What do the Brewers need to win the World Series

[titletownking]

Outside of playing well, health and a few breaks, what do the Brewers need to win the World Series this year? I believe the lineup is fairly locked, hard pressed to find a need in it. Potentially a vet bat in the outfield, but with Mitchell returning that feels unlikely. Maybe a super utility guy in the infield then? Definitely a starter or two, probably an upper half of the rotation guy. The pen appears to be set, Williams returning only further solidifies that unit. So in total, a vet bat with positional versatility, and a starter that can pitch in a game 2. The lineup gives us as good a chance as ever before. I don’t feel that this team is far away from being a very serious World Series contender. 

[AKCheesehead]

I think you pretty much covered it in the first 9 words. Playing well, health and the right breaks are all any playoff team needs. You don’t need to be favored, you just need to win. 

[tmwiese55]

With Chourio playing well now you hope that eliminates the OF need that seemed there a month or two back.  Getting a more reliable starting P with all these injuries could be a help, but there is also a fair logic in just getting the guys back healthy to finish the year. But still, someone mid level who's reliable couldn't hurt.     After that, I'd say a utility IF a level up to take Monasterio's spot would be the trade target.  Not so much that it would matter if everyone is healthy, but if one of the 3 starters gets hurt you really don't want him as your every day guy. 

Really not much of that matters for WS though. That just comes down to dumb luck at the right time.  And I suppose getting the 2 seed instead of 3 could really be a big help on that front. 

[Frisbee Slider]

One really good starting pitcher.

[Dragonbait]

Out score the other teams.

[82brewcrew82]

Stay healthy is number one but that is not necessarily a controllable thing.  Having said that I think building depth is critical. On offense I believe they need a right handed OF bat and a better utility option than Mona.  I think they need to be proactive about the pen going forward.  I will assume Devin come back but I think they still need one veteran arm for the pen.  I'd like to see them get two starting pitchers but that isn't going to happen.  I think they need one more starter that can give them length in the rotation and not cost them games while doing it.  This assumes maybe hall can push Bryce to pen and maybe that solves the pen issue.  Maybe Hall can be that other guy in the pen aside from Devin and then get two starters.  Lots of moving pieces on the pitching front but they need to strengthen/lengthen the pen and the rotation.

I don't think they need to swing super big unless something really opportunistic comes their way.

[torts]

Not play the dodgers

[Baldkin]

April Christian Yelich needs to show up in October

[yfinn6]

Probably just get hot at the right time. 

They need some more arms that are potential impact arms; getting Williams back will help. 

[thebruce44]

I could see them targeting a SP who is very effective the first 2 times through the order but struggles with the third. Assuming everyone gets healthy at the right time, they have plenty of hard throwers to round out the last half of game out of the bullpen.

[wibadgers23]

39 minutes ago, Baldkin said:

April Christian Yelich needs to show up in October

Same with Contreras.

[wallus]

The Brewers have had some good success identifying players that they can afford to trade to acquire talent. I am hoping they continue to do that to pick up a starter, maybe two. If they go two, I would hope one of them is not a rental.

(Hopefully not another Olson for Norris trade)

[treego14]

A very successful start to the season reminds me of the advice given to an Israeli king after success in battle:

1 Kings 20:22
Afterward, the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, “Strengthen your position and see what must be done, because next spring the king of Aram will attack you again.”

Brewers need to continue to look to improve through whatever means!

[liveforoctober]

Other than the obvious, maybe another swing arm? The leash in the playoffs is pretty tight ... maybe another vet that can eat up 2-3 innings to bridge the gap?

[Brock Beauchamp]

15 hours ago, Frisbee Slider said:

One really good starting pitcher.

Yes, this. Peralta is a good postseason starter. After that, I'm not comfortable with any Brewers pitcher starting a game in October.

[kestrel79]

One good starter and I think we have a legit chance. Next year might be our year if Woody comes back strong and said starter we acquire is under control for another year. Maybe another arm in the pen you gotta thing some of these guys might be gassed by end of Sept. But our track record of deadline pen arms hasn't been good.

We just might have to give up some good prospects...and I'm sure everyone here hates that fact but we have quite the logjam right now these next couple years if our younger guys keep it up.

[owbc]

14 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Yes, this. Peralta is a good postseason starter. After that, I'm not comfortable with any Brewers pitcher starting a game in October.

Does it really matter? We had about the greatest starting pitching advantage one could dream of in Game 1 of the wild card series last year...and we lost to Pfaadt and a parade of relievers. And then Peralta had a poor game 2, which finished us off. 

Our path to the World Series in the current postseason format is to win the wild card series by any means possible and ride that momentum to a series win over the #2 seed who has been sitting on their butts for a few days waiting for an opponent. 

I'm also of the opinion that bats are more important than pitching these days. Every playoff team has pitching, not everyone has the hitting ability that we do. 

Assuming we're going to be hosting the wild card series again, we know one can win games in that series with short starts followed by tactical usage of relief pitching. Then we knock out Philly or LA in the short series and hope that another wild card team did the same to the other top seed. Then, in an ideal world, we would be playing the Mets or Braves or Padres in the NLCS, which are winnable 7 game series. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

4 minutes ago, owbc said:

Does it really matter? We had about the greatest starting pitching advantage one could dream of in Game 1 of the wild card series last year...and we lost to Pfaadt and a parade of relievers. 

It obviously matters, though it's a guarantee of nothing. You want the fewest player deficits possible going into October and right now, the Brewers have a starting pitching deficit.

If anything, their breakout offense this season is only more reason to spend prospect capital and try to win.

[owbc]

5 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

It obviously matters, though it's a guarantee of nothing. You want the fewest player deficits possible going into October and right now, the Brewers have a starting pitching deficit.

If anything, their breakout offense this season is only more reason to spend prospect capital and try to win.

I do expect them to make a tactical pitching move. The Sewald acquisition by the D'backs last year was a really smart one. 

[StearnsFTW]

Gimme Garrett Crochet and I'll feel better, but yeah, stay healthy and catch some breaks mainly  

[liveforoctober]

4 hours ago, StearnsFTW said:

Gimme Garrett Crochet and I'll feel better, but yeah, stay healthy and catch some breaks mainly  

25 and ascending. This would cost us Misiorowski, Boeve and what else?

[bigred]

Definitely 2 starters. One #2 type SP, and a #3 SP. Also, they could probably use another solid bat coming off the bench. Should start using the deep farm system for upgrades now, too. Draft is right around the corner, so they can replace the prospect(s) they'd have to give up. 

[bigred]

Since Payamps is having a down year so far, another good/great 7th-8th inning reliever could probably help too. 

[jay87shot]

Another reliable starter or 2,  doesn't need to be Crochet. 

We are so far behind the Dodgers and Phillies on overall and star talent that big adds won't do it. To win it all we need 4 consistent starters who can go 5-6 innings and not allow more than a couple runs. If the rotation can keep us in the game against the best lineups we have a chance. Fedde, Severino, Kuchchi, maybe Tyler Anderson, Quantrill, or a few others who can be reliable 3's.

[Jim French Stepstool]

A starter would be a nice addition. But at what cost? I look at this sort of from the opposite direction: What would we be willing to part with? There's a LOT of middle INF talent at the A-ball level--Pratt, Areinamo, Barrios--with some very intriguing stuff coming up immediately behind them. On the corners there's Black, Boeve, Wilken & Luke Adams, with Bitonti in the wings. I think they'd be willing to deal from both of these subsets (although I wonder how much value Black now has after his glove pretty much relegates him to 1B). Add a Perkins or a Frelick (admittedly risky with Mitchells' history) & maybe one of the A-ball arms and there's a potential package. If you need to include a Misiorowski, Henderson, Knoth or Wichrowski then just say no. And if the above doesn't get you what you'd really want, then pare down accordingly & target one of the guys on Jay87s' list.