Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers front office will be bustling this offseason. I'm not talking about significant free agent moves or mass trades, but dealing with the almost ridiculous number of players in their arbitration years.

There are many "what might have been" moments in the history of any franchise. The Brewers reportedly wanted to draft Mike Trout in 2009, but the Angels took him one slot ahead of Milwaukee. Or how about if Nomar Garciaparra had signed with the Brewers after he was selected in 1991 instead of choosing college? Another great ‘what if’ surrounds Gary Sheffield, who came up with Milwaukee with great fanfare in 1988 at the age of 19 - only to be traded after showing promise - but also inconsistency and immaturity. He went on to have a long and stellar career.

Thursday afternoon, Rawlings Baseball announced the 2022 Rawlings Gold Glove Award Finalists. The Brewers have two finalists. What do you think? Did anyone get snubbed? Discuss below. 

Think you know what the Brewers should do? Awesome. Time to put your money where your mouth is at BrewersPayroll.com. OK, well, maybe not money, but your ... ideas? Reputation? Are you confident enough to risk those?

In the previous four payroll stories, we found that the Brewers will go into the offseason with salaries somewhere between $110 and $125M. How much can we expect them to spend?

If one doubts the significance of payroll in Brewers President of Baseball Operations David Stearns' decision-making, one need only look at the recent trade deadline. There was no legitimate on-the-field reason for a division-leading team to trade away an All-Star closer at the trade deadline. The only reason to do so is money, so let's finish our back-of-the-napkin payroll analysis with a deep dive into the bullpen.

The good news is that the Brewers are good. The bad news is that the clock is ticking on the Brewers' competitive window. That much is crystal clear when looking at the Brewers' rotation's payroll situation for 2023, even at a back-of-the-napkin level.

Not every Brewer was great (or even good), but that doesn't mean players can’t make their mark with the team. Outfielder Matt Mieske was such a player - a guy who was never a difference maker - but had his share of memorable moments in his time with the organization. 

The offseason begins five days after the last game of the World Series, and the Brewers will be open for business. But what can we reasonably expect them to spend? To find out, we looked at the team's payroll situation at a back-of-the-napkin level. The infield was pretty straightforward. The outfield is a different story.

You probably don't need me to convince you that the Brewers' primary limitation is payroll. We, as fans, might sort of work by feel, eyeball the roster, and expect a mid-level free agent just based on the team's history, David Stearns is doing what every business manager does: trying to squeeze juice out of every last dollar. So let's see what moves the team's payroll might allow.

Even with a disappointing end to the 2022 season, the Brewers still received a incredible effort from their everyday shortstop. Congrats to Willy Adames on being named our MVP for the 2022 season!

The Milwaukee Brewers Best Rookie and Most Improved, as voted by Brewer Fanatic staff, have been revealed. We find our way once again on the mound where Corbin Burnes follows up his 2021 Cy Young Award-winning season with the 2022 Brewer Fanatic Pitcher of the Year Award. I'm sure it's just as meaningful to the 27-year-old.