The Milwaukee Brewers are a long way away from the team that once had a deep farm system. The Brewers didn’t win any championships with Prince Fielder and company, but they did bring this franchise back from the dead. They do have some gems in the minors ready to be called up in the next few years, but their current Major League roster is a bit thin.
The Brewers currently have nine players in camp trying to win the starting center field spot. All nine players are somewhere in-between a Four-A player and a washed-up veteran. Their outfield defense will not be pretty.
Chris Carter and Domingo Santana both have a ton of power, but opposing pitchers will rack up plenty of strikeouts against them this season.
Here is the 2016 MLB season preview for the Milwaukee Brewers.
2015 Win/Loss Record: 68-94
Key Additions: 1B Chris Carter, 2B Aaron Hill, SS Jonathan Villar, SP Chase Anderson, SP Sean Nolin, OF Keon Broxton, OF Garin Cecchini, OF Ramon Flores, OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis, RP Blaine Boyer, SP Chris Capuano, 2B Jake Elmore, RP Nick Hagadone, 3B Will Middlebrooks, RP Franklin Morales, C Josmil Pinto, OF Alex Presley & OF Eric Young Jr.
Key Losses: RP Francisco Rodriguez, OF Kris Davis, SS Jean Segura, 1B Adam Lind, OF Logan Schafer, OF Elian Herrera, 2B Hernan Perez, 1B Jason Rogers, SS Luis Sardinas, SP Kyle Lohse & RP Cesar Jimenez
Interleague Schedule: AL West
Projected Starters: Jonathan Lucroy, Chris Carter, Aaron Hill, Will Middlebrooks, Scooter Gennett, Shane Peterson, Domingo Santana & Ryan Braun
Projected Starting Rotation: Taylor Jungmann, Jimmy Nelson, Matt Garza, Wily Peralta & Chase Anderson
Closer: Will Smith
Fantasy Sleeper: 1B Chris Carter – ESPN currently has him ranked as the 31st fantasy first baseman. His batting average will kill you, but the prospect of Carter regularly hitting in Miller Park has me intrigued. The guy is a all-or-nothing hitter and can put up some serious power numbers when he’s hot. He could be worth a late-round pick just to have him on your bench in case he catches fire.
Prospect To Keep Your Eye On: SS Orlando Arcia – Milwaukee’s #1 prospect will start out the year in Triple-A, but he has a shot at being called up at some point. He’s only 21 years old and has plus speed with the ability to hit extra base-hits. He could turn into a really nice fantasy player at shortstop. He’s a better offensive player than Jean Segura and now has a clear path to the Majors with Segura out of town.
Team Analysis: Milwaukee just started the rebuilding process when they made some trades at the trade deadline last season. They still have a few pieces that could be moved, but teams probably want to see Jonathan Lucroy bounce back from his disaster of a 2015 season before putting in a serious offer. Also, I’m not quite sure what kind of prospect return Ryan Braun could have since the PED issues killed a lot of his value.
The Brewers have some young talent on the team and some gems in the farm system, so maybe the rebuild won’t take as long as expected. It will be a long year since the Cubs, Cardinals and Pirates are all expected to be very good.
I expect the Brewers to be actively trading players on and off all year. The roster will look a lot different by October.
2016 Wins Over/Under Betting Line: 69.5 (Prediction: UNDER)
2016 Projected Win/Loss Record: 69-93 (4th NL Central)
CLICK HERE to read the rest of our 2016 MLB Team Previews
Follow us on Twitter @Sweetbob & ‘LIKE’ us on Facebook!
About the Author…
Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob.