Brewers Have Been Quiet So Far This Offseason
For a team that was in the playoff mix for much of the 2014 MLB season, the Milwaukee Brewers sure have been quiet this offseason. The Brewers have done very little sans acquiring Adam Lind from the Blue Jays for Marco Estrada and adding lefty pitcher Taylor Jungmann, shortstop Yadiel Rivera and righty pitcher David Goforth to the 40-man roster.
Beyond that, the Brewers have not been heard of in a major discussions with free agents. The reasoning behind the lack of deals could be just how confident the Brewers’ management is in the current set of players on the potential 2015 Opening Day roster. The starting pitching is definitely set with Wily Peralta (17-11, 3.53 ERA, 1.30 WHIP), Mike Fiers (6-5, 9.54 K/), Kyle Lohse (13 wins, 3.54 ERA) Yovani Gallardo (3.51 ERA) and Matt Garza (0.66 HR/9) leading the way.
Ryan Braun (19 home runs, 81 RBI in 134 games) said his thumb is healthy for the first time in quite some time. Braun obviously caught some grief after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs, but he still is a good player and the thought of him coming back completely healthy has to please Brewers’ fans.
The rest of the offense fills out with catcher Jonathan Lucroy breaking out with a career season of 69 extra base hit and an incredible .837 OBP. Lucroy is now in the talk of the best offensive catchers. Carlos Gomez is also a solid bat. However, in total the Brewers offense did not put up big numbers. The team finished right in the middle of nearly every important offensive category. While there is not a lot the team can do to improve on this, one would think management would want to address this.
Pirates fans are certainly not shedding any tears over the lack of offseason moves and are probably thinking the Brewers should be content looking up at the Bucs in the standings next season.