Nate Palmer

The nice thing with both Brosseau and Toro is they each have option years remaining and can be sent to AAA. Currently, Roster Resource has Toro at AAA on the depth chart.

Brian Anderson provides the Brewers with a player with upside that also further crowds the roster. Does that mean another move could be coming? The Milwaukee Brewers have signed rebound candidate Brian Anderson to a $3.5 million deal with $2 million in incentives. With any signing, there is a ripple effect on the roster, but this signing may have a notable effect on two players: Keston Hiura and Tyrone Taylor. Hiura’s nonexistent fit on the 2023 Brewers roster has been well-documented. A trade of the one-time promising prospect feels like a foregone conclusion at this point. However, we are midway through January, and Hiura is still a Brewer. Anderson is now the third infielder added to the Brewers roster this offseason. Those three join a group that includes Luis Urias, Brice Turang, Mike Brosseau, Abraham Toro, Owen Miller, Rowdy Tellez, and Anderson. The Brewers have yet to show confidence in playing Hiura regularly anywhere in his career. Considering the number of players on the roster that duplicate or best what he brings to the playing field, it still feels like a matter of time before he is gone. Taylor is a slightly different case. He still has value on the Brewers, even if functionally, it is only to be a placeholder for one of the young guys waiting in the wings. Taylor’s movement could come more from a team's pursuit that needs someone of his skillset as right-handed outfielders continue to get snatched up off the free-agent market. Anderson’s presence provides one more veteran option for the Brewers that could play a corner spot in the outfield. While Anderson is best known as a third baseman, he has also played over 1,500 innings as an outfielder. Each season he has posted a positive DRS, finishing with a +2 DRS in 2022. However, Outs Above Average isn’t nearly as fond of Anderson, with a -3 OAA. Anderson could provide at least passable defense in the corners for the Brewers with a cannon arm to compensate for some of his shortcomings. The New York Mets just signed Tommy Pham for $6 million after hitting .236/.312/.374 with an 89 wRC+. Teams looking for a right-handed outfielder could find Taylor after hitting .233/.286/.442 with a 102 wRC+ to be appealing. The one drawback for Taylor is like his teammates Anderson and Hiura, Taylor is also a right-hander that hit right-handed pitching better in 2022, though that was counter to his career numbers. Over his career, Taylor carries a .253 average against lefties and a .235 average against righties, though his overall OPS carries nearly identical platoon splits (.755 OPS vs RHP, .761 OPS vs LHP). Another positive for Taylor is that he can provide center field defense and played 669 innings at the position in 2022. Those innings were good for +6 DRS and +4 OAA. Of course, all those positive traits may be why the Brewers hang on to Taylor, at least until the team is more confident Sal Frelick is ready for a call-up. The addition of Anderson does at least provide a path to a trade without automatically turning things over to one of the prospects on Opening Day. How do you see Anderson impacting the roster? Is a trade coming, or do all these pieces somehow fit together? View full article

The Milwaukee Brewers have their eyes on some exciting, young prospects that could impact the major league roster in 2023. Two others a little further away from the major league roster have been recognized for their excellent defense. Sam Dykstra recently published MLB Pipeline’s All-Defense Prospect Team for 2023. The Milwaukee Brewers matched the Colorado Rockies, with each being the only teams to feature not just one but two players on this year’s first team. The two Brewers making national waves are catcher Jeferson Quero and second baseman Robert Moore. C Jeferson Quero Quero has undoubtedly pushed his name into several conversations this offseason after his Arizona Fall League performance. While his 15 games didn’t showcase what has been traditionally a good bat, his glove and arm were on display. Throwing out 46 percent of all baserunners has a way of turning heads. Something that will only increase in value for Quero as changes have been made to MLB to promote more action on the basepaths. While the Brewers' acquisition of William Contreras may initially feel like it blocks Quero, other options might exist. If the young Venezuelan continues to progress, Contreras’ bat plays well as a designated hitter, and Quero could start pushing for MLB at-bats within the next couple of years. Quero’s own bat could develop into a weapon boasting a .780 OPS in 2022 with a .860 OPS over 20 games at High-A Wisconsin. 2B Robert Moore Moore was just drafted by the Brewers this past summer in the second draft round, but this college draftee is already making waves with his defense. As is highlighted about Moore in his selection to this team, he showcases quick hands, allowing him to be an excellent up-the-middle defender. It is those same quick hands that help fuel Moore’s offense as well. Something he has been showcasing as he plays in Australia over the offseason. Moore slashes .292/.386/.500 with a .886 OPS and six home runs as he plays for Brisbane. Neither of these guys will likely see any time with the Brewers in 2023. In the next couple of years, they could be pushing for the major league roster, and it is great to see two guys in the talent pipeline for the Brewers that are being recognized as the best among their peers. View full article

The Milwaukee Brewers made Matt Arnold their top decision-maker after David Stearns stepped down into an advisory role. Arnold is set to have his contract with the club expire at the end of the season. How could that effect the Brewers' 2023 season and beyond? The Milwaukee Brewers 2023 season feels like a pivotal one as the window to make a World Series run with players like Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, and Willy Adames may soon close. While those three players specifically have some long-term uncertainty with the Brewers, the contract questions don’t end there. Those questions go to the top with the new head of the Crew front office. David Stearns stepping down from his post as the top decision maker and moving into an advisory role was quite the shock to start the offseason. With Stearns no longer calling the shots, the succession plan saw Senior Vice President and General Manager Matt Arnold take over that top decision-making role in the organization. While Arnold has taken on a different role responsibility-wise, that has yet to be reflected in his title. In that move, it is potentially telling that the Brewers should have made Arnold President of Baseball Operations like his predecessor Stearns. Instead, opting to put Arnold in charge of baseball operations but with the same title as he had previously as General Manager. No title change and an expiring contract at the end of the 2023 season make this an interesting season for the Brewers' new decision-maker. In what now sets up as almost a prove-it year, Arnold has spent little time making moves to make the Brewers a contender within their financial constraints. Arnold has notably made his mark in trades that have allowed the Brewers to acquire all-star catcher William Contreras, outfielder Jesse Winker, infielder Abraham Toro, and several pitchers. Arnold also spent the Brewers' first free agent dollars of the offseason by bringing in old friend Wade Miley for some more pitching depth. Arnold’s long-term future hasn’t seemed to make him hesitant in making moves, although, to this point, everything given up has essentially the same long-term impact as Arnold’s current contract. Regardless, Arnold has quietly been steering the Brewers to a solid offseason. What has transpired this offseason may only confirm what the New York Mets saw in Arnold when interviewing him for their open Chief of Baseball Operations position. It is also proof of what Arnold has learned under some smart front offices (Rangers, Reds, Rays) in each of his stops before becoming Stearns’ first hire with the Brewers. As 2023 unfolds, it will be interesting to see if the Brewers choose to lock up Arnold and it will also be interesting to see if they allow Arnold to make a move with more long-term financial implications, like signing Woodruff, Burnes, or Adames to an extension. Also, if the Brewers are in contention at the trade deadline, what sort of trades will Arnold have the green light to go after? When the season ends, will the Brewers will give the Stearns understudy the keys long-term after so much success under his predecessor? This may be the transition into a new era of Brewer leadership. View full article

If that Winker projection were to hold true, that would be a very bad development for the club. They could likely weather the other projections, but it seems a lot hinges on Winker's power rebounding in Milwaukee.

At one time, Keston Hiura was a highly regarded prospect of the Milwaukee Brewers. Currently, his fit on the roster feels awkward at best. What is his role for the 2023 Brewers? As the roster stands, Keston Hiura has a spot on the 2023 Milwaukee Brewers roster. While he has a spot, his role on the team is a bit more challenging to figure out. What might be a role for Hiura in 2023, and how have the Brewers’ offseason additions affected his place on the roster? Adding Owen Miller via trade from the Guardians may present the most direct threat to Hiura as the most obvious first baseman acquired this offseason. The additions of Jesse Winker and William Contreras’ bat also, in ways, can be counted as acquisitions that make Hiura’s place on the roster less secure. To understand where Hiura is, we may need to look back at where he has come from and why we are questioning his role and roster spot in the first place. Hiura’s performance has contributed to it, starting with his defense. The one-time second-base prospect is now only a first baseman or designated hitter. He was moved to first base after primarily getting innings as the Brewers’ second baseman in 2019 when he put up a -6 DRS and -8 OAA and in 2020 with a -6 DRS and -2 OAA. Those defensive numbers were in consideration when the Brewers signed Kolten Wong before the 2021 season. Wong’s addition officially signaled Hiura’s diminished defensive value. Turning our attention to the right-hander’s offensive performance, we will find better but mixed results. Hiura’s four MLB seasons have been bookended by his two good offensive outputs, with significant down years in the middle. That inconsistency creates uncertainty about what his bat can bring in 2023 from a position requiring offensive output. Just months after signing Wong, the Brewers signaled they weren’t comfortable with what they saw offensively from Hiura. The team then acquired Rowdy Tellez in July on 2021 to help fill the Brewers’ need for offense as another first base and designated hitter option. That left the 2022 setup where the Brewers tried to work what looked like a lefty Tellez and righty Hiura platoon. While the Brewers tried to platoon the two players, Hiura, while right-handed, perpetually struggles against left-handed pitching. In 2022, Hiura slashed .188/.275/.344 with a .619 OPS against lefties. That was slightly below his career mark of .201/.283/.323 and a .606 OPS. Inversely, Tellez, a left-handed hitter, has a respectable career .717 OPS against left-handed pitching. Even though Hiura has not performed well against lefties compared to his mark of .253/.332/.508 and .840 OPS against right-handers, the Brewers still chose to start Hiura against plenty of left-handers. Over last season, the Brewers played Hiura in 36 games with a left-handed starter and 31 games when a right-hander was starting. At no point did the Brewers begin phasing Hiura out against lefties either. From September 1st onward, Hiura started against ten right-handed and eight left-handed starters. The one thing that Hiura can be happy about this offseason is that the Brewers haven’t signed or acquired anyone to supplant him, yet, anyways. Miller isn’t much better against left-handers than Hiura, so there isn’t any immediate offense upgrade. The Brewers have Jon Singleton on the roster, and although he is a left-handed hitter with limited experience, he has hit .256/.343/.465 and a .809 OPS against lefties. The 26-year-old Hiura, if the season were to start today, would still fill one of those final roster spots in a bench role. He isn’t necessarily an unusable player, but the team needs to find a good right-handed hitting platoon option that can hit lefties to pair with Tellez. Hiura’s fit seems awkward at best right now. It may be time for the Brewers to stop waiting to see if Hiura will develop into the player they hoped him to be as a prospect and instead trade him and allow him to get a fresh start elsewhere. That would ultimately free the front office to seek out a bat to pair as a platoon with Tellez. Someone like Evan Longoria (.812 OPS against left-handed pitching in 2022) could be the type of free agent that the Brewers could pursue and would provide a skill set more suited for the current roster than Hiura. Do you Brewer Fanatics see a role for Hiura on the 2023 roster? What would your plan be for him moving forward? View full article

The Milwaukee Brewers recently acquired Wisconsin native Owen Miller. In a newly released interview with David Laurila at FanGraphs, we may have gotten a glimpse into what the club sees in Miller as he joins the club. Earlier this week, the Milwaukee Brewers completed a trade with the Cleveland Guardians to acquire Wisconsin native Owen Miller. At first glance, it may look like a feel-good story with a hometown kid coming home to play for his favorite team. There may be more to the trade than just that. After being a third-round draft pick in 2018, Miller saw his first major league action with Cleveland in 2021. Since then, he has played 190 games in the majors but hasn’t flashed much with his bat yet. Miller has slashed .231/.283/.338, good for a 74 wRC+. What isn’t seen strictly by the numbers may be something the Brewers see in Miller. That is the process and the journey the 26-year-old is on as a hitter. A recently published interview with David Laurila over at FanGraphs sheds some light on that process. In the interview, Miller tells Laurila how he was a contact hitter in college and the minors and had his hands very involved in his swing. Looking through his minor league numbers, we see that approach produced some pretty good results for Miller. He always posted an above-average wRC+, posting 135 in low-A, 145 in High-A, 121 at Double-A, and 132 at the highest level Triple-A. So even though the infielder produced well in the minors at every level, when 2020 came around, Miller recognized he needed to make changes to his swing if he wanted to perform his best at the major league level. As Miller tells Laurila, there was one significant change he wanted to make with his swing, “I went from thinking of my hands at all times to thinking of my hips firing. It was about understanding the bat path and keeping your barrel in the zone as long as possible. That allows you to hit the ball harder and also helps you to see the ball longer.” Since 2020 Miller has been trying to refine his swing, which tells me one thing. As he has been adjusting to major league pitching and the major league schedule, he has also been tinkering with the foundation of his swing. If hitting wasn’t hard enough already, Miller was adding in another wrinkle to get better results in the long term. Maybe the Brewers have picked up on that process and are willing to wait for the reward. Miller has already proven to be very good at leading with his hands in his swing. That was noticed about him as a prospect but had him pegged as a doubles-type hitter. If he combines that with the ability to drive with his hips through the ball, the Brewers may have just acquired a hitter that will surprise and add more power along with a better bat path. Miller is attempting to add a new wrinkle to some impressive minor-league numbers. The Wisconsin native played all over the diamond for the Guardians in his two seasons. He most likely fits in at first or second for the Brewers, but he could also become a utility-type player spelling the whole infield if needed. The right-hander provides a platoon option for first base with Rowdy Tellez or another option if Brice Turang isn’t able to take the reigns at second for some reason. There is even the ability to send Miller to the minors with his remaining options so he can refine that approach at the plate. Miller joins a group of infielders the Brewers have acquired, each with their questions but also with flexibility like Miller. If the Brewers trust and see something in the process that Miller is working on, they could find themselves a better player than one often expects in a “player to be named later” trade. If that happens, while the hometown story will always be incredible, the field results will be much more enjoyable. View full article

The Milwaukee Brewers filled two of their biggest needs: a catcher and a hitter by acquiring William Contreras. Here is a look at some other areas of the rosters that should be addressed and what free agents are out there that could help. After the Milwaukee Brewers acquired William Contreras, one major item of need was checked off the list. As the free agent rumor mill continues to churn and signings have been filing in, there are a few more logical places for the Brewers to add talent to their roster. Here is an attempt to play matchmaker in a few areas of the roster. Bullpen Help For any team considering a playoff run, the bullpen is where teams always look for more quality arms. The front office has collected a plethora of arms in two of the trades completed this winter, but a lack of assured quality is present. (If certainty can be a thing regarding bullpen arms.) It will certainly be interesting if the Brewers continue to feel secure about Devin Williams as their closer or if they would like to bring in someone else to either supplant him or push him back to the primary setup role. The big name is Craig Kimbrel, who spent 2022 in Los Angeles pitching for the Dodgers. Currently, at age 34, Kimbrel now has age and mileage concerns attached to him. This past season, there was a drop in his strikeout and K-rates, only to add fuel to those concerns. Even with that in consideration, he still put up a 3.75 ERA paired with a slightly less encouraging 4.04 xFIP. Of course, if Williams is the closer going forward, there are potentially a lot of setup or 6th and 7th-inning guys available that would lengthen the Brewers 'bullpen. Michael Fulmer, Trevor May, and Andrew Chafin are among the names that could fit into that sort of role for the Brewers, and their market may be on the cusp of getting some traction in the coming weeks. Brandon Drury The Brewers have seen both Wong and Jace Peterson land on other rosters this offseason, and while there are guys on the roster ready to replace them, there could still be interest in bringing someone in. Brandon Drury could make sense in large part due to his flexibility. He can play second and third base and venture to the corner outfield if needed. Drury is coming off his best offensive season after hitting .263/.320/.492, a .813 OPS, and 28 home runs. All buyers should beware of potentially buying Drury at his high point, but if the 2022 version is real, he could provide insurance for Brice Turang if he struggles, as well as Luis Urias. Drury’s presence would also allow Abraham Toro to stay at Triple-A for development. Something that could help maximize the centerpiece of the return from the Mariners for Wong. Drury would also provide further infield depth just in case the Brewers were blown away by an offer for Willy Adames. Someone other teams will call on if they are left without a chair in the game of musical chairs that the free agent shortstops have created this offseason. Adam Duvall After the trade of Hunter Renfroe, there is still room for the addition of another outfielder. Adam Duvall is a guy who has spent the last several seasons as a valuable role player for Atlanta Braves. He has been a fringe starter but is a threat to hit for power when put in the right situation. Over Duvall’s career, he has had even platoon numbers, although this past season, he produced much better numbers against left-handers than right-handers. There may not be much reason to sign a Duvall-type outfielder other than he would help establish a “floor” for the quality of players in the Brewers outfield. While establishing a floor, he hasn’t been good enough, nor should he be expensive enough, to truly block playing time from young guys like Tyrone Taylor, Sal Frelick, or Joey Wiemer. Due to the presence of those three, someone like Duvall would seemingly be a lower priority than other needs. The addition of Contreras' bat also lessens the pressure on one of those young outfielders to produce immediately. View full article