaches down the road -- like in July, when talented catching prospect Jonathan Lucroy might be ready. Maybe you bring in a utility type (Adam Kennedy?) to give McGehee a safety net, but that's as much of an investment as you make.
Odds of playing meaningful games next September: 5 to 1, but that's more a commentary on the NL Central than on the Brewers themselves. The Cardinals lack depth behind their superduperstars, the Cubs appear to be paralyzed organizationally, the Astros are dumb, the Reds are poor and the Pirates aren't trying.
If the Brewers achieve anything approaching stability in their starting rotation, they could start strong -- and if they do, Melvin has proved he'll pull the trigger on the all-in deal that puts them over the hump. There are worse medium-shot bets you could make.
Greg Bromberg 
