I know we are getting excited about the new look Milwaukee Brewers.  They did bring in some quality starting pitching finally and the future appears to be a lot brighter.  Now, let’s get to the rest of the story.

The big question is, “Can the team overcome three significant holes in the batting rotation?”  Historically, teams that are strong up the middle do well. This is not that kind of team.

Up the middle they are weak both on offense and defense.  At Catcher is a combination of Jonathen Lucroy, George Kottaras, and Wil Nieves. That platoon will bring on a combination of below average defense , minimal home-run pop, low on base percentage and low batting average. Not exactly Johnny Bench material.

Shortstop consists of newcomer, Yuniesky Betancourt and veteran, Craig Counsell. Counsell is 40 years old and as we all saw the last couple years is not capable of playing everyday. He wears down fast and at this point in his career and would be more of a liability at this point if he were to play everyday.

Betancourt was called one of the worst players in the league last year by Sports Illustrated.  Not exactly a letter of endorsement. In all honesty he is a free swinger who doesn’t take walks and will hit a few out toward Bernie’s slide.  Didn’t we just have this player? JJ Hardy comes to mind.

Now take a look at the outfield. Carlos Gomez can make some amazing plays in the field, but this is not our grandpa’s game anymore.

We need offense out of  this spot and Gomez has never shown that he can do that.  He has never had an OBP over .300, never had double digits in HR’s. His only accet is his  speed but unfortunately it’s against the rules to steal first base.

So while everyone is looking forward to a team that looks like it’s going for it this year by keeping Prince Fielder and making trades for Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum; remember this, If Doug Melvin wants to throw all the eggs in one basket this year he has to do it. Going halfway isn’t going to work. Sign a 1 year stopgap at shortstop, add more to the bullpen, and make the one key move that will bolster up the offense.

A possible positional move for Corey Hart to CF and the off-injured, Mat Gamel to RF may also be a way they can address their problems without making anymore moves.

Brewer fans buy those tickets, root the home team on, roll out the barrel and look for these moves to fill up that half empty glass.

WiscoSportsTalk Podcast Part 3

Duration: 22:00

Topics:

-Big tip in by Bogut to finish the Pacer game!  But still the Bucks can’t shoot!

- Which players aren’t buying in and why cant this team succeed?

- Skiles obviously has an agressive defensive system, but what exactly is Skiles doing on the offensive end?

- Possible trade partners

- Brewers Trade the #26 rated minor league prospect, 2b Brett Lawrie to the Toronto Blu Jays in exchange for starting pitcher, Shaun Marcum.

- Are the Brewers back in “win now” mode?

- What’s next for Prince Fielder?