NL Central- The Milwaukee Brewers

The 2009 Milwaukee Brewers will be full of youthful exuberance, hope... and losses. Their ace is 23 years old and often unhealthy. Their closer is 42 years old (fortunately for them he is one of the best closers of all time, and a solid addition). What will be an interesting team, and a once again young team, will also continue to disappoint...

The position players: (If they don't produce to their potential, the Brewers have no shot) Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun form one of the best lefty/righty middle of the orders around. Expect Braun to improve even more (.295, 40, 120, 15). Fielder will hit his usual 35 homers with 100+ RBIs. On defense, look for a team that is among the top in the NL in fielding percentage... Braun is improving in left field. Mike Cameron is one of the best in centerfield, and Corey Hart is underrated in right field. Bill Hall had a rough go last year, but I can see him rebounding this year. Expect .240, 22 and 80 from him this year... and about 20 errors at third... I could see J.J. Hardy taking a step back from a great year last year in which he hit .283, 24 and 74... Expect .275 17 and 70 with solid D at shortstop. Tony Gwynn Jr. will continue to spell the outfield... and someday will get a shot to play everyday. Trot Nixon joins the bench, and brings more than just one of the best names in baseball... Ok, maybe he doesn't... But a team that is so young and inexperienced needs a cagey vet like Nixon around to keep them all level-headed. Rickie Weeks continues to disappoint at second base, and I would expect the same in '09. Jason Kendall calls a wonderful game behind the plate, and that is about all he does (not to slight the importance of said virtue... just stating a fact). Craig Counsell and Mike Lamb spell the starters, and Counsell's steady play could lead to a starting spot at some point during the season as Weeks and Hall have been disappointments. Counsell's virtually error-free play at third, second and short is critical to the team's success.

The pitching: (The reason the Brewers won't win more than 80 games this year). Yovanni Gallardo is the Brewers best pitcher. He is also 23 years old. He will likely be the second or third starter to open the season because of his youth. Recently acquired Braden Looper will likely start the season opener. Looper is a decent big league starter (last year 12 wins, 4.16 ERA). The rest of the rotation is either sub par or inexperienced. Subpar: Dave Bush and Jeff Suppan (A combined 19-20 with 4.57 ERA in '08). Manny Parra is going to have a solid, possibly inconsistent year, and will probably strike 150-180 guys out and win 10-12.The Brewers bullpen, as it stands now, is not good. Other then Hoffman, their closer to be, the bullpen is full of inconsistent hurlers at best, who combined last year had a 4.51 ERA. With hurlers like Riske, Villanueva (Carlos not Charlie), Julio, McClung, Coffey and Gagne; Brewers fans are going to have plenty of near heart attacks (possibly full-blown ones). Trevor Hoffman, in possibly his final year, will continue to be a solid closer (he still has one of the best change ups in the game).

The Brewers are several pieces away from being a contender. They barely made the playoffs last year WITH C.C. and Sheets, two stellar starting pitchers, so what makes anyone think they will contend this year? Expect a 79-83 season. I am being somewhat kind here... side note: Ben Sheets elected to have elbow surgery to start the season due to a lack of considerable offers from teams... He will be out until at least mid-season... meaning the Brewers will receive no draft-pick compensation when he signs with another club... Poor Brewers...

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