Bratwithspecialsauce

Since 1B has been an abyss for years (excluding Santana, who did a nice, short term job), I could see that happening..You don't peddle hitters with great numbers until you have to..

Frelick is your CF. Yelich is DH and 1B. Chourio to RF, Mitchell in left. You can use Yeli in LF on occasion and give Black reps at 1B slowly that way.

Too early to make determinations on The Freshman. Giving up too early cost us Scooter Gennett. But there's a lot to be learned from last year. For me, it's that offensive player development has been sub par for years. Fundamentals haven't been stressed for years and it shows frequently. We were TERRIBLE getting men on base around. Turang has to make better contact and put on some muscle in the off season so he doesn't look like a scarecrow by seasons end. He swung a tired bat by seasons end.. BUT, he's the ONLY Brewer that could advance runners with bunts and ground balls..We stole bases well (again, Turang was the best) and Yeli as well as others ran bases well. Frelicks job and strength is getting on base. They tried to make him drive the ball and he neither drove the ball and stopped getting on base. There's too much evidence that the problem is in the player development and that's a coaching problem. Adames and Tellez hit homers and little else and were allowed to be lousy hitters two years running. Batting 3 and 4, they BOTH struggled to reach a .300 OBP and hit into DPs and struck out while running half speed in clutch situations. Neither appeared concerned at their failures and Tellez is gone. Willy has had good September's to make his season numbers acceptable, but 3 to 4 months of nothing for the second year in a row makes him a must trade guy. Hope Murphy has the guts to make this a productive offense again.

I'm surprised at how polarized fans are concerning Turang. He's phenomenal in the field. His range is outstanding. I sometimes wonder if these writers actually watch games or just look at stats on a laptop. His turn and release at second is incredible. But the concerns about his bat are curious.. He was a rookie that was a consistent .280s hitter on the way up with a .350 plus OBP..He also is the best guy in the lineup as far as advancing runners. He gives himself up frequently to sacrifice. Admittedly, he tired badly in September and it showed. He also stole 34 bases in '22 while getting caught twice! 24th in the league in '23.. I truly hope he's our '24 shortstop. He needs to put on 10 lbs so he can last 162 games. The biggest fan complaint this year was the inability to advance runners. He's the best situational hitter we have. OPS means nothing for that kind of player. He needs stamina and needs work on hitting fast balls.

It takes some serious cherry picking of stats (and only somewhat correct) to view Willys season as even mildly successful. The article tried to state that Willy's slump was only May and June but that's VERY generous. He managed to hit 5 HRs in July, but was still abysmal (.222/.291 with 9 runs scored batting 3rd all month). He also was 10th in mlb in strikeouts and hit into a career high 12 double plays. 2nd year in a row he disappeared most of the summer. His August and September hid just how bad he was. He was moved to 6th in the order by late in the season, when he started getting on base. Still not good, but better. Moving him down in the order and getting Tellez out of the order entirely was when the team functioned best. He was the second worst hitter in the league with qualifying at bats through July. Those pointing to his team leading RBI and 24 home runs overlook the obvious. Much of the Brewers lineup changed in the second half while he was an every day player all year. Yeli and Contreras batting leadoff and second were within a couple RBI and were the only other everyday players all season. Willys defense was better in '23 than '22, which to me was his saving grace. I thought Turang might take over SS in the second half. His bat was improving but then slumped terribly in the end. He looked like he lost a lot of weight as the season went on. His uniform was hanging on him by September and his bat speed slowed considerably. He needs to pack on some weight and muscle this off season so he doesn't run out of gas again. He still won games with his glove and was the only guy winning a couple games with his base stealing and situational hitting (best bunter)..But he needs to be a .250/320 guy to replace Willy at short. I expect both he and Frelick to step up in '24, making Willy good trade bait and lowering payroll.

Good article. I'm disappointed with the way 2023 ended(as is everyone), but all along I thought about how good this lineup will look in 2024. We do have good in house solutions for Big Woo's replacement, but I totally expect Arnold to be looking for a front line starter and reliever options this offseason. The big question is how we turn those multitudes of stranded runners into runs next season. The second half proved we have many guys who can get on base. Our achilles heel was getting guys home. Much of that can be fixed in house also. Chourio and Black will help in that department. I hope we can resign Canha. Santana was great also, even though age might be a factor there. With our outfield stacked (might be June before Chourio gets the call), moving Yeli to 1st base/DH/LF makes sense. A lot of the work has already been done. A good RBI bat to protect Yeli is a must. The Cubs look to be more of a threat next year, but I think the Brewers only ned a couple pieces to be the favorite.