MLB Offseason Preview - Milwaukee Brewers

Milwaukee Brewers

National League	Central Division
73-89	30.5 GB of Division Lead
Manager Craig Counsell	GM David Stearns
AAA Affiliate Colorado Springs Sky Sox	AA Affiliate Biloxi Shuckers

2016 Rankings

Hitting	AVG – 27th	OPS – 18th	Runs – 25th	HR – 15th	SB – 1st
Starting Pitching	ERA – 17th	K/9 – 28th	H/9 – 22nd
Relief Pitching	ERA – 12th	K/9 – 26th	H/9 – 20th

Top Hitters

POS.	Name	AVG	OBP	Slug	HR	RBIs	WAR	SB
LF	Ryan Braun	.305	.365	.538	30	91	4.4	16
SS	Jonathan Villar	.285	.369	.457	19	63	3.9	62
C	Jonathan Lucroy	.299	.359	.482	13	50	2.3	5

Top Pitchers

POS.	Name	Record	ERA	IP/Saves	K	BB	ERA+	WAR
SP	Junior Guerra	9-3	2.81	121.2 IP	100	43	152	4.0
RP	Tyler Thornburg	8-5	2.15	67.0 IP	90	25	199	2.5
SP	Zach Davies	11-7	3.97	163.1 IP	135	38	107	2.3

Trades that Occurred During Season

• Traded RP Will Smith to San Francisco for RP Phil Bickford and C Andrew Susac
• Traded C Jonathan Lucroy and RP Jeremy Jeffress to Texas for OF Lewis Brinson and SP Luis Ortiz

Impending Free Agents

• RP Chris Capuano
• RP Blaine Boyes
• RP Carlos Torres

Top Prospects

POS.	Name	Level
SS	Orlando Arcia	MLB
OF	Lewis Brinson	AAA
OF	Brett Phillips	AA
C	Jacob Nottingham	AA
SP	Luis Ortiz	AA
SP	Jorge Lopez	AA
OF	Trent Clark	A
SP	Josh Hader	AAA

Team MVP

• Ryan Braun - Braun was Milwaukee's best player in a lineup that had several quality hitters in it.  He had his best season since 2012, when he finished second in NL MVP voting.  He batted over .300 this season, struck out fewer than 100 times, and continued his career rebound after having a solid season last year.  I think that if the Brewers had been a better team this year Braun would be getting solid MVP consideration.  He also contributed in the field, amassing six defensive runs saved while playing left field.

Success/Failure

• Success - No one expected Milwaukee to win this season, so any on-field performance can't be held against the team as far as success or failure goes.  They were, however, more competitive than people expected them to be and they actually only finished 5.5 games behind the Pirates. One big area that the Brewers were successful in was in trades.  They were able to move catcher Jonathan Lucroy to Texas after a potential trade with the Indians for him fell through along with reliever Jeremy Jeffress and received outfielder Lewis Brinson and starter Luis Ortiz.  Both of these are high-level prospects and were both in the top 100 list of prospects with Brinson being closer to the majors.  They also traded reliever Will Smith to the Giants for pitcher Phil Bickford and catcher Andrew Susac.  Bickford was actually San Francisco's number one prospect and doesn't even crack the Brewers' top ten.  They now have baseball's number one farm system, according to MLB, following their trade deadline acquisitions.  Anytime a franchise makes the jump to number one in farm system rankings, it is always a successful season.

Offseason Outlook

• The Brewers still won't be a playoff team in 2017, but could get to near .500.  They will need better pitching, both in their rotation and in the bullpen, in order to make the next jump in success.  If they attempt to compete for a playoff spot next season, this pitching need will have to be filled through free agency.  Their pitching prospects probably won't be ready by Opening Day and so they will need help from outside.  I think pursuing this path would be a mistake, however, as there is virtually no way that the Brewers make the playoffs next season despite any moves they make via free agency.  The front office, along with their fanbase, need to just be patient and allow their prospects to continue to develop until they are ready to get called up. They could possibly have the best group of young core players outside of the Cubs, which bodes well for the future of the franchise.  Milwaukee's struggle will be the division that they are in with the Cubs, St Louis, and Pittsburgh all being division rivals.  Pittsburgh and Chicago will both be good for the future with the farm systems they still have and the Cardinals are the Cardinals.  I do, however, think that St Louis could be approaching a period of struggle which would present an opening for the Brewers to get into the playoffs.  I think that the future looks bright for the Brewers and the fact that they have a solid core already locked down at the major league level and have the best farm system in baseball is even better.  For next year, I think that the Brewers' front office just needs to add cheap talent on the fringes of the roster, including the back end of the rotation and some bullpen spots.

*All stats and information come from baseball-reference.com, fangraphs.com, espn.com, rosterresource.com, baseballamerica.com, and spotrac.com