Welcome to the final WEEK before opening day! I hope you have been enjoying spring training as much as I have. Baseball is close! I am overjoyed! At the beginning of March, the official Ball Boy Blog previews of all 30 teams began. The previews feature all the Free Agent signings, trades, NRI, bold predictions, and some cool fun facts at the end! We are starting at the top of the 2020 ranks and working our way down from best to worst! Enjoy!
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NL Team: Milwaukee Brewers
Last Year Record: 29-31 and finished 4th in the NL Central and was the 8th place team in the NL, went on to lose in the WC round.
Record x2.7: 78.3- 83.7
Vegas Projected: Vegas has the Brew-Crew projected to finish around .500 with 82.5 wins. I am in line with Vegas on this as I have them finishing an even .500 at 81-81, which would waste yet another year of Yelich.
Impact Departures:
LHP Alex Claudio(non-tendered), OF Ben Gamel(non-tendered), OF Jace Peterson(non-tendered), INF Jedd Gyorko, INF Eric Sogard, OF Ryan Braun,
Key Arrivals
Free Agent Signings:
-OF Jackie Bradley Jr to a 2yr $24mil that contains a player option for $11mil in 2022. Bradley is expected to take over RF duties with Cain in CF and Yelich in LF. Since Bradley debut in 2013, he owns a .239/.321/.412 slash and is an excellent baserunner, and outstanding fielder with 53DRS, 36.5UZR over 7400inn played.
-Re-signed LHP Brett Anderson to a 1yr, $2.5mil deal. The 33yo threw 176IP of 3.89ERA ball with the A's in 2019. With the Brewers in 2020, he made ten starts with a 4.21ERA/4.40SIERA with a 57.7% groundball rate over 47IP.
2B Kolten Wong- Over the past four seasons, he owns a .273/.356/.398 slash with 43SB. He is also a 2x Gold Glove winner and leads the position with 41DRS over the past three seasons.
INF Daniel Robertson- His ability to plat 2B, 3B, SS, 1B, and both corner OF spots will help him remain a backup INF option.
Traded in:
-OF Derek Fisher- He hasn't had much success between the Astros and Jays since 2019. He posted a 1.94/.286/.376 line with 17HR in 458PA over the last two seasons.
Claims:
INF Tim Lopes- The 26yo has played both LF and RF in his MLB career with the Mariners. But, Lopes is a 2B/SS/3B by nature. The claim is almost perfect for Brewers who need a vet option in front of the young IF. Lopes owns a .252/.315/.362 slash over 279PA at the MLB level.
KEY NRI:
INF Travis Shaw- The 30yo shit .157/.281/.270 with the Brewers in 2019 over 270PA. In 2020 he hit .239/.306/.411 with 6HR over 180PA with the Blue Jays. He will look to duplicate his 2017-18 seasons with the Brewers in which he hit .258/.347/.497 with 63HR in 1193PA.
RHRP Brad Boxburger- After signing minors deal with the Marlins last season, he pitched to a 3.00ERA over 18IP with 3.1IP of scoreless ball in the playoffs.
RHP Jordan Zimmerman- The now 35yo was only able to manage 5.2IP in 2020 in the final year of the 5yr deal with the Tigers. In his tenure with the Tigers, he finished with a 5.63ERA over 514.1IP.
LHP Blaine Hardy- 289.2IP at the MLB level owns a 3.73ERA with most of those innings spent as a reliever.
3B Zach Green- The 26yo, he debuted for the Giants in 2020 but only had 2H over 16PA. In 2019 at AAA, he posted 25HR with a slash of .282/.380/.659 on 297PA.
UTL Pablo Reyes- Reyes owns a career .278/.351/.421 slash over 2587PA at the MiLB level in his career. He has had dismal results in the MLB with a .203/.274/.322 slash in 157PA in 2019 and then was hit with an 80-game PED suspension in 2020.
UTL Jace Peterson- Peterson can play 2B, 3B, 1B, and both corner OF positions. He carries a .277/.317/.331 slash in 1700PA.
NRI:
1B/OF Dustin Peterson, RHP Luis Perdomo, LHRP Hoby Milner, OF Dylan Cozens, LHP Clayton Andrews, RHP Aaron Ashby RHP Zack Brown, RHP Thomas Jankins, RHP Miguel Sanchez, LHP Ethan Small, LHP Quintin Torres-Costa, C Payton Herry, INF Brice Turang, OF Tristen Lutz, OF Garrett Mitchell
Tendered Contracts-
C Luke Maile- Maile did not play in 2020 after fracturing his right index finger and had surgery to repair the injury in July. In 657PA, he has a .198/.252/.304, 10HR. C Omar Narvaez, C Manny Pina, SS Orlando Arcia, SP Brandon Woodruff, LHP Josh Hader
Selected Contracts:
C Mario Feliciano(No.4), RHP Alec Bettinger(No. 24 in 169.1IP at AA he holds a 3.44ERA/3.13FIP), RHP Dylan File(No. 25 in 80.2IP at AA he holds a 2.79ERA/3.04FIP). All three rank among the top 30 prospects in the organization.
Returning from IL:
OF Lorenzo Cain(restricted list)
Activated: OF Corey Ray, RHP JP Feyereisen, RHP Phile Bickford, RHP Bobby Wahl, OF Billy McKinney, LHP Eric Lauer, C Manny Pina, LHP Brett Anderson, LHP Angel Perdomo, RHP Corbin Burnes, RHP Devin Williams, 2B Mark Mathias
Prospect Watch
-The Rookie I am watching is OF Corey Ray. Ray made it to the AAA level in 2019. In that time at AAA, he played in 58G, made 207AB with a .188/.261/.329 slash. After spending much of 2020 in the player pool at the alternate site. We should get an extended look in spring.
-As of 3/14, the Brewers option OF Corey Ray, P Dylan File, P Alec Bettinger, C Mario Feliciano
Fantasy Impact Players
Pitchers- Josh Hader, Devin Williams. I would not target anyone else on the Brewers unless they are hot and pitching extremely well.
Position- C Omar Narvaez, 2B Kolten Wong, OF Christian Yelich, OF Jackie Bradley Jr.
Upcoming 2022 Free Agents:
-JBJ carried a $9.5mil player option. Depending on the season, he could easily pick it up. He is a Boras client, however.
-Avisail Garcia carries a $12mil club option.
-Brett Anderson, Manny Pina, Travis Shaw, and Jordan Zimmerman will be free agents if they each make the team.
Storylines to follow
-You guys see how well the Brewers have been swinging it in spring. Not only in Daniel Vogelbach look like he is training with Jose Conseco. But Garrett Mitchell, Christian Yelich are all hitting the ball exceptionally well.
-I feel we will see a good INF from the Brewers in 2021 that may turn many heads. I can see both Keston Huira and Luis Urias coming into their own in 2021. Both had a good season in 2020, and with the Brewers just barely sneaking into the Playoffs in 2020. The team needs every bit of potential of these two to surface this season.
-I got my eye on two NRI in Brewers camp. The first is RHP Jordan Zimmerman, who is celebrating a homecoming as the Brewers are his hometown team. The 35yo was only able to manage 5.2IP in 2020, and in his five seasons with the Tigers, he only threw 514.1IP with a 5.63ERA. The other guy I got my eye on is INF Travis Shaw. Coming off a .239/.306/.411 over 180PA with the Jay's, shaw will look to get back to his production with the team in 2017-18 when he hit .258/.347/.497, 63HR, and 1193PA.
Bold Predictions
I will predict Yelich rallies the Crew to the playoffs, and they make a run at it. The NL Central could be winnable because of the opening injuries to the Cardinals.
-Believe it or not, Christian Yelich is who I am calling for a rebound. 2020 was awful for Yelich, who was in the first season of his 9yr deal. He produced a career-low WAR of 0.5, .205BA, .356OBP. The expectations were high for Yelich because of his 2018 MVP and 2019 2nd place finish. Yelich will win another MVP, and with a strong rebound in 2021, he will be right back up among the best in the MLB.
Fact Check:
Miller Park is the only place you'll find Secret Stadium Sauce. Reportedly created at County Stadium in the 1970's1970's, this delicious secret sauce was thought up out of necessity when the vendor ran short on ketchup and had to improvise with other ingredients on-hand. The barbeque-ketchup concoction has been Brewer's fan-favorite ever since.
For fans around during the seventh inning stretch, get ready to sing. Brewers fans can expect to sing "The Beer Barrel Polka" along with a round of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Thanks for reading today, I am so grateful for your time reading, and I hope you enjoyed reviewing and previewing the Brew-Crews 2021. I also want to thank my partners over at Repp Sports for RAZE Energy. Thanks to this clean and sufficient energy, I can have the intense focus to deliver content to you guys consistently. Click here to save 15% right now with the code "BALL BOY" at check out.