Milwaukee Brewers All-Time Team

Hollywood Sucks, I'm moving to Wisconsin....

Let's visit Old Milwaukee for a look at the Brewers All-Time team.

 

County Stadium was the site of three World Series - the first(and only) pennant-winning Brewers squad lost to the Cardinals in 1982, while the Milwaukee Braves and New York Yankees played back-to-back fall classics here, in 1957 and 1958.

Phil Garner was one of only two All-Time team managers who didn't lead his team to the playoffs. Felipe Alou is now alone on that list, as Craig Counsell takes over as skipper of this squad.

Here's the lineup Garner left for him:

Looks good at first glance, but an imbalance on the bench could lead to some shuffling.

Dave Nilsson is an adequate backup, but Jim Gantner was below average over his 1,801 games with Milwaukee.

	Brewers stats	WAR	HR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Dave Nilsson	10.6	105	0.282	0.351	0.449	0.801	106
	Charlie Moore	10.5	42	0.262	0.320	0.355	0.675	89
	Brewers stats	WAR	HR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Rickie Weeks	12.4	148	0.249	0.347	0.424	0.771	105
	Jim Gantner	22.4	47	0.274	0.319	0.351	0.671	88

Unfortunately for Counsell, all of the Brewers' best available bats are outfielders or third basemen.

If only there was some way to get Don Money and Jeff Cirillo on the roster...

	Brewers stats	WAR	HR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Don Money	28.4	134	0.270	0.338	0.421	0.760	114
	Jeff Cirillo	26.2	73	0.307	0.383	0.449	0.831	113

Sixto Lezcano is safe as the reserve right fielder, but Ben Oglivie and Geoff Jenkins are neck-and-neck.

	Brewers stats	WAR	HR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Ben Oglivie	21.5	176	0.277	0.345	0.461	0.806	124
	Geoff Jenkins	22.1	212	0.277	0.347	0.496	0.843	116
	*Sixto Lezcano	19.0	102	0.275	0.354	0.452	0.805	125
	Corey Hart	15.5	154	0.276	0.334	0.491	0.824	116

If Craig Counsell wanted to get crazy, he could move Paul Molitor to second base and play Cirillo - the Brewers' all-time leader in career batting average - at third base. Or he could DH Molitor, but that would push Prince Fielder to first and Cecil Cooper would have to sit on the bench.

Either way, Jim Gantner has to go. Jeff Cirillo makes the team... somewhere.

 

The Brewers didn't develop many star pitchers over the franchise's first fifty years. Thankfully, help is finally here.

Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes are now eligible, and their ceilings are higher than any Milwaukee starter save for Ben Sheets. But have they pitched enough to reach this All-Time roster?

	Brewers stats	WAR	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP	starts
	*Chris Bosio	18.6	3.76	107	2.59	1.238	163
	*Mike Caldwell	17.3	3.74	103	1.53	1.284	217
	Brandon Woodruff	14.8	3.14	135	4.43	1.066	106
	Corbin Burnes	9.9	3.26	128	4.62	1.054	80

It's a thin line between Woodruff and Burnes - who has already indicated he isn't long for this franchise. Like with Gantner, longevity isn't enough to save Caldwell from getting cut. Woodruff will slot in as the #3 starter, ahead of Bosio and Gallardo.


Craig Counsell is licking his chops at the big boost to the Brewers' relief corps.

I knew almost immediately that the wrong Bob was on the roster, and that Wickman belonged here - not with the Barnstormers. He's not the only new closer Counsell can count on:

Hader in the house! He's no longer a Brewer but Josh lasted long enough to earn a spot at the back end of this bullpen.

	Brewers stats	SV	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP
	*Bob McClure	34	3.97	99	1.37	1.423
	*Chuck Crim	42	3.47	118	1.66	1.314
	Bob Wickman	79	3.20	143	1.80	1.397
	Josh Hader	125	2.48	172	4.58	0.882

Chuck Crim was much more serviceable than McClure, but this Brew Crew bullpen is going beast mode. They might have even more help on the horizon; the team's current closer Devin Williams is picking up right where Hader left off.

Corbin Burnes could crack this roster if he decides to stay in Wisconsin. And Christian Yelich could blow past Oglivie and Jenkins if he can come anywhere close to repeating his MVP campaign.

TL; DR: Five(!) changes from the original roster: Gantner, Caldwell, Crim, McClure, and Garner out. Cirillo, Woodruff, Wickman, Hader, and Counsell in.

We'll wrap up the National League Central this weekend with the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals.



Thanks for reading!



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