The Brewers...are they good?

For the past 15 years, the answer to this question was a easy...a definitive NO. But after a decade and a half of watching dreadful baseball, we are lucky to be in a position to have this debate.

The starting 8 position players are a result of successful scouting and player development. In fact, on Opening Day 2008, the only starter that didn't come up through the Brewers farm system was catcher Jason Kendall. The Brewers have 3 "stud" players, and a mix of young talent that has always been expected to have great potential.

Why they are good?

Reigning rookie of the year OF Ryan Braun smashed almost every offensive rookie record in 2007. People in Milwaukee haven't yet realized how special he is. To have that much power as a rookie is unheard of (outside of Mark McGuire.) Locking him up long term is truly a coup for the Brewers organization.
Prince Fielder is the other stud clubber in the Brewers lineup. In 2007, he became the youngest ever to hit 50 home runs. Unlike his dad, Prince can hit for a good average too.
Corey Hart is the jack of all trades for this squad. He can hit for average, power, steal bases, and play great defense. he is undoubtedly one of the most underrated players in baseball right now.
Rickie Weeks is a 2nd baseman with limitless potential. If you talk to other players on the team, they will all say that he has the most skills and ability on the roster.
JJ Hardy is coming off an all star appearance in 2007. Although his numbers have dipped, he has provided reliable defense and occasional power. He would be better suited to cut down on the strikeouts, but overall gives solid offensive numbers for a defensive position.

The Brewers boast one of the 3-4 most powerful lineups in all of baseball. Their ability to hit the long ball has spurred them to their current stretch of great baseball. If they develop a bit more consistency driving people in without the long ball, look for their offense to continue to soar in the 2nd half of the season.
Why they might not be good?

Critics are quick to point out some of the obvious flaws on this Brewers squad.

1. Pitching. Ace Ben Sheets is one of the best 10 pitchers in the game WHEN HE IS HEALTHY. The problem has been keeping him on the mound. He has missed significant time 4 years in a row, but has always been an ace when he's on the mound. Yovani Gallardo is a can't miss pitching prospect who proved his mettle at the end of 2007. Unfortunately a couple of fluke injuries will shelf him for the rest of the year, but he projects as a #1 or #2 starter going forward. He will play a key role in the Brewers Future.
After this the pitching issue becomes muddled. Manny Parra has electric stuff and the ability to be a front of the rotation starter, but has yet to put it all together on a consistent basis. The staff surprise this year is Seth McClung, who was the last pitcher to make the rotation and was expected to be a mop-up guy. However, because of injuries and ineffectiveness, he has prospered so far in the rotation.
The bullpen is loaded with veterans. Eric Gagne appears to be a giant mistake, but Solomon Torres, Brian shouse, and others have pitched effectively. The key will be to limit their workload, as the bullpen broke down during the stretch run in 2007.

2. Statistic Analysis. The Brewers currently have only a +2 run differential. This means that they have 5-6 more wins then the statistics say they should have. Consistency has been an issue and will probably continue to be one for this young team.

3. Strikeouts. The forbidden word for a good team. It is no secret that the Brewers have been EXTREMELY strikeout prone for the past decade. This is a disturbing trend, especially on this years team. The strikeout is an unproductive out. History tells us that strikeout prone teams are destined to eventually fail. The Brewers may need to retool their lineup over the next 2-3 years to add a few players who are more high average/contact hitters in order to get some balance.


In conclusion, you can decide for yourself if you think the Brewers are legitimate contenders. I am open to any and all talk about the Brewers. Hopefully we can get a good discussion going.

And as always...Go CREW!

I wish i had the same confidence in Weeks and Hardy. i think they both bring a good glove to the team but when it comes down to it, you need to hit the ball come october.

Now i realize the crew haven't seen october since 82 but if we can wait this long for a playoff appearance, i don't want it to be a first round sweep at the hands of the Phillies or Mets (doubtful at this point but they are both talented).

I can't say enough about prince, he has an inside out swing when he needs to, and power to make pitchers fear him. He needs to be a better situational hitter and realize that when they are down by two, a solo homerun is not always the best thing with no outs in the ninth. Fielder needs to mature and no the situation. With his great swing he should always be batting around .310.

I think they have an excellent shot at the PO's this year, especially with the way Bush has been throwing.

Cubs best record at the moment. They just seem to keep winning when the Brew-crew does. It is going to come down to the wire just like last season, lets just hope that over 25 years of bending over and taking it from everyone else has angered the Brewers into returning the favor. If not it would be no surprise they seem to like that position

Stewie Griffin wrote:Cubs best record at the moment. They just seem to keep winning when the Brew-crew does. It is going to come down to the wire just like last season, lets just hope that over 25 years of bending over and taking it from everyone else has angered the Brewers into returning the favor. If not it would be no surprise they seem to like that position

Brewers have missed a few good opportunites this last week to close the gap. Look for them to be making a trade for some starting pitching within the next 3 weeks. It is entirely possible they will get CC Sabathia, the best pitcher available if he is made available.

Brewers are also mightily struggling to generate offense without the long ball. They need a solid average guy somewhere in the order that can get on base without hitting it out of the park.

every game i expect to see Weeks on the bench. Every game i check the box score and he is 1 for 4, 1 for 5 or he gives us the 0 for...

I'm sick of that sack of **** at the top of the order. Somebody needs to be able to hit 280 with a decent OBP. If that person isn't not on the roster...find one.

Corey Hart should be batting leadoff for now - that much is clear.

Rickie has shown that he can swing the bat (after his stint in the minors last season, for example), and to his credit he has raised his average 8 points this month. I wouldn't give up on him yet.

I'd like to see Hall go before the deadline since he wants out. Only problem is nobody is going to want to pay him for the productivity (or lack therof) he's given this year.

As for Sabathia, I'd rather we not go after him. Starting pitching, yeah, but if we break the bank we won't be able to pay Sheets. Granted it's only a matter of time before Sheets is gone too, but I'd rather we go for a solid #2 in the rotation and not pay the money for another ace.

Oh, not to mention the prospects we'll have to give up for a Sabathia deal. Considering we've drafted guys like Braun, Prince, Hart, Gallardo...I wouldn't want to see another one of them get away.

your last point was the exact reason i'm hesitant to see them go after a big name player. Sabathia might be what it takes, but i doubt it. As Datrian mentioned before, the crew cannot manufacture a run for their lives. I'm tired of waiting on the long ball, at some point we need some guys hitting for average. Weeks is not the guy.

You said he raised his average 8 points in June, but when you go 1 for 4 and that raises your average substatially, we have a problem. He's a good baserunner and it is nice that he hustles all the time and likes to leg out doubles (when he's not striking out) but there has to be somebody better. Hell, i'd even take Kapler at the lead off, at least he can work a count.

Sheets is history. It is really too bad we won't get anything in return for him either. It's almost like we should have traded him last offseason...hard to do that when he is holding an 8 and 1 record.

That game last night against Arizona (6 runs allowed in the 9th to lose 6-5) was without a doubt the worst inning of baseball I have ever seen.

At least JJ is on a tear right now...that's about the only positive I can think of right now. I am still so disgusted I can hardly type...

i was watching that entire game at work. Me and the guy i work with were just lovin it when Hardy kept ripping the ball. Then all of a sudden work started to get really busy when te 9th started. It was like god was saying, "fuck you, you didn't work hard enough to enjoy a brewer win". That game sucked.

Yesterdays game was good (9-1 Sheets victory). Here's hoping we get Sabathia.

Yeah so the more I've been reading about this Sabathia trade, the more I'm thinking it's possible. However, I'm only going to say that if ONE of the following prospects gets packaged. There's too much potential to give up more than one.

- Mat Gamel - could eventually be our permanent solution to third base. Has a lot of errors this season so far, but that can be fixed. (.376/.439 OBP/31 doubles/15 HR/75 RBI)
- Alcides Escobar - supposedly far better at defense than Hardy, although he has 16 errors so I don't know about that (.327/7 HR/22 SB)
- Matt LaPorta - our top prospect and the main talk of these deals right now (.291/.405 OBP/20 HR/66 RBI)

We need to get sabathia!

It is like selling out to win now. I'm not sure if it is such a good idea to give up a career potential career brewer for a guy that may not even be used in Octoboer (if we don't make the playoffs.

i want sabathia, but only if he stays on for the next season as well.