Brewers have upside this year and I think MA is aware…
1. The many promising and young outfielders, with one or two hopefully playing well, should be an upgrade even with the loss of Renfroe.
2. DH should be better. They have the great Winker who, although over 200 points lower in OPS against righties than the lowly Hiura, could bounce back to being a well-above avg hitter and needed DH for us after the crazy decision of CC to simply let Cutch play and hit throughout the season, regardless of outcomes. Hiura and his .866 OPS against RHP is still here too. Contreras will get swings at DH too.
3. And speaking of him, We have an All Star catcher! And is young, cheap, and controllable for five years. His defense is meh, but even that could be improved upon considering age and coaching.
4. About no one had a better 2022 than 2021. Maybe Wong or Renfroe… Yelich? Our SP all were worse, injured more, or both. Bullpen was waaay worse last year than 2022 and we still almost got in the playoffs. Even if a couple/few of our starting pitchers have bounce back years, that should make up several games in the win column right there.