Milwaukee Brewers to Hit the Ground Running in Free Agency
By Paul Bretl
Milwaukee Brewers baseball is back! Players will report to Maryvale this weekend for Spring Training, and Opening Day is set for April 7th.
With the MLB lockout having been in effect since early December, there is still a rather large pool of unsigned free agents out there, including many star players. And like many other teams, the Brewers will be tinkering with their roster over the coming weeks and possibly months.
For Milwaukee, we can always expect them to add to their bullpen. But on top of that, depth at the corner infield positions could be addressed, as well as in the outfield, and finding a DH should be on their to-do list as well.
As Adam McCalvy of MLB.com notes, currently on the Brewers’ 40-man roster are 19 pitchers, eight infielders, five outfielders, and four catchers. That totals 36 players, leaving Milwaukee with four openings to fill–not including any potential upgrades to the 40-man roster.
While typically David Stearns and the Milwaukee Brewers bide their time and often don’t strike until late in the offseason, this year could be different.
Following the news that the lockout was over, Milwaukee Brewers President of Business Operations, Rick Schlesinger, met with reporters. One of the many key takeaways, as reported by Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, was that Schlesinger said that Stearns has been preparing for this day for a long time, and he expects him to hit the ground running when it comes to making personnel moves.
Now, it’s important to note, while hopefully, this means we could see a splash free agent addition, this is still David Stearns and the payroll-conscious Milwaukee Brewers, so hitting the ground running could just mean some relatively inexpensive one or two-year deals on a high upside player or two—which is how the Crew typically operates. Or perhaps some minor league additions who receive invites to spring training.
But nonetheless, it does sound like they could be active early on.
The Brewers are coming off their fourth straight post-season appearance after clinching the NL Central, although it ended in disappointing fashion with a first-round exit to the eventual champion Atlanta Braves as the bats went quiet.
Once again, the Milwaukee pitching staff should be among the best in baseball, but finding more consistent production at the plate will be a must. Although their overall performance during the 2021 season wasn’t as bad as what we saw in September and in the playoffs, Milwaukee’s offense still ranked in the bottom third of baseball in many key offensive categories over the course of the season.
However, even with the question marks on offense, led by their pitching, PECOTA ($$) projects that the Brewers will run away with the NL Central this season and post an impressive 97 win total.
Free agency opened at 6:00 on Thursday evening; however, no additions have yet to be made on the Brewers part—although that could change quickly, and according to Schlesinger, it sounds like that could be the expectation.