Offense:

First and foremost…NEXT TO NOTHING HAS CHANGED!  Every starter 1-8 in the lineup (although the order will probably be shifted) was a Brewer starter in 2008.  Although this is great for team chemistry that is many times lacking in today’s free agent era, the offense…well…it plainly and simply was mediocre at best last season.  Pitching carried the team through the season and into the playoffs, though the offense probably got a little more of the limelight what with Ryan Braun’s legendary home runs and such.  Conversely, the bench will be very different in ‘09.  Gabe Kapler (Tampa Bay Rays), Russell Branyan (Seattle Mariners), and probably Ray Durham either have parted ways with Milwaukee or are going to.  This is not good news, as those players managed to provide key sparks to the team when it needed it the most.  Notably, Branyan’s ability to hit a home run any time he strode to the plate, or Kapler’s hard-nosed defense and offensive saavy.  Durham managed to keep the struggling Rickie Weeks motivated at 2nd base and came up with quite an impressive highlight reel himself in the waning months of the 2008 campaign.  The bench this year will still feature the ever-dependable vet, Craig Counsell as well as late-season acquisition Mike Lamb, who will probably be a platoon starter with Bill Hall at 3rd base this year.  Several wild cards to make the bench are Trot Nixon (the ex-Boston Red Sox outfielder), Tony Gwynn Jr., Casey McGehee, a 3rd baseman plucked off waivers in the off season, and perhaps Matt Gamel, the highly touted 3rd base prospect.  Mike Rivera will again be Jason Kendall’s backup at catcher.  So look for the offense to be slightly more productive in ‘09, considering the chemistry and new hitting coach, Dale Sveum, who should relate to the players a lot more effectively than the departed Jim Skaalen did.

Pitching:

This is where things could get messy.  The two greatest starting pitchers perhaps ever to don a Brewers uniform are leaving.  CC Sabathia is a New York Yankee, and Ben Sheets is being courted by the Texas Rangers, and although he hasn’t signed with anyone (there is talk of elbow surgery in his future), he has made it clear being a Brewer is not interesting to him any longer.  That throws the young Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra likely to the top of the starting 5.  Dave Bush should be number 3, with Jeff Suppan behind him at 4.  The 5th spot in the rotation is a little more confusing, as Seth McClung could be a possible answer here, but his flashes of late-inning brilliance may place him in the bull pen.  Carlos Villanueva will be the set up man or long reliever, as he never really settled into a groove as a starter.  The new member to the pen is Trevor Hoffman, a much safer and predictable new closer than Eric Gagne was, because his best seasons were brought about by his pin-point control and wicked changeup (which he hasn’t lost by the way), not steroids.  Guillermo Mota, Salomon Torres, and Brian Shouse are gone as well as Gagne, and that could create a void Trevor Hoffman, Jorge Julio, and Mitch Stetter may or may not be able to succesfully fill.  Julio has been unraveling his past couple years, and Stetter is quite young (albeit he certainly has talent).  Hoffman is certainly aging, but is definitely serviceable (unfortunately, his mid 80s fastball is a little more hittable than Torres’ low 90s sinkers were)  So the pen should be about as good if not slightly better than in 2008.  The starting rotation will almost certainly not produce another 90 win season, BUT, there is enough talent there for new pitching coach Bill Castro to perhaps mold into a legitimate Wild Card contending staff.

Coaching

Dale Sveum is still a member of the Milwaukee coaching staff, but not in a manegerial role.  He is the hitting coach and Ken Macha, the ex-manager of the Oakland Athletics, is taking the big chair.  Willie Randolph, the ex-New York Met’s manager, will be the bench coach.  Needless to say Macha should do a better job making the tough decisions than Ned Yost did, and Willie Randolph will probably be a little harder on the players than Robin Yount or Dale Sveum before him were, which could certainly be what the younger players need to keep themselves motivated.  Mike Maddux, the wizard of resurrecting pitchers plucked off the scrap heap’s careers is now a Ranger coach, and long-time bullpen coach Bill Castro probably will not do quite as good a job as Maddux did.  But he knows his players and their tendencies well, and that is a very good sign.  All in all, the coaching staff is miles and miles ahead of where it was at this point last year.

My Projected Lineup by Position:

1B: Prince Fielder
2B: Rickie Weeks
SS: J.J. Hardy
3B: Bill Hall/Mike Lamb/Casey McGehee
C: Jason Kendall
LF: Ryan Braun
CF: Mike Cameron
RF: Corey Hart

My Projected Season Numbers

Final record: 87-75
Standings: 2nd place, NL Central, NL Wild Card runner up

Bush threw 5.1 innings, yielding 5 hits, no walks, struck out 3, and gave up only 1 run.  In the 6th, Jayson Werth hit the ball out to deep right, where Corey Hart tumbled into the wall with the ball in his glove, but lost his grip on it when he came crashing to the ground.  The play turned into a triple, and Bush was pulled in favor of the young lefty Mitch Stetter, who induced an RBI groundout to big Ryan Howard.  Carlos Villanueva then retired Pat Burrell for the final out.  The pitcher was allowed to hit for himself with one out in the 6th, and singled.  Mike Cameron and Bill Hall did likewise, but Ryan Braun struck out and Prince Fielder flew out to shallow left.  Villanueva proceeded to throw a flawless 7th.

Two veterans chipped in in the 7th to provide a little insurance.  J.J. Hardy led things off with a single and made it to second on a beautiful sac bunt by Corey Hart.  Craig Counsell (owner of two World Series rings) then hit a tough chopper on the right side of the mound and dove headfirst onto the first base bag for an infield single.  Another vet, backstop Jason Kendall lined a run-scoring single to left right after.  Eric Gagne worked around a Jayson Werth double for a scoreless 8th (he retired former Brewer outfielder Geoff Jenkins, who finally got his Milwaukee Post Season appearance, for out number 1).

In the 9th, things got very interesting for Salomon Torres, who surrendered singles to the first three men to greet him.  The bases were juiced with nobody out, but Torres threw a sharp slider that Pedro Feliz chopped into a double play.  A run originally scored on the play, but due to the fact that Shane Victorino bowled over the fielding Counsell at second without sliding, interference was ruled, and Ryan Howard had to return to third base.  The next batter, Carlos Ruiz, bounced back to Torres, who flipped the ball to Fielder at first to seal the 4-1 victory.  Not since Game 5 of the 1982 World Series had the Brewers won a Post Season game.

Offensive MVP: J.J. Hardy (3-4/1R/1RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Dave Bush (5.1IP/5H/1ER/0BB/3SO/0HR/Win-1st)

Alex’s Take:

This was a much-needed win.  It forced a Game 4 featuring Jeff Suppan squaring off against Phillies’ righty Joe Blanton.  The offense looked very patient at the plate on Saturday, and that is the only hope the Crew has of winning tomorrow and giving Sabathia another shot on Tuesday.  Suppan will have to prove that he is truly an October pitcher as well, and that Doug Melvin was wise to invest so much money in him.

Then things got ugly.  The Brewers were completely shut down offensively by the Cubs’ young starter Angel Guzman (2.0 innings), Chad Gaudin (1.0 inning), Neal Cotts (1.0 inning), and Kevin Hart (1.0 inning).  Following Mike Cameron’s lead-off single in the bottom of the 1st, 18 Brewers in a row were mowed down by Cubs’ pitching.  But in the bottom of the 7th, the dream began to come alive.  Ray Durham, batting from his weaker right side, doubled to start things off.  Ryan Braun then advanced the second baseman to third with a groundout.  Prince Fielder was intentionally walked, J.J. Hardy unintentionally walked, and Corey Hart looked totally lost at the plate, swinging and missing at three obvious balls for the second out.  Craig Counsell, the ever-dependable veteran or big games, worked a monumental walk with the bases loaded to bring the tying run home.  Jason Kendall failed to add on.

In the top of the 8th, Sabathia continued his dominance, striking out the first two men to greet him, and then retired Koyie Hill by making a barehanded grab of a bouncer to the mound and throwing to first.  Then, after 26 years of futility, the Milwaukee fans finally experienced something worth going absolutely crazy about.  Mike Cameron hit a one-out single.  Then, Ray Durham flirted with a possible run-scoring extra base hit, but his deep drive to right was run down and caught by Micah Hoffpouir.  Ryan Braun didn’t waste any time in powering his club into the Post Season.  He liked the first pitch from Bob Howry, swung at the first pitch from Bob Howry, and drove the first pitch from Bob Howry deep into the electrified sellout crowd of 45,299 for his 37th home run of 2008, and got RBIs number 105 and 106.

Sabathia returned to the mound, knowing full well that the New York Mets were down 4-2 to the Florida Marlins late in the last game at Shea Stadium, and finished what he started.  Alfonso Soriano flew out to shallow left, Ryan Theriot hit a single, and that brought career Brewer-killer Derrek Lee to the plate.  On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, Lee chopped to the awaiting glove of Ray Durham, who relayed to the shortstop J.J. Hardy, who fired back to Fielder at first to win the game 3-1.  The fans went absolutely nuts, but nothing was comparable to their reaction minutes later, when they watched the final frame of the Marlins/Mets game, and watched Ryan Church fly out to deep center to seal Milwaukee’s first trip to the playoffs since the World Series of 1982.  The players enjoyed a well-earned champagne shower to boot.

Offensive MVP: Ryan Braun (1-4/1R/1HR/2RBI/0BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: CC Sabathia (9.0IP/4H/0ER/1R/1BB/7SO/0HR/Win-11th)

Catcher Jason Kendall, who gunned down a potential base-stealer and Hoffpauir trying to stretch a single into a double later on, hit a huge two-out RBI double to knot things firmly at 1-1 in the 2nd. Suppan gave up more hits after Edmond’s homer, but settled down mightily, and even recorded 5 strikeouts along the way; four to some of the best Chicago had to offer (Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Micah Hoffpauir). He did not record his 11th win of the year, for the game was tied going into 6th. Ray Durham started things with a booming double off lefty Sean Marshall that bounced over the wall in left, and Ryan Braun worked his way on with a walk. But Prince Fielder struck out swinging and J.J. Hardy was retired on a harmless pop-out. This set the stage for a game-changing bloop single by Corey Hart that scored Durham and put the Crew ahead for good. In the 7th, reliever Seth McClung, who had just pitched a pair of sparkling innings, was allowed to hit, and he reached on catcher’s interference.  The Cubs’ Chad Gaudin then balked, letting the huge flamethrower get to second.

Mike Cameron then coaxed a single between third and short, putting runners at the corners for Rickie Weeks, who had replaced Durham due to an injury.  Weeks, criticized by many (including myself) all year long, wasted no time in giving Milwaukee another boost in their run for the playoffs.  He lined a three-run home run to left to give his club some more breathing room, and he was even prompted to a curtain call by the deeply appreciative crowd of 44,804 (mostly Brewer fans by the way).  McClung did the rest, finishing things off with a fiery demeanor that made the night even more amazing for Brewer fans, who cheered raucously once they saw the final from Shea Stadium: 6-1 Marlins over the Mets.  Milwaukee is now 1.0 games ahead of New York in the Wild Card chase.

Offensive MVP: Rickie Weeks (1-1/1R/1HR/3RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Seth McClung (4.0IP/1H/0ER/1BB/6SO/Win-6th)

Then came the bullpen: seven pitchers, six innings, zero runs allowed in one of its finest performances of the year.  Offensively, the Crew was not so impressive for the rest of the first 9 innings.  They actually only stranded 5 runners on Thursday, but they simply couldn’t execute small ball, and it forced extras.  In the top of the 10th, the Buckos threatened big time against Todd Coffey.  With one out, he surrendered a single to Jason Michaels, who then reached second on a fielder’s choice.  Enter Pittsburgh’s All Star center fielder Nate McLouth and lefty Mitch Stetter for the biggest out of his career thus far.  From a 3-1 count, Stetter got McLouth to whiff at that sweeping slider of his, and froze him on another one, recording the punch-out and bringing things to the bottom 10th.

That’s when things got interesting.  Rickie Weeks started things off against Jesse Chavez with a single, and was moved to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt from the catcher Jason Kendall.  Pinch-hitter Ray Durham, who has torn things up at Miller Park this year, was intentionally walked, putting two runners on with only 1 out.  Alas, Mike Cameron failed to end it as he went down swinging.  Craig Counsell then strode to the plate, crazy stance and all, and worked arguably the biggest walk by a Brewer in 2008 (it only took 5 pitches).  This put the game, and with the Mets winning their game on a Carlos Beltran walk-off single moments earlier, possibly the season in the hands of sore and struggling left fielder Ryan Braun.  He needed merely a bloop single or a walk, but the end result turned out to be far more legendary.  On a 2-2 count, he finally got some of his prodigious power into a swing, and the ball went a long, long way.  Braun collected the 1st and only grand slam by Milwaukee all season, as well as the first walk-off shot of his major league career.  If the Brewers manage to reach the playoffs, it will probably be considered the defining moment of 2008, and one of the biggest home runs in Brewer history.

Offensive MVP: Ryan Braun (1-5/1R/1HR/4RBI/0BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: Carlos Villanueva, Eric Gagne, Guillermo Mota, Brian Shouse, Salomon Torres, Todd Coffey, Mitch Stetter(Win-3rd) (6.0IP/6H/0ER/1BB/3SO/0HR)

Offensive MVP: Prince Fielder (1-3/2R/1RBI/1BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: CC Sabathia (7.0IP/4H/1ER/2BB/11SO/0HR/Win-10th)

Offensive MVP: Mike Cameron (2-5/1R/22B/2RBI/0BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: Salomon Torres (1IP/1H/0ER/1BB/0SO/Win-7th)

Alex’s Take:

Wow.  I have never been a huge supporter of Ned Yost.  I can not say that I am sad to see him go, because his laid-back, “we’ll get ‘em next time,” approach to the game was really hindering the Brewers.

Some other questionable things that he did in 2008:

Constantly use burned-out reliever Eric Gagne late in close games

Start Rickie Weeks, probably the worst second baseman in baseball defensively, and certainly not great offensively either,

Start Bill Hall, an undeniable strikeout machine who has shown nothing of his solid 2005 or 2006 seasons, use Weeks (hitting under .230 most of the year) as the leadoff hitter,

Refusing to use small ball in almost any situation

Failing to pull the plug on pitchers at the proper times.

I will admit, the 2008 Milwaukee Brewers do not have many small ball-compatible players, save Craig Counsell and Jason Kendall, but there were far too many times in which a Brewer would obviously be trying to hit a home-run instead of simply advancing runners in critical situations with no outs, and would end up grounding into a double play or striking out.  Yost should take a good portion of the heat for failing to get his players prepared for big games or failing to take big series seriously, but it was not really all him.  The players fundamentally have been awful all year, and Yost did in fact bring winning baseball back to Wisconsin.  He deserves HUGE credit for that, but it is unlikely he was capable of taking them to the next plateau: the postseason.  As for Sveum, I know little about him other than he was not the greatest 3rd base coach in the league and that he was a popular Brewer back in his day.

Offensive MVP: Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins (3-5/3R/12B/1HR/3RBI/0BB/0K)

Pitching MVP: Phillies SP Cole Hamels (6.1IP/6H/2ER/3BB/4SO/0HR/Win-13th)

Alex’s Take:

I don’t really have much to say today.  The Brewers are just awful right now, in every phase of the game, and it doesn’t look like there is any light at the end of the tunnel.

Offensive MVP: Reds 2B Brandon Phillips (1-5/1R/1RBI/1BB/1K)

Pitching MVP: Reds CP Francisco Cordero (1IP/0H/0ER/0BB/1SO/0HR/Save-29th)

Alex’s Take:

I believed before the game that a loss tonight would almost definitely break the Brewers’ morale and send them spiraling into weeks of more bad baseball that would knock them out of the playoff hunt.  The game I saw tonight, though the outcome stung mightily, did not look like a team that was ready to fold.  Ned Yost really didn’t make a bad decision at all in managing his bullpen, though putting in Eric Gagne might’ve been a little questionable.  Seth McClung blowing the game, well, Yost didn’t have a lot of experienced guys to pitch in a pressure situation, and unfortunately, the big righty couldn’t keep the game tied.  As for the offense, things still look pretty bleak in the middle of the order, but hopefully Durham’s emphatic homerun will spark something, though it didn’t Tuesday.  It’s strange to me, because I thought for sure I would totally give up on 2008 with a loss that eventually did happen, but the Phillies and Cubs both lost, CC Sabathia is pitching tomorrow in a game the Brewers desperately need to win, and who better to have on the mound in a game you desperately need?  The thing is, they are up 3.0 games in the Wild Card with 17 games remaining.  A ten game monster road trip is right around the corner, and these are the cold, hard facts.  The Crew must simply SURVIVE the trip, go 5-5 (4-6 with wins against the right teams could cut it) that would most likely keep their heads above water with a home stand against not-so-great team after the trip.  The Crew have been downright awful at home lately, yes, but a 5-5 road trip would probably inspire the team to powering into the post season.  I’m as harsh a critic of the Crew as anyone, but I STILL HAVE HOPE!