MLB Preseason Brewer Predictions

[TooLiveBrew]

Maybe I'm too pie-in-the-sky on Ramirez, but I actually think he's going to have another good offensive season in 2012. Even if you limit an examination of his hitting to the past three seasons, his aggregate slash line was .286/.344/.491/.835. He dislocated his shoulder in '09, then struggled to regain his form in '10 & also had a thumb injury along the way. Then in 2011 he hit completely to his career norms. Obviously durability is the main question here, but to guess that his offense is only going to be decent next season seems way too pessimistic. I won't go back any further than four years (two healthy seasons, two with injury WOAHs), but adding just that one season to an aggregate look at his production sees the line jump to .287/.355/.499/.854.

 

This guy has been one of the most overlooked hitters in the entire league imo, in terms of his swing. You don't often find sluggers who strike out so infrequently & sustain such a good AVG. He's still an extremely gifted offensive player imo. Even though he's not a good defender, his bat will continue to carry him. He's what Melvin was hoping he'd found in Casey McGehee, except Am-Ram is the real deal.

[pete]

Yeah, I'm not a big Aramis fan, but I expect a lot more than average offense. In a way maybe he'll be a good fit in that he probably won't want to play every day and Green (hopefully) can start a game here and there. It'll be interesting to see how his defense looks as he's had some great receivers over at first to handle his throws.

 

All in all an interesting thread.

[RyDogg66]

Player of the Year: Rickie Weeks

Pitcher of the Year: Zack Greinke

Rookie of the Year: Matt Gamel

Most Improved Player: Jonathon Lucroy

 

Questions Answered:

1) Who will get the first contract extension? Greinke

2) Who will be the first traded away or released (off the expected 25 man roster)? Izturis

3) What position in the NL Central will the Brewers finish? Win Central

[razzzorsharp]

Position Player of the Year: Weeks-.810 OPS 29 HRs 91 RBIs

Position Bust of the Year: Lucroy-.690 OPS 4 HRs 43 RBIs

Pitcher of the Year: Greinke-17-7 3.21 ERA

Pitcher Bust of the Year: Wolf-6-10 4.91 ERA

 

Most Improved: Gamel .770 OPS 22 HRs 81 RBIs

 

Place: 4th in the central

 

Record: 77-85

[YoungGeezy]

4th? I mean i can understand Cardinals and Reds but I don't think trading McGehee/Fielder for ARam and Gamel will drop us 20 games and finish behind the Pirates, Cubs, or Astros.

 

Offensive MVP: Cory Hart if he gets rolling, he is scary

 

Pitcher MVP: Zack Greinke: Outside of ERA and HRs allowed he dominated every pitching stat (advanced and non-advanced)

 

Rookie of the Year: Gamel except he isn't a rookie. I expect big things from him

 

Most Improved: Carlos Gomez! He is a late bloomer who still has 5 tools waiting to be unleased on the league. Just stay on top of the ball and look at a few pitches. That is the difference. Losing Dale Sveum however by set him back.

 

Comeback Player: Manny Parra: Confidence up and healthy, he is dangerous with flithy stuff....confidence down however, hes toast.

 

Prediction 89-73 second place

[CheezWizHed]

Most Improved: Carlos Gomez! He is a late bloomer who still has 5 tools waiting to be unleased on the league.

 

I don't know... that is probably a longer shot than predicting we end up 4th.

[TooLiveBrew]

Just stay on top of the ball and look at a few pitches. That is the difference.

Nothin' to it!

Trust me, I wish I still had your level of faith in him. But I don't.

[pete]

I think having fantastic defense in center and his baserunning already make him pretty valuable.

 

As for 4th place, outside of multiple injuries I have a hard time imaging how that would happen and I'm pretty cynical.

[CheezWizHed]

I think having fantastic defense in center and his baserunning already make him pretty valuable.

 

No one is denying that (although, his speed doesn't always translate into good base-running). But that doesn't make him a 5 tool player, but a 2 tool player. Which is better than just being a tool.... http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/wink.gif

[razzzorsharp]

I think having fantastic defense in center and his baserunning already make him pretty valuable.

 

 

As for 4th place, outside of multiple injuries I have a hard time imaging how that would happen and I'm pretty cynical.

 

With Braun more than likely go for 50 resulting in a slow start, maybe the Brewers will trade Grienke and Marcum allowing for the Pirates to overtake them for third.

 

I hope not obviously.

[Mr Southpaw]

Player of the Year: Rickie Weeks....If he doesn't get hurt

Pitcher of the Year: YoGa..............Because he is the best

Rookie of the Year: Mat Gamel.......Because he gets enough leash

Most Improved Player: JoLuc.............Steadily gets better

Biggest Drop-off: John Axford.....He has to drop sometime. doesn't he?

 

Questions Answered:

1) Who will get the first contract extension? Zach Greinke (4/70 with options)

2) Who will be the first traded away or released (off the expected 25 man roster)? Manny Parra.

3) What position in the NL Central will the Brewers finish? First, of course, 92 wins.

[SenatorShriv]

Player of the Year - Weeks

Pitcher of the Year - KRod (I think he will be lights out in the set up position and that Axford will regress just a touch.)

Rookie of the Year - Aoki (He will see time at all three OF positions with suspensions, injuries and Tplush will be traded to fill an emergency gap that emerges in the bullpen or infield due to injury.)

Most Improved - Gamel (I don't get the pessimisim here.)

Disapointment - Braun (assuming there is a suspension, which is automatically a disapointment and then takes a while to find his rythme / presses a bit when he comes back.)

 

Extension - Marcum (he matches his 1st half performance from last year and gets a multi-year extension midseason.)

1st Traded - Morgan

Position in NL Central - 2nd (behind the Cards)

 

I expect improvement from LuCroy but I have been a big fan for a while and he just didn't fit neatly into either category. I think Hart could surprise some people this year.

[thablingster]

Just off the top of my head:

 

Player of the Year: Aramis Ramirez

Pitcher of the Year: Yovani Gallardo

Rookie of the Year: Aoki

Most Improved Player: Yovani Gallardo

 

Questions Answered:

1) Who will get the first contract extension? Zack Greinke

2) Who will be the first traded away or released (off the expected 25 man roster)? Traded: K-Rod

Released: George Kottaras (every year it seems like they try to replace him, only for him to come back)

3) What position in the NL Central will the Brewers finish? Second

 

Record: 86-76

[TRD1]

Player of the Year: Zack Greinke I'm going to say Braun is suspended 50 games. If he's not this award would easily go to him but I think Zack Greinke is going to dramatically improve this season after having a year in Milwaukee under his belt, an NLCS appearance, and an improved offense.

 

Pitcher of the Year: Zack Greinke Again, I'm predicting Greinke has a monster year this year. There are too many other dominant pitchers in the NL but I think we could see some sort of Milwaukee based push for him getting the Cy Young if we're doing well.

 

Rookie of the Year: Mat Gamel Excited to see what he can do with a job that's his to lose going into the year.

 

Most Improved Player: Carlos Gomez It's weird. To me it felt that when Gomez's defense seemed to be so obviously helping us, RR seemed more and more reluctant to use him citing his lack of offense. But I think during the season he will see how much the improved defense in the IF helps the pitchers. Combine with a falling back to earth Nyjer Morgan and I think we'll see him starting the majority of the time in CF.

 

Questions Answered:

1) Who will get the first contract extension? Greinke

2) Who will be the first traded away or released (off the expected 25 man roster)? Hmm...maybe Morgan? Jose Veras?

3) What position in the NL Central will the Brewers finish? 1st

 

Record: 99-63

[MVP2110]

Who do you all think makes the all star team this year? I got Ramirez, Weeks, Greinke, & Braun(if not suspended)

[MJLiverock]

I'll assume Braun,not suspended, if he is, I'd guess the recored is well below playoff contention, the team is somewhat in disarray for the first few weeks as they struggle with figuring out lineups and dealing with the temptation to constantly tinker with things.

Player of the Year: Ryan Braun -best hitter on the team, elite talent.

Pitcher of the Year: Zack Greinke - best pure talent on the mound, finds a comfort zone in Milwaukee this year after dealing with the new surroundings and injury last year.

Rookie of the Year: comes down to playing time, Aoki or Gamel; if Gamel gets 140+ games in I think he'll win it by default as no one else will play that much, if he doesn't get that many games in it means he is struggling and not playing well so it goes to Aoki.

Surprise Player: I don't have a feeling that a lot of major contributor guys can surprise me to the upside so I'll go with Chris Narveson,-- flirts with a sub 4 ERA and becomes 3rd most consistent starter in rotation.

Disappointment: Shawn Marcum - - overcompensating for terrible playoff appearances and tweeking delivery lead to a stint or two on the DL and a mid 4's ERA.

 

Questions Answered:

1) Who will get the first contract extension? Not many choices so I'll go with Grienke being a $100 Million man for the Brewers.

2) Who will be the first traded away or released(off the expected 25 man roster)? Manny Parra. Braddock gets the nod as the lefty and Parra's injury and control will leave him the odd man out of the pen.

3) What position in the NL Central will the Brewers finish? 3rd

 

Record: 85-77. The rotation ends up slightly worse than last year as Marcum disappoints (does some DL time), Wolf regressed a bit with age and luck, and the team fills in the 5th spot with the likes of Estrada or some other AAAA starter prior to calling up Peralta late in the season. The bullpen will be good with Veras, Loe, Braddock for the 7th and KRod/Ax for the 8th/9th, but expecting Axford to only blow 2 saves all year seems too optimistic. The terrible bench will limit late game comebacks and the loss of Prince in the middle of the lineup hurt more than many expect.

[Ennder]

1) Who will get the first contract extension? Greinke, I know it is a boring pick but oh well.

2) Who will be the first traded away or released(off the expected 25 man roster)? Braddock, his attitude is going to stop him from ever producing.

3) What position in the NL Central will the Brewers finish? 1st. Pujols is a much bigger loss than Fielder and it took a huge late season run just to back into the playoffs for the Cardinals. The Reds didn't make up enough of the ground.

 

 

Player of the Year - Braun

Pitcher of the Year - Greinke

Rookie of the Year - Green

Most Improved Player - Cameron Loe - sub 3 ERA

[Polish Falcons]

Here's my prediction: 97 - 65. This year's team is better than last, and will win one more game. Aramis Ramirez proves to be a good signing who will produce well in the cleanup spot. Braun has another MVP caliber season. Grienke has his best year since his cy young season. Gamel/Gonzalez/Ramirez 2012 > Fielder/McGehe/Betancourt 2011. Marcum is fine. Lucroy and Gomez take small steps forward. Taylor Green will be solid role player and cult status grows. Aoki is a wild card.

[LouisEly]

Fielder's loss has a bigger impact than people think; his protection behind Braun had a bigger influence on the outcome of games than most will give credit to. That being said, the Brewers had a lot of players miss significant time last year (Grienke, Hart, Braun, Weeks, Gomez, every LH bullpen pitcher), and K-Rod over Loe in the 8th saves a few more games. Biggest concern is the health of Parra/Stetter/Braddock; if two of the three are healthy and miss no more than 3 weeks of the season I see good things. Slight step backwards, but still make the playoffs.

 

93-69

 

Player of the Year: Weeks. Braun gets pitched around, tries too hard in early part of season. Weeks bats cleanup and with Braun on base in front of him has big year.

 

Pitcher of Year: Gallardo. Mr. Consistency

 

Rookie of Year: Green. Gamel struggles, A-Ram takes over first, Green takes over 3rd.

 

Most Improved: Parra. Overcomes injures, becomes solid LH in bullpen.

 

First contract extension: Grienke. Gave up too much for this not to happen.

 

First player released: Does Tim Dillard count? If not, Veras. They go with two lefties in the pen.

 

What place in Central do they finish? 2nd, by one game. The Classies get Wainwright back, and with Motte becoming the full time closer both mitigate the loss of Pujols.

[bensheeps]

Player of the Year: Braun. Think he comes out on a mission to show everyone he can still put up MVP-type numbers.

 

Pitcher of the Year: Greinke. Gallardo will be good as well, but think Greinke is extra special.

 

Rookie of the Year: Aoki. Plays himself into Morgan's platoon role (at the least).

 

First contract extension: Grienke. Hoping this is done early before monster year causes even higher salary demands.

 

First player moved: Morgan. With Aoki performing so well (along with positive strides from Gomez), Morgan is traded to the Mets for minor league middle infielder.

 

Place in Central Division: 2nd but still make the playoffs as a wild card team.

[Tbadder]

Player of the Year: Greinke

Pitcher of the Year: Greinke

Monster year, finishes 2nd in the Cy Young, 19 wins

Rookie of the Year: Peralta

 

With Braun back Aoki is strictly a 4 or 5 outfielder and Roenicke just won't give Gamel a chance. Green will probably have the most at bats given Weeks injuries, Gamel's failure, and as others have predicted Aramis moving to first possibly, but Green's limitations won't make up for Peralta's step forward and sheer potential

 

First contract extension: Axford

First player moved: K-Rod

Place in the Central: 3rd, exciting summer as St. Louis and Milwaukee jockey all season long for Wild Card, Reds should run away with the division

Record: 84-78

[craigharmann]

Player of the Year: Weeks

Pitcher of the Year: Greinke

Rookie of the Year: Aoki

Contract Extension: Greinke

First moved: Kotteras

 

1st place in the NL Central

96-66

 

Cards will have horrid pitching, with major season ending injuries to Berkman and Holliday. All their other position player regress. McGwire is fired/"relieved of his andro" by mid-May.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Player of the Year: Rickie Weeks...the second straight Brewer to win the NL MVP. His bat will even be good enough to win a gold glove.

Pitcher of the Year: Greinke...if he just avoids those one or two pitches that cost him last year, he'll be dominant.

Rookie of the Year: Peralta...he could wind up being the 7th inning guy before year end.

Extension: Axford...I'd much rather see Greinke here, but it takes two willing parties. That points me to Ax.

Improvement: Gamel...he finds his inner Lyle Overbay and is perfectly adequate.

Disappointment: Marcum...I hope I'm wrong, but I see a DL stint in his future.

First moved: Parra...he's traded to Detroit where he becomes Prince's roommate. In reality it will probably be some middling prospect in a trade before the deadline for a guy like JHJ or Felipe Lopez.

 

87-75...2nd in Central, #2 Wild Card team. I think they get nipped by the Reds. The starting lineup and pitching are better than people think and the loss of Prince doesn't kill them, but they won't avoid an injury in the rotation the way they did last year. The lack of depth will force an air pocket during the season.

[tstads20]

Player of the Year: Weeks

Pitcher of the Year: Gallardo

Rookie of the Year: Does Gamel count? If not, I'll say Fiers

Contract Extension: Greinke

First moved: I'll get a little controversial with this one...Morgan

 

1st place in the NL Central

91-71

 

Cardinals and Reds not too far behind, but the Cards' age starts to show with injuries and production, and Reds can't scrape up enough good pitching to get it done with solid but not great years from Latos and Cueto.

[RightFieldCoder]

85-77, 3rd in the Central. 4 games out of the playoffs. We'll trade a prospect (Green, or A-Ball player) for a grizzled veteran for half a year.