Free Agent Signings and Trades

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!

Reflecting on the 2011 Season

Many Brewers fans including myself saw this past season as one of the best seasons in Brewers history. In the offseason Doug Melvin and Co. had traded away most of the farm system (more on that later) to land Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum. Marcum was aquired during the Winter Meetings for our top prospect Brett Lawrie who is now entering the big leagues and I'm not gonna lie looks to be a complete stud even though apparently hes kind of a tool. Then a few weeks later Melvin traded four of our other top prospects to land former Cy Young award winner, Zack Greinke. After these two huge trades the Brewers were looking to be serious contenders. Even thought Greinke pulled his little basketball bullshit, he ended up coming back and putting up some pretty decent numbers. I honestly wish he would have pitched better considering hes capable of being a dominant ace but fortunately he did go undefeated at home which helped out a lot. Marcum on the other hand pitched phenomenally all the way up until the playoffs. The five man rotation panned out perfectly. Randy Wold even had a great season and was very clutch in the offseason. Yovani Gallardo struggled early in the season but found his groove towards the end of the season and man he was lights out through the postseason! The real treat for Brewers fans this past year was the emergence of Nyjer Morgan aka Tony Plush! Morgan was such a motivated player through the whole year and has become a fan favorite, with countless clutch performances. We ended up with a 90 win season and first place in the NL Central. The Brewers marched their way through the playoffs where they ended up losing to the Cardinals in the NLCS. I'm just gonna note that once again we lost in the playoffs to the World Series Champions, we all remember 2008 with the Phillies. I think the thing that really hurt was losing to our division rivals, even though our offense and pitching disappeared in that series which was the real reason with our defeat. So now Prince Fielder is gone in free agency which will hurt but hopefully 2012 will be an even better season!