State of the Brewers

It seems like the Brewers are finished with their offseason signings -- at least until spring training. This is what we got.

1st Base - Prince Fielder

2nd Base - Ricky Weeks*

3rd Base - Bill Hall/ Mike Lamb

Shortstop - JJ Hardy

Catcher - Jason Kendall

Left Field - Ryan Braun

Center Field - Mike Cameron

Right Field - Corey Hart*

*assuming they'll be signed soon.

Our rotation is looking like

Yovani Gallardo

Manny Parra

Dave Bush

Jeff $uppan

Seth McClung

Key Bullpen players

Trevor Hoffman, random crap.

Nothing pisses me off more than reading various brewer fans on blogs who say, "Spend some money Attanasio." I'm sure Mark A. loves hearing Chuck from Sheboygan's financial advice. Fact of the matter is before Mark Attanasio, the brewers had a payroll of 27 Million. So shut up Chuck. Appreciate what we got.

Most fans seem to agree that we need one more quality starting pitcher to sure up this team. Although I do agree, I'm going to argue otherwise. Who's to say Yovani Gallardo isn't a number one starter? He has been great everytime I've seen him throw. Last year he had the freak LEG injury, by no means injury prone... Came back in the playoffs and proved why we shouldn't have started $uppan. Remember $uppan? He'll be back again for another 10 mil. What were we thinking when we signed this guy?..... Exactly what we're thinking now -- We need to sign some random over priced veteran 3rd starter to sure up our rotation. Look how that worked out. God, we have this guy for 4 years. That is a mistake I don't want to repeat. Manny Parra. Last year everyone said he was young. You can't over pitch him or his arm will get tired. Yost over pitched him. His arm got tired and he sucked at the end of the year. He's got a full major league season under his belt and that usually brings more stamina for the following year. Look for him to be just fine. Dave Bush? Eh he's Dave Bush, sometimes he's good, sometimes he sucks. $uppan... we've already delt with that waste of space. McClung? I guess. I actually really liked this guy out of the bullpen at the end of the year. He was pitching with some anger. Fun to watch. A 5 starter just isn't the right role for him but I guess it's what we got. We also have a very reliable closer. The most experienced closer to ever play the game. I think Torres was an absolute fluke last year and I thank god we don't have to continue on with that experiment. If we're ahead in the 9th, 95% of the time we should get the win. That will be comforting.

Now there's the lineup. Nothing has changed at all. This is the lineup I'd like to see on opening day.

Hart

Cameron

Braun

Fielder

Weeks

Hall

Hardy

Kendall

Gallardo

Now everyone is going to say I'm retarded but I'll explain. We need someone to act like a lead off hitter. It is not Weeks. He has showed us that for 2 years yet we never learned. So I say we toss in Hart. Hopefully his end of the year collapse is behind him and he can start making some contact. When he gets on base he creates havoc for the opposing pitchers. He's probably one of the best baserunners I've ever watched. Then we follow it up with Cameron. Yes he's a high strike out guy but he's patient. This should allow Hart time to do what he does best. He'll also get some good pitches to look at with Braun and Prince coming in behind him. He also runs the bases with the best of them. If he strikes out, there's still a good chance he leaves the plate with a man on second, one out, braun and prince to follow. Having Braun bat 3rd and Prince bat 4th is a no brainer that doesn't need to be explained. Then I put Weeks 5th. I want to totally change this guy's role in the lineup. I think weeks should be considered a double/power guy. Lets let him go out there swinging. None of this bunt the ball and get on base crap. That's not his style. Don't go for the single Weeks, go long. Bill Hall batting 6th. He got Lasik eye surgery. Look what happened when Rick Vaughn when they fixed his vision. MVP candidate for sure. JJ Hardy. I forget, does he bat really well at the bottom of the order or at the top? I think it's the bottom. Good spot for a .250 power hitter. Kendall is batting 8th, where else you gonna put him? Then there's the pitcher spot.

Finally, we have to take into account the absense of the Yost effect. Lets see what the new management can do with these guys. Think about it... a well managed team. Total relief. That's the big X factor this year. That and the possible impact of some young players -- Iraberren, Escobar, and Gamel. I guess Gwynn Jr too?

I'd love to hear people's opinions on this one. Why am I wrong? With that said, GO BREWERS!