As the off season approached, Doug Melvin was looking for ways to improve a team that took first place in the NL Central but was also losing a few key members of the bullpen and first-basemen Prince Fielder. It was pretty clear that Prince wasn't going to be back in Milwaukee. We needed to fix the Yuni B problem at short, find a cheap power bat, upgrade the Casey McGehee problem at third, and slightly rebuild the bullpen. When Melvin signed Alex Gonzales at short, I was pretty happy. Gonzales is a guy who will give about the same offensive production but his defense is significantly better. When i used to watch Yuni play short, I always thought he was pretty decent but then I really started to realize he has absolutely no range at all and can't make most plays that other shortstops can make easily. So overall I'm pretty happy with that signing. One of the other big problems was what to do at third base. It was too risky to bet on McGehee having a bounce back year so Melvin traded him to the Pirates for Jose Veras, a pretty decent lefty in the bullpen. I would have wished we could've held onto McGehee to possibly play first if the whole Mat Gamel thing doesn't pan out but we needed the help I the bullpen so I think it was a solid move. The Brewers also offered arbitration to Fransisco Rodriguez assuming he would decline but he ended up accepting the arbitration. Unless we try to trade him because of the cost, he will continue as the setup man for the Ax Man. The major move in this offseason was the signing of Aramis Ramirez. Now even though Ramirez was a Cub, he is still a great ballplayer and when i heard he inquired about wanting to come to Milwaukee I was all for it. The great thing about this was that Ramirez signed for 3 years and 36 million. not too bad for a guy who has hit at least 25 bombs in at least 8 seasons. He is also a silver slugger and All Star. He also hit over .300 last year. Other than 2010 when he had a down year because of injuries, he has put up great numbers. He will be our new cleanup hitter most likely and I'm really looking forward to him putting up those great numbers for the crew! The rotation is pretty much set as well as the outfield so the team is coming together really nice. I'm still not sure if Melvin will try a different option at first base but I guess we will have to wait and see!
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