The Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers won the National League central with 96 wins in 2011. In the 2011-2012 off season it looks like The Brewers aren't even going to win the wildcard. they lost Prince fielder to free agency and Ryan Braun has to face a 50 game suspension for a failed test for performing enhancing drugs. The Brewers haven't signed any sluggers besides Aramis Ramirez so there is no one to replace Fielder.

Braun and Fielder used to be the 3-4 bunch for the Brewers combining for 231 RBI's, 71 home runs, a .406 on base percentage, and an OPS+ of 165, which is phenomenal. Now The Brewers have to play 50 games without Braun, the 2011 NL MVP and 162 games without Fielder. The Brewers didn't sign Carlos Pena as a replacement and don't seem to be in the bidding for any of the other remaining possible free agents. A trade might be brewing, but it doesn't seem likely.

The rotation for The Brewers seems pretty stable with Zack Grienke anchoring it. Grienke won 16 games with a 3.86 ERA over 171 innings. The other notable starters are Yovani Gallardo, Shaun Marcum, and Randy Wolf. These three starters combined for 619 innings and a 3.58 ERA. The Brewers have four starters with decent ERA's and can provide a sufficient amount of innings. If they do fail to pitch a decent amount of innings The Brewers have good bullpen. With Axford and Rodriguez in the back end the 8th and 9th innings are almost a given. 


Although the middle of the lineup is significantly weaker, The Brew Crew still has Rickie Weeks and they signed Aramis Ramairez. Weeks hit 20 home runs, had a .350 on base percentage and an OPS+ of 121. Rmairez hit 26 home runs, had a 361 on base percentage, and 136 OPS+. Also Corey Hart hit 26 home runs for The Brewers, but any combination of  these three players will not make up for the combination of Braun and Fielder. 


When Braun returns after his 50 game suspension, The Brewers may be able to compete with The Reds, but they will already be in a hole. with The NL West looking stronger than ever, a wild card also looks out of the equation.   

If Only I Was the Angles' GM.

The Angles just extended Howie Kendrick's contract. They also signed CJ Wilson and Albert Pujols. They have the best pitching rotation in the MLB with Weaver, Haren, Wilson, and Santana and the best first baseman and hitter of the past 10 years. They have it pretty good. The Angels also have Trumbo and Morales left over, what will they do with them.

If I were the Angels' general manager I would bring up a trade. This trade would involve Morales, Aybar, Chatwood, and the team's choice of $2 million or another prospect. But now the team for these players to be traded to... The Miami Marlins. Can you guess who? Hanley Ramirez.

Hanley Ramirez is an all star and capable of outstanding numbers. With the recent acquisition of Jose Reyes, the Marlins say Hanley will be moving to third base, which Ramirez is not fond of.  Perhaps a change of scenery would be nice.

The Marlins were in on Albert Pujols, but of course he went to the Angels. The Marlins aren't in on Fielder because he wont bring what Pujols would have to the Latino community. Morales has been injured for 2011 because of the incident when he hit a walk off home run and hurt his leg when celebrating. But he is healthy now and is capable of outstanding hitting. He is also of Latin origins and will bring a lot to the Latino community.

In this trade Aybar will be traded to the Marlins to replace Ramirez at third. This is a logical choice, because the Angels would no longer need a shortstop, because they have Ramirez. Also Aybar has remarkable speed, which is a big part of Marlins' offense.

Chatwood is young and could round out the rotation for the Marlins. Pitiching in the National League will maybe lower his ERA. Johnson, Burhlie,  Zambrano, Chatwood, is a pretty decent pitching rotation. The Angels don't need Chatwood. because they have the previously mentioned pitching rotation all in their prime.

Finally the Angels and Marlins will decide weather the Angels will take 0, 25, 50, 75, or 100 percent of Ramirez's contract. The choice of $2 million or a prospect will remain, but Andrew Romine will not be an option, becuase he is the back up plan if Ramirez is a fluke. Ramirez only played around 90 games in 2011 which would make some skeptical, but I believe the Marlins will take it as yet another reason to trade him.

The Winter Meetings Off With a Bang

With the winter meetings starting last night at 10 pm EST, we all knew that free agents would sign and trades would happen. Last night Jose Reyes signed with the Marlins for $106 Million over 6 years. I could only imagine having that much money. We all knew Jose Reyes wouldn't resign with the Mets, and the Marlins were the logical decision.

Now with Jose Reyes on the team, the Miami Marlins will have to make some changes. Hanley Ramirez agreed to moving to third base, but there has been rumors of him going to center field. For some reason i don't think he will be playing center field. The Marlins have now added a legitimate speed threat at the top of their line up and a high average hitter.

Their new line up will look a little bit like this: Reyes, Morrison, Ramirez, Stanton, Sanchez, Infante, Buck, Bonifacio, Pitcher.
I think this is a line up with one minor deficiency, a lefty power bat. instead of perusing a 31 year Albert Pujols, i think the Marlins should peruse a young and powerful Prince Fielder.

Fielder, who will be 28 next year will just be entering his prime, and is much cheaper than Albert Pujols. You would have to sacrifice some defense, but the power Fielder and Stanton would supply from the 3 and 4 spots in the line up would be immense. That line up would look something like this: Reyes, Ramirez, Fielder, Stanton, and that is all that matters.

The Marlins are making a definite bid for player this year, and i think they may be able to put up with the seemingly unstoppable Phillies. The Phillies are an aging team with a lot of pitching, but the Marlins may be able to out due them with their young power and speed.