Leftover Chinese Answers Another Question



Where will the Brewers finish this year in the NL Central?

Justin, Around the Neighborhood

In honor of spring training beginning this weekend and the current temperature out there this morning, let's dream about the upcoming season de beisbol. Some facts about the brewers:

Last year's record : 81-81
Key Departure : Lyle Overbay
Key Acquisition : Cory Koskie, Danny Kolb, and all those kids they got in the Overbay trade.
Number of players on 40 man roster younger than me: 21
Currently Listening to : Rollo Tomassi
Outside Temp: 0 degrees Fahrenheit
Brewer Hats in my living room : 3
Attempt to take back Miller Park : Here
Stupidest trade rumor I've heard : Carlos Lee going back to the White Sox in July
Sausage Grand Slam : Hot dog, Bratwurst, Italian, Polish.

So this young team has another year of experience under manager Ned Yost. If you've been watching the past few years, you'll notice that when the team is down by two runs in the seventh inning they don't give up anymore. I watched quite a bit of the 106 loss season (2002) on TV and you could tell that as soon as they were down a bit in the game, the players were already talking amongst themselves about hot women in the stands, the buffet spread, and how to get out of Milwaukee.

These days the team focuses for 9 innings and if they're down by a few runs with an inning to go, they'll still put a few men on base and make the opposing team nervous. Putting yourself in situations like that during every game will lead to a few more wins a month.

In regards to the team, I wasn't quite sure about the Koskie trade. First off, why trade for somebody already over the hill in baseball terms when you've got a few big bats ready to go? It seems that the same thing is happening to Billy Hall that happened to Mark Loretta few years ago. A consistent .300 hitter, speedy runner, okay defensive player who thrives with playing time is sent to the bench as the guy at "second, third, or short depending on which regular starter sucks." Makes it hard to be productive...and if you're already kind of an ass to everybody on the team, this arrangement won't help you out. That could mean a few extra losses.

Back to this season's squad. They can get by without Ben Sheets but for it to be what they call a 'special season' he'll need at least 20 wins. They lose the run producing Overbay, but replace him with Fielder's bat and a Richie Weeks with a year under his belt. A big year from starters four, five, and Geoff Jenkins will make it interesting.

here is a hasty rundown of the rest of the division:

St. Louis - Still the best team in the division, if not the league, but they're getting older.
Houston - They went for all the marbles last year, I don't see it happening again.
Pittsburgh - One of these years, they'll win 70.
Chicago - Tribune media says: "Get ready for a championship run, folks"
Cincinnati - They won't get it right.

So...where does that leave us?

Optimistic Prediction: Milwaukee will finish in Second place and a few games out of the wildcard

Realistic Prediction: Third place, but with more than 81 victories.

Happy spring training, folks. Don't blow out your shoulders.

. . [~] . 0 (Grumble) Grumbles .