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Milwaukee Brewers

Team Page | Roster | Spring Training Schedule | Regular Season Schedule
On this page: Arrivals | Departures | Spring Cleaning | Team Breakdown | Prospects | Predictions

Left fielder Geoff Jenkins is rapidly becoming the Brewers' franchise player. AP

By Jon A. Dolezar, CNNSI.com

It's moving time for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The team's front-office personnel have already made the move 500 feet to the southeast into new $400 million, 43,500-seat, retractable roof Miller Park, replacing dilapidated half-century old Milwaukee County Stadium.

The Brewers also hope to make an upward move in the NL Central standings this season, having dipped into the free-agent market to sign former Rockies outfielder Jeffrey Hammonds to a three-year, $21.75 million contract. Whether Hammonds can duplicate his 106-RBI season that he put up with Coors Field as his home park last season is one of the crucial question marks for the Brewers.

In part to help increase the Brewers' recent lack of power, Miller Park will be more homer friendly than County Stadium. Miller Park's dimensions will be 344 feet down the left-field line, 371 to left-center, 400 to straightaway center, 374 to right-center and 345 down the right-field line. The distances were shorter down the foul lines at County (315) but the power alleys were an imposing 392 feet.

Top Guns Brewers 2000 team leaders Avg.  Geoff Jenkins  .303  HR  Geoff Jenkins  34  RBIs  Jeromy Burnitz  98  SB  Marquis Grissom  20  Wins  J. D'Amico/J. Haynes  12  ERA  Jeff D'Amico  2.66  Ks  Jeff D'Amico  101  Saves  Bob Wickman  16    Go Figure .325 The Brewers' on-base percentage in 2000 was lowest in the majors.

One thing that will be more stable for the Brewers this season is their rotation. Last year, manager Davey Lopes paraded 12 different starting pitchers to the mound, with only Jeff D'Amico and Jimmy Haynes having any sustained success.

John Snyder, Steve Woodard and Jaime Navarro combined for a 4-21 record as starters, and only Snyder lived to see the end of the season in Milwaukee.

Lopes and pitching coach Bob Apodaca need to get more than two complete games out of their pitching staff, after tying their major league-record low again last season for the third consecutive year. An entire season with a healthy D'Amico may be enough to give the Brewers at least that many, as the tall righty came back from two serious arm surgeries to post a 12-7 record with a 2.66 ERA.

The Brewers played the small-market club role again this offseason, with only the Hammonds signing preventing the team from being shutout from the Hot Stove news. An attempted trade of disgruntled right fielder Jeromy Burnitz to the Padres for third baseman Phil Nevin fell through when Burnitz couldn't come to terms on a contract extension with San Diego. Veteran infielder Tony Fernandez was signed in early February to compete at third base with free-agent bust Jose Hernandez and journeyman Tyler Houston, with the loser likely to be dealt or released.

Arrivals
Pos.	Player	From	Via
RHP	Will Cunnane	Padres	Trade
INF	Tony Fernandez	Japan	Free Agency
OF	Jeffrey Hammonds	Rockies	Free Agency
RHP	Brandon Kolb	Padres	Trade

Departures
Pos.	Player	To	Via
3B	Charlie Hayes	Astros	Released
OF	Lyle Mouton	TBA	Released
SS	Santiago Perez	Padres	Trade

Spring Cleaning

Jeff D'Amico Can D'Amico stay healthy and emerge as a contender for the NL ERA title? D'Amico went 5-0 with a 0.76 ERA in July to capture the NL Pitcher of the Month award. D'Amico has salvaged his career by improving his accuracy and sacrificing his formerly daunting velocity. The Brewers are confident that happier days lie ahead with a rotation anchored by D'Amico and U.S. gold medal-winning pitcher Ben Sheets. Hammonds lost about 4,900 feet of altitude when he signed with Milwaukee instead of re-signing in Colorado. The Brewers are hoping that the short dimensions at power-friendly Miller Park will help Hammonds prove that he wasn't a one-year wonder. Hammonds has never been viewed as a durable player, so lasting through 162 games as the Brewers' everyday center fielder would be a surprise, given that he played in only 436 games in the first seven years of his career, and only 245 games in the past two seasons. Burnitz is well liked in blue collar Milwaukee, but it's unlikely that he'll last the season in a Brewers uniform. Burnitz and the club were far apart in contract negotiations this offseason resulting in trade talks. The Brewers will pray that Burnitz bounces back from his terrible 2000 season, and then hope that the right deal comes along for him at the trading deadline. The Brewers' bullpen finished second in the NL with a 3.84 ERA, but Curtis Leskanic is still unproven as a closer and the setup men are inexperienced. Leskanic brings the heat for someone who is not physically imposing (6-0, 185 pounds), but he only moved into the closer role in the waning months of the season after Bob Wickman was dealt to Cleveland. The hope remains that Leskanic can duplicate his 2.56 ERA and continue to strikeout nearly a batter per inning, but he needs to cut down on his walk total to become a consistent closer.

Team Breakdown
Projected Lineup		Projected Rotation
2B	Ron Belliard	RHP	Jeff D'Amico
SS	Mark Loretta	RHP	Jamey Wright
LF	Geoff Jenkins	RHP	Jimmy Haynes
1B	Richie Sexson	RHP	Ben Sheets
RF	Jeromy Burnitz	RHP	Paul Rigdon
CF	Jeffrey Hammonds	Bullpen
3B	Fernandez/Hernandez/Houston	RHP	Curtis Leskanic (closer)
C	Henry Blanco	RHP	Juan Acevedo
Key Reserves		LHP	Ray King
C	Raul Casanova	RHP	David Weathers
OF	Marquis Grissom	LHP	Valerio De Los Santos
OF	James Mouton	RHP	John Snyder
IF/OF	Mark Sweeney	RHP	Will Cunnane
IF	Luis Lopez	RHP	Kyle Peterson

Prospects to Watch
RHP Nick Neugebauer -- An overpowering 20-year old righty, Neugebauer isn't too far behind Sheets in the eyes of the Brewers' scouts. Once he hits Brew City sometime late this season or early next season, Neugebauer will team with Sheets to give Milwaukee its most stable one-two punch atop the rotation since Mike Caldwell and Pete Vuckovich 20 years ago. In 77 1/3 innings in 18 starts last season, Neugebauer recorded 117 strikeouts but also gave up 87 walks, making control his primary focus in Class AA Huntsville this season. OF David Krynzel -- The speedy center fielder was the club's top pick last June, and the Brewers are hoping Krynzel lives up to his lofty potential, unlike 1996 top pick Chad Green who never panned out and was dealt to San Diego this offseason. Krynzel batted .359 in 131 at-bats at rookie league Ogden last summer, and will likely start this season at Class A Beloit. Scouts compare Krynzel's leadoff and center-field skills to former major leaguer Brett Butler. OF Christian Guerrero -- Yes, there is yet another Guerrero on the horizon, though the Brewers are hoping that Christian, 19, takes after younger cousin Vladimir rather than older cousin Wilton. Standing an imposing 6-4, Guerrero dominated rookie league Ogden with a .341 batting average, 12 home runs and 24 stolen bases in 255 at-bats. The Brewers will promote Guerrero to Class A Beloit this season and will take their time developing his skills by promoting him one level per season. RHP Jose Mieses -- Mieses has compiled a 27-9 record with a 2.61 ERA the past two seasons, with 172 strikeouts in 169 innings in two Class A stops last year. Mieses thrives on accuracy rather than power, but the Brewers will be looking for durable pitchers to fill in the back of the rotation behind Sheets and Neugebauer in a few seasons.
Best-Case Scenario
Raucous fans return to Brew City, buoyed by the spectacular new Miller Park, the superhuman hitting prowess of free-agent acquisition Hammonds and the overpowering, Cy-worthy pitching of Sheets. The Brewers miraculously sneak into the wild-card hunt and hold off a late-season run by the archrival Cubs to make the postseason for the first time in 19 years.
Worst-Case Scenario
The structural integrity of Miller Park and Hammonds' Coors-inflated stats both fail to hold up. The Brewers are in trouble if Burnitz struggles to hit his weight again this season, yet continues to complain about not being paid superstar dollars. Negotiations for contract extensions with young stars Geoff Jenkins and Richie Sexson could also distract from team chemistry and ruin the inaugural season in Miller Park both on and off the field.
Bottom Line
The Brewers will likely assume their usual position in bottom half of the NL Central, but with a new park and talented young arms on the way, this could be a transitional year between divisional also-ran and contender. If the team is able to lock up Jenkins and Sexson long-term, its future rotation of Sheets and Neugebauer will stack up against any young staff. A .500 season isn't out of the question, but duplicating last year's 16-game-under .500 performance would be a disappointment.

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