New faces, position changes for Brewers this spring

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PHOENIX -- The Milwaukee Brewers might not be "America's team" just yet, but they're a huge hit at local synagogues. That's a given for a club with two players, Ryan Braun and Gabe Kapler, who go by the nickname "Hebrew Hammer."

Hey, if Wikipedia confirms it, it must be true. The Brewers were on their way to becoming a national story last year when they were done in by inferior defense, underperforming veterans and a failure to win on the road. Their 83 victories were the franchise's highest total since 1992, but after leading the National League Central by 8½ games on June 23, they were left with a nagging sense that they'd blown a major opportunity. To the Cubs, no less. There's plenty of optimism in Milwaukee's camp this spring, but a lot of elements have to mesh. Closer Francisco Cordero left to sign a $46 million contract with Cincinnati, and general manager Doug Melvin rebuilt the bullpen. The Brewers signed Mike Cameron to play center field, which means Bill Hall will shift from center to third base and Braun, in turn, will move from third base to left field. The starting rotation, a potential team strength, also suffered a minor setback in the first week of spring training when Yovani Gallardo underwent arthroscopic knee surgery. So questions abound for manager Ned Yost. Here are five that could determine whether the young Brewers will be serious contenders or will fall into the "not quite" category again in 2008.

 

Read the rest of the article here: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2008/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=3260725

[TooLiveBrew]

That's a pretty well-done article, I have to admit.

"I feel surprisingly comfortable," Braun said. "I think I'm already better in left field than I was at third base."

 

That's good to hear, though it can be filed under the 'what did you expect him to say?' category.

 

"That's why Melvin turned down a Weeks-for-Chad Cordero trade offer from Washington while the Brewers were still looking for a closer."

 

Wow - it's no wonder the Cordero talks didn't go anywhere.

[razzzorsharp]

I laughed at the Cordero for Weeks talk as well.