Milwaukee BrewersFrom the man who brought you the labor stoppage and World Series cancellation of 1994, the replacement player fiasco of 1995 and the realignment that will have to be realigned... your Milwaukee Brewers! Actually, Bud Selig is no longer responsible for just the Brewers anymore - he turned them over to his daughter. Instead, he's now running baseball. But at least the Brewers will be better off. Wendy Selig-Prieb is off to a reasonably good start with the firing of Sal Bando, who never seemed fully capable of handling the GM duties, and the hiring of ex-Braves exec Dean Taylor and new manger Davey Lopes. Both guys have gotten high marks from industry insiders, but it'll probably take them a few years for proof in the pudding.
The Brewers have been a pretty steady team over the past two decades. Unfortunately, the results have always been steadily mediocre. It seems like Jeff Cirillo, Dave Nilsson, John Jaha and Jose Valentin have been Brewers forever. Now, none of them are. Rookie Kevin Barker will take over at first base after a poor Jaha-transition year from Sean Berry. Barker has decent power and doesn't strike out excessively but does not draw a lot of walks. At this point, he looks like about major league average at first base as a run producer. Mark Loretta returns to the shortstop position, but this year it's all his. Last year the Brewers vacillated between him and the siren song of power and speed that is Jose Valentin. Eventually, they realized that song was only going to make them crash. Loretta has a good eye and gets on base at a respectable rate. But he doesn't have much power or speed so he's not really an offensive threat. This should have been Ron Belliard's year to blossom, as he has very good power and speed for a second baseman. Unfortunately, he suffered a thumb injury in spring training that will sideline him for a good part of the first part of the season. Even when he returns, his power will probably be artificially down, as thumb injuries rob hitters of power for up to a year. It makes sense when you consider how important your thumb is when gripping a bat. Lou Collier will probably see the majority of the time at second base while Belliard is out. The Brewers acquired ex-Brave/Cub Jose Hernandez to play third base, but if minor league free agent Jose Fernandez keeps hitting the way he is this spring, the Brewers might want to out him at third and use Hernandez where he's most valuable as a utility player. They could keep his power in the line-up everyday, while resting other starters periodically. The big drawback on Hernandez will be an ongoing theme for many of the Brewer's hitters - poor plate discipline. Fernandez has some power and some speed, but has lacked plate discipline in his minor league career. The outfield from last year returns with some new additions for the bench. Jeromy Burnitz is the Brewers most dangerous hitter and just missed out on 40 homers year in 1998 and 1999 due to injuries. His only weakness is his high strikeout totals. Geoff Jenkins is beginning to emerge as the power hitter scouts thought he'd be when he was one the top collegiate home run hitters at USC. Jenkins improved his on base significantly last year and is on track to supplant Burnitz as the Brew Crew's best hitter in the next couple of years. Marquis Grissom is back in center and as long as Lopes doesn't have him leadoff (career OBP of .327), he can offer at least league average production. Well-traveled Lyle Mouton will add some punch off the bench and likely fill the 4th outfielder role. Ex-Brave prospect Damon Hollins is having the best spring of the other outfield aspirants. Lopes has announced that his catching duties will be split by Tyler Houston and ex-Rockie Henry Blanco. Blanco is a disciplined hitter, but without much power. Houston has a modicum of power but very little discipline. Decisions, decisions. The Brewers also have a good defensive catching prospect in Robinson Cancel. But he won't help an offense that will be average at best. GRADE: 50
The Brewer defense will be... there. Kevin Barker is known more for his bat than is glove and both need work. Ron Belliard has an above average glove but could miss up to 2 months with his thumb injury. Mark Loretta is league average at short. Jose Hernandez has a below average range at short and a below average arm for third. He's best used as a utility player, but it remains to be seen if Jose Fernandez can hack it at third. The Brewers may have no choice but to go with Hernandez there. Geoff Jenkins has decent range, but a below average arm. However, he does a good job of compensating for his lack of arm strength with his accuracy and decent reads. Grissom was one of the better centerfielders in the majors a few years ago, and he still gets very good reads on flyballs. His range is on the decline, forcing him to play a little deeper than he used to and exposing his average arm strength. Burnitz is probably the best defensive player in Milwaukee, having both above an average range and arm. Henry Blanco, the better of the two catchers defensively, has a strong arm and a quick release. GRADE: 40
The starting pitching will again be the biggest source of trouble with the Brewers. Steve Woodard is the ace by default. He's a solid pitcher with good control, movement and feel for pitching. But as many scouts say: "radar guns hate him". So if he's not pinpoint, he gets hammered. The absence of Cirillo's glove will hurt a some as will being without Belliard for the first couple of months. The rest of the rotation will come from Juan Acevedo, Cal Eldred, Kyle Peterson, Jason Bere, Rafael Roque and newly acquired Jimmy Haynes and Jamey Wright. Eldred is coming back from yet another injury plagued season. Roque and Haynes are pretty ordinary. Peterson is probably out for the season after February arm surgery. Bere just seems to be hanging on. Acevedo and Wright have very good stuff, but poor mechanics and even worse control. If the Brewers braintrust can figure a way to get them on track, they would have a solid top 3 and a chance at a good rotation once prospects Nick Neugebauer and Ben Sheets arrive. Until then, it looks pretty bleak. GRADE: 35
On the surface, the bullpen looks like the weakest link on the Brewer's club. Closer Bob Wickman was one of the worst in the majors at allowing baserunners and had mediocre control at best. But he has two things going for him that don't show up in the stats: he's iron-willed and rubber-armed. So until the Brewer's find a more efficient candidate, he'll continue be the closer. The rest of the bullpen is shaping up to be reasonably solid. Reggie Harris looked like a strong contender for the closing role this winter until he came down with shoulder troubles. He should be back late in the season. The Brewers acquired occasional closer Curt Leskanic from the Rockies. He's always had the very good velocity and the nasty breaking pitch desired in a closer, but has worse control than Wickman. 24-year old Valerio DeLosSantos has been groomed for the closing role for several years. He spent most of last year out with elbow trouble, but looks healthy this spring. He should have the primary setup duties from the left side this year before challenging for the closing role next year. David Weathers will hold down the setup duties from the right side. Another arm to watch is journeyman left-hander Matt Williams, who was plucked out of the Yankees' organization in the rule 5 draft. He's having a great spring. GRADE: 55
The GM and manager are brand new to the Brewers and their positions. Both Dean Taylor and Davey Lopes are highly respected by their peers but that doesn't mean they won't have some bumps in the first few years. It should be fairly revealing how they deal with adversity this first year. GRADE: 50
(note: the Brewers acquired catcher Raul Casanova from the Rockies. The switch-hitting Casanova has good power and a developing grasp of the strikezone. He's a dark horse for the starting job and could be a valuable offensive producer if he plays full-time.)