AUTHOR: brewcrew25 TITLE: Milwaukee Brewers: 2010 Season Preview DATE: 10:27:00 PM ----- BODY:

The Milwaukee Brewers are looking to improve from their 80-82 finish last season, let's take a look at what they have done so far in this off-season. Signed Randy Wolf to a 3 year deal. Signed Doug Davis to a 1 year deal. Signed LaTroy Hawkins to a 2 year deal. Signed Greg Zaun to a 1 year deal. Traded J.J. Hardy to the Twins for CF Carlos Gomez. Let's now take a look at the Brewers projected starting depth chart. C: Greg Zaun: Greg Zaun will be the Brewers starting catcher. He has played in the majors since 1995, and has a career .251 AVG/.344 OBP/.388 SLG and has hit a total of 86 homers in 15 seasons. Zaun will replace the light-hitting catcher, and he should be an improvment over Kendall. 1B: Prince Fielder Prince Fielder is the key to the Brewers success next year. If he can produce numbers like he did last season (.299 AVG/46 HR/101 RBI) then the Brewers should at least be competitve. I'm predicting another solid season next year, and he has the chance to hit at least 50 HR's in a given season. His defense has been getting better year after year as well, and he should at least be a medicore defensive player. 2B: Rickie Weeks Rickie Weeks needs to prove what we all know he is capable of. Last year, before he got hurt, Weeks hit .272 with 9 HR's in 37 games. He will be replacing Lopez, who was great last year for the Brewers. I predict Weeks will hit around .275 with 20 SB's, and 20 HR's, which is going to be a huge step if he can accomplish that. 3B: Casey McGehee McGehee was acquired by the Brewers before spring traning last year. He was a waiver wire pick up, and was nearly unstoppable in spring traning. For his efforts, he made the club. Bill Hall completley struggled though, and was shipped to the Seattle Mariners (he's now on the Red Sox) McGehee got his chance to start, and he proved himself hitting .368 in 23 games in June, and followed that month with another solid one in July, .300 AVG in 20 games. He finished the season hitting .301 and belting 16 HR's, while driving in 66. He finished in the hunt for the rookie of the year, but lost to Chris Coghlan of the Florida Marlins. McGehee will get to play everyday, and should produce at least similar numbers as he did last season. SS: Alcides Escobar Escobar is going to be the player I will be keeping my eye on the most. He will be replacing J.J. Hardy at SS, who was traded to the Twins for Gomez. Escobar got to play some last season, and did very well in a short span. In 38 games, Escobar hit .304, while driving in 11 runs, and hitting one home run. He provides the speed that the Brewers desperatley need, and his defense his very good. He should be a player that could be in contention for rookie of the year, and I expect him to do very well in his first full season. LF: Ryan Braun Braun is going to be entering into his fourth full season in the major leagues. So far in his young career, Braun has hit an outstanding .308, and has 103 home runs in 422 games. Last year was his best season hitting .320, 32 homeruns, and knocking in 114. He also stole 20 bases. Fielder and Braun should carry the team once again, and should have more opportunites to knock in runs if Weeks and Escobar can get on base. CF: Carlos Gomez Carlos Gomez was acquired via the Twins for J.J. Hardy. He was a big time prospect at one time, even being the main piece in the Johan Santana deal to the Mets. He should at least add some speed to the team, and he is known for his defense. I'm hoping he can at least hit .250, and stealing 15-20 bases. RF: Corey Hart Corey Hart needs to pick it up if the Brewers want any chance to win the NL Central. He has struggled the last two seasons, and he can't lay off the outside slider which is hurting him. Hopefully he can at least put up numbers similar to his 07 campaign (.295 AVG/.353 OBP/24 HR) we'll see, but he is young, and has great potential. Overall, I really think the Brewers offense has improved over last season. They added speed to the lineup in Escobar, and Gomez, Weeks should be healthy as well. It's all going to come down to staying healthy, and hoping Hart can return to form, and that Escobar and McGehee can handle the job at SS and 3B. If these things can happen, I can see the Brewers winning 85-90 games depending on the pitching.

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