What Are They Missing?
Ah Brewer Fans… Every year it seems like the collection of people at or around Miller Park get more intoxicated and pessimistic. As a fan and fellow onlooker, I can’t help but wonder …. Why? When David Sterns, the bright eyed 30 years old, was brought into the organization to kick start the rebuild 3 short years ago, what did you expect? Personally, I’d astounded at the progress this team has made in that short amount of time and can’t wait to turn my TV on at night to watch! As it would seem…. I’m in the minority. Between the jeers toward Craig Counsell’s handling of the bullpen (best pen in baseball), Jonathan Villar making an error (positive dWAR), wanting to DFA Ryan Braun (leader in the club house), and many other irrational, hate things, I can’t understand why they’re so unhappy. Fans said, “They can’t beat teams over .500!” They’ve done that. They said they can’t beat division rivals! Fresh off a series win vs the Cubs. So here’s the million (or 20 million) dollar question.... What is it going to take to get Brewer fans optimistic or even realistic about this team?
First and foremost, I think it’s going to take the fans to view it as the Brewers are going “all in.” This is the term you will hear every casual fan say, that makes every die hard fan cringe. If we’ve learned anything from the Giants, going “all in” doesn’t have to be mortgaging the entire farm for a player or 2. At this point, it would mean adding a piece or two to shore up some potential holes for the foreseeable future.
So what are those pieces that are missing right now? In my opinion, I think this Brewers team doesn’t NEED to add anyone. If I was making a wish list though, I’d have to say you really look up the center of the diamond. Catcher and Shortstop have been a fairly ugly sinkhole offensively for the majority of the season. Defensively, Pina and Arcia have been as billed, but they could definitely improve marginally without mortgaging the farm. Here are some options I see at the positions that could be available.
SS – Premier – Machado (Not going to happen so stop asking)
SS – Mid-Tier – Jurickson Profar
SS – Bargain Bin – N/A (Brewers have bargain bin options)
C – Premier – Salvador Perez, J.T. Realmuto
C – Mid-Tier – Wilson Ramos
C – Bargain Bin – A.J. Ellis
Realistically, the only player I see on this list that I think the Brewers would be interested in would be Ellis. Solid with the glove, veteran in the clubhouse, and has been swinging the bat well. It also helps that he comes at an absolute bargain. Now onto the flashier and most loudly called for upgrade by fans…. The illusive starting pitcher.
Let me start this section by saying the Brewers starting pitching has been excellent compared to what many thought it would be prior to the season. I won’t bore you (educate you) on exactly how good they’ve been, but to list a few stats, they’re 13th in ERA, and 14th in WHIP. Coupled with the best bullpen in baseball, I’d say that’s a solid one, two punch. That being said, if the Brewers get into a situation where they are the Wild Card team, do they have that guy that trots out there that you can say “he’s shutting them down.” With extreme confidence, maybe not. Here are some options that might be intriguing on the trade market right now.
SP – Premier – Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Chris Archer, Michael Fulmer
SP – Mid-tier – J.A. Happ, Cole Hamels, Dylan Bundy, Tyson Ross
SP – Bargain Bin – Bartolo Colon, Doug Fister, Dan Straily
Obviously fans want the Brewers to not dip their toe in the pond, but cannonball with a Premier trade. Is that really the best option? With Nelson coming back, how do you feel about this rotation… Chacin, Anderson, Nelson, Guerra? Then fast forward a month or so and you have Davies, Miley and maybe Burnes/Peralta in the mix. I’m not opposed to making a deal for an ace, but at the right price. Seeing the potential proposal of Burnes, Erceg, Peralta and Henry for Syndergaard was intriguing to say the least.
So what will the Crew do between now and the deadline? If I were a betting man, I wouldn’t expect the big splash fans are clamoring for. Sorry, trying to be realistic. Stearns is focused on building a perennial contender and you don’t do that by trading away your top prospects year in and year out for the flavor of the month. In the meantime, try to watch, cheer, and think! 162 is a lot of games….