MLB 2013 Season Predictions: Milwaukee Brewers

2012 Record: 83-79
2012 payroll: $100 million
2012 finish: 3rd Place, NL Central

2013 Outlook
Payroll: $72 million
Predicted Record: 83-79


Offseason Action 
Considering the Brewers last season led the National League in runs scored and were behind only the Rangers and Yankees in all of baseball, and seeing as their projected rotation included a No. 2 starter who until last year had nine career big league starts, a No. 3 starter with 29 career innings, a No. 4 starter who posted a 6.99 ERA over his last 10 starts and a No. 5 starter whose injury history gives "Infinite Jest" a good run on length, their priority heading into this offseason seemed fairly obvious.

Left-Handed relievers of course.

Now, this is not to impugn Tom Gorzelanny (two years, $6 million) or Mike Gonzalez (one year, $2.25 million). Each is a perfectly useful bullpen piece, which, considering the Brewers offered the worst relief ERA in the game last year, is a keen bit of savvy from general manager Doug Melvin. But with only one proven starter in a young and inexperienced rotation, starting pitching was the clear need this offseason. And with a plethora of starters, from top of the line guys like Grienke and Lohse to Joe Saunders and Francisco Liriano, anything would've been better to have than now 5th starter Mark Rogers who's made 5 career starts.

Now with the most-likely candidates for pitchers that Milwaukee could've signed gone, the Brewers are in a tough spot. With their payroll nearly $30 million less than last year, Melvin has the money to spend, but he's dropped the ball on signing effective players. He's counting on four guys behind Gallardo, none of whom would be considered a number 2 starter on most teams, to fill out the rotation. Granted the bullpen is stronger with the two lefties being added, but if their aren't any starters to keep the games competitive then bullpens aren't too useful.

Reality Check
In the wake of the monster Zack Greinke trade last year, the Brewers ripped off a 23-6 run. It looked nothing like their first 121 games nor their last 12, in which they struggled to cobble together anything resembling their run to the NLCS in 2011.

The Brewers have a potent offensive lineup with huge power from Braun, Hart, and Ramirez but also posses good speed and contact from Jean Segura, Aoki, and at times Rickie Weeks. Jonathon Lucroy proved to be a great defensive and solid offense player last season, and overall this Brewer lineup is a force to be reckoned with. Just as it was last year.

It's more than likely that the Brew Crew's offense will dominate like a year ago, but it doesn't matter if there isn't any pitching to back it up. There aren't any young arms, or players at all really, that look very promising in the farm system due to trades to acquire Shaun Marcum(in which they gave away Brett Lawrie), CC Sabathia, and Zack Grienke.

The greatest question on the hitting side is the middle infield. Rickie Weeks last year until June 8: .157/.291/.284 with five home runs in 237 plate appearances. Weeks from June 9 on: .266/.348/.458 with 16 homers in 440 PAs. With that Weeks and barely-not-a-rookie Jean Segura hitting at shortstop, it will at least start to make up for the defensive inefficiencies that comprise the worst fielding keystone combination in the NL.


Savior
The Brewers will have one of the best offenses this year considering that they led the NL in runs scored last year. There's power and speed from both sides of the plate, and having Ryan Braun helps out too, even if he's dealing with another PED scandal.

But the one guy that will make or break this team is Yovani Gallardo. Gallardo has been an all-star before and is clearly the number one pitcher on the team with a career 3.66 ERA. But he's never taken the next step to becoming an ace. Gallardo has won 16 and 17 games the past two years, respectively. But both years his ERA was above 3.50, which means that the offense behind him has given him some leads to work with.

Entering his age 27 season, Gallardo is in his prime and seemingly has figured out how to pitch in the majors by now. If he can sustain a sub 3.40 ERA and win a considerable amount of games, It'd go a long way for a team that has serious question marks behind him in the rotation.

-Wyatt Smith, Sports Editor, Clickege Media, Inc.