LOL, "the big picture?" Okay, I'll give "the big picture" a shot. Out of nothing, this franchise was created in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots. The very next season, the team moved to Milwaukee, becoming the Milwaukee Brewers, giving the city a Major League franchise for the first time since the Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966. The franchise has completed 46 seasons as a Major League team, compiling a 3,501-3,818 career record. That's a .478 lifetime winning percentage for the team. Put another way, this team's career win-loss record is 317 games below .500. There are now 162 games in a Major League season. We could win every single game in the 2015 season, and we would still be below .500. We would need to win the first 155 games in the 2016 season just to get back to .500. The franchise, in 46 seasons, has finished at or above .500 17 times. We have had 15 winning seasons in 46. We have won our own division a grand total of 3 times in 46 seasons. In those 46 seasons, we have appeared in the playoffs 4 times. 4 times in 46 seasons. The Milwaukee Brewers franchise, again, in 46 seasons, has won 2 playoff series, the 1982 American League Championship Series in 1982, and the National League Division series in 2011. In 46 seasons, the Brewers have complied a post season record of 14-18, for a .438 winning percentage. In 46 seasons, the Milwaukee Brewers have zero championships. Had the Kansas City Royals scored two more runs in game 7 of this year's World Series, Milwaukee would be the city with two or more professional sports franchises with the longest drought since winning a championship. So, currently we have the longest drought as a city at 44 years. But what about our young talent? In the April 11-23 issue of Baseball America, where all 30 Major League Teams had their minor league talent across all levels ranked 1-30, the Brewers ranked 29th. Second to last. The only team below us, the Los Angeles Dodgers, had the highest total salary in baseball at $235 million plus. With a new television deal, they can buy just about whatever they need. And where is that talent now? Well, I haven't done a complete analysis of both teams, going by Jonathan Mayo's top 100 prospect list on MLB.com, the Dodgers currently have four of the top 100 prospects. The Brewers? They do not have a single player in that top 100 list. Tyrone Taylor is currently our highest ranked prospect. And it is safe to say that the #3 prospect the Dodgers have, Joc Pederson, would easily be our #1 prospect in a heartbeat, if we acquired him. So, let's just sum up. Let's get that "big picture" that I have missed. The Brewers franchise: The past: 46 years in existence. 317 games below .500. 0 Championships. 1 World Series appearance in 46 seasons. 2 playoff series wins in 46 seasons. The future: Quite possibly, and highly likely, the very worst minor league system in all of baseball right now. Not a single elite prospect anywhere in our system. I'm sorry (sarcasm definitely intended), what are we missing? We have a manager that was furious after the end of the season. We have a team that was at one point 19 games above .500. A team that led their division most all of the year. A team that not only did not finish anywhere near 19 games above .500, we did not win the division. We did not make the playoffs at all. And we barely finished above .500. Mark Attanasio promised that he would "find who wanted to be in Milwaukee." The tough attitude told us that "heads were going to roll!" What happened? The hitting coach, and the first base coach, were fired. Because, obviously it was the first base coach's fault that more batters didn't reach first base on his watch. Now we have a new hitting coach, and a new first base coach. There's no stopping us now! The Cubs, who have gone over a century without a World Series win, likely now have the best minor league talent in all of baseball. I would bank on that. The Pirates have a minor league system that is in the top 10 in baseball. I would bank on that being so to start the 2015 season. The Cardinals may not have a top 10 minor league system anymore because they were the #1 minor league system before the 2014 season, and many of their top prospects graduated to the Major Leagues, losing their prospect status. The Reds are likely not a top 10 system in 2015 because all of their recent young, highly touted prospects, also have made it to the Major Leagues. There is a very real possibility that the Brewers will be picked to finish dead last in the National League Central by every major publication. They should be. Why? Our very best player, Ryan Braun, is a major question mark heading into this season because of his thumb. We still have no first baseman of the future, even though Prince Fielder left the Brewers before the 2012 season started. We have nobody in our system that's a clear successor to Aramis Ramirez at third base. Should he decide to retire, we don't know who would play third base next season. Hell, we're still looking for a first baseman. We have a second baseman that can't hit left handed pitching, and the man he platooned with in 2014 is now gone. And our shortstop, who looked so promising at the midway point of the 2013 season, has now had a full season of sub par play, where he has been one of the very worst producers in all of baseball. Now, it can be understood, because his 6 month old son tragically passed away. But my point is, we don't know if he will ever be able to bounce back. If he cannot, we do not have anybody at shortstop in our system who is ready to step in, and take his place. In fact, only our catcher Jonathan Lucroy keeps the entire infield from being a question mark. The big picture? The big picture is that the Brewers have been one of the worst franchises in Major League baseball history. We are nearing a half century of baseball, and we have never won a Championship, and it could very accurately be said that there is no team in baseball that is further away from contending for a championship than the Brewers. Even the Astros, who have been terrible, are further along than we are. All that young talent is starting to pay off for them. So, pray tell me, sir. What are we missing? What shining beacon of hope are we overlooking? What is there to tell us that 2015 will be any different than last year? I'm sorry Stache but this is just BS to try to tell me the big picture is looking back at our not so great history of 40+ years. That's not looking big picture, even if you believe you are. Doug Melvin took over in 2003 and since then they are 966-987. While that is a tick under the .500 mark, the first two seasons we did not have Mark A. actually trying to field a quality team. Since Mark A has taken over they are 831-799(83.1 wins - 79.9 losses), which I'll point out to being over the .500 mark. While this is not outstanding or amazing by any means, if your LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE, and include all your previous post of how bad of a franchise we truly were, this is awesome that we are accomplishing what we are, being in one of the smaller markets. You might want to be a Debbie downer and piss all over what Mark A and Melvin have accomplished, but I won't sir, I won't. They have made the playoff twice, were within a couple games of a world series, and have built a very capable roster of competing. The minor league rankings mean nothing to me. The Brewers have had guys come through their minors, not being noticed or recognized at all and have been able to contribute to a major league roster. If this team doesn't poop itself the last two months of the season, the doom and gloom on these boards goes away. Just look at the Giants roster. It truly is not too far off from what we have here in Milwaukee. Yes, they need a couple of key pieces but I will give Melvin and Mark A the opportunity to find those pieces and put together a winner. Just sick of the "oh, we are such a bad franchise" crap. LOOK AT THE OVERALL PICTURE OF THE MEN WHO HAVE BEEN TRYING TO RIGHT THIS SHIP. They have done a pretty dang good job and I guarantee they are working around the clock to fill in those missing pieces. It is a good time to be a Brewers fan. But hey, just keep popping in that 1982 re-run of blowing it against the Cardinals if you want to sleep better at night.