Bay Area Baseball

Cain could be the Brewers’ new ace.

Lineup Projection

C. Jason Kendall

1b. Mat Gamel - Could be the second coming of Braun as an RBI presence, if Fielder is traded a move for Gamel would make a lot of sense.

2b. Rickie Weeks

3b. Bill Hall

ss. Alcides Escobar- Future star is ready for a full time job, expect Yunel Escobar type numbers with greater speed in his first year.

lf. Ryan Braun - Quite simply one of the best players in the game already.

cf. Mike Cameron

rf. Corey Hart

sp1 -Matt Cain - Star quality pitcher should flourish in a new surroundings, especially with a new lineup backing him.

sp2 -Yovani Gallardo

sp3 -Manny Parra

sp4 -Dave Bush

sp5 -Jonathan Sanchez - Comes over with Cain, Hinshaw and perhaps a young hitter for Fielder and Hardy

closer -Alex Hinshaw - Great young pitcher with San Francisco could be made expendable by Affeldt acquisition.

CC Sabathia is likely gone and the Brewers will need to rebuild just one season after reaching the National League Playoffs. 

When it comes to the Milwaukee Brewers offseason plans it always ultimately boils down to pitching. The Brewers will likely lose their top two starters, CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets to free agency. Their remaining rotation is not the type of rotation that takes a team into October. Seth McClung, Dave Bush, Manny Parra, Yovani Gallardo are a collection of #5 starters and young pitchers. Gallardo and Parra have potential but neither should be looked at as an ace at this point in their careers.

Milwaukee does have a great deal of young hitting talent, from stars Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder to up and comers Alcides Escobar and Mat Gamel. Escobar is a Rafael Furcal type of shortstop who could give Milwaukee the replacement it needs to trade incumbent JJ Hardy, a strong young player in his own right. Hardy could bring back a top three pitcher to add to Gallardo and Parra at the top of the rotation. Johnathan Sanchez of San Francisco is a name that comes to mind as a player who could be on the move. Matt Cain has also been rumored as trade bait but Milwaukee would need to put together a package that included Fielder if they wanted Cain.

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