MLB Payroll Analysis and Offseason Preview: Milwaukee Brewers
By Joshua Mayer
With the offseason approaching in less than two months, and all teams’ rosters mostly settled for the year,it’s a good time to start looking at the payroll situation for each MLB team. We continue the series with the Milwaukee Brewers.
It has been a trying season for the Milwaukee Brewers as they are in the second year of their official rebuild. They sold some Major League talent at the trade deadline to accelerate the rebuild, but also kept a few pieces. At 68-84, the Brewers are possibly on their way to another 90+ loss season. On the plus side, they have already tied their win total from last season with 68.
Milwaukee peaked in 2011, making it to the NLCS before falling to the division rival Cardinals in six games. Every since, the team has undergone an erratic decline, as they were able to have a winning record in 2012 and 2014 before deciding to shake it up.
Last season, Milwaukee’s starting pitchers struggled to a 4.79 ERA and ERA- of 106 (park and year adjusted ERA, 100 is league average), good for 28th in the MLB. After selling high on Mike Fiers last season, and cutting Kyle Lohse after 2015, it was time to see what the Brewers young pitchers could accomplish. Thus far, they have markedly improved and are now 17th in the MLB with a 4.40 ERA as well as an ERA- of 96.
Though the pitching has improved, the team’s hitting has remained below average. In 2015, the Brewers ranked 22nd in runs scored with 655. They also had a wRC+ (Wins Runs Created +, park and year adjusted, 100 is league average) of 86, 28th in the MLB. This season, they rank a worse 24th with 632 runs so far, but are better in terms of wRC+, ranking 24th as well with a 91.
Due to the lack of offense, the Brewers did well to sell high on catcher Jonathan Lucroy and reliever Jeremy Jeffress. They were able to acquire outfield prospects Lewis Brinson and Ryan Cordell, as well as right-handed pitcher Luis Ortiz from the Rangers. They were also able to acquire a catcher, one of the team’s biggest needs, in the form of prospect Andrew Susac when they traded reliever Will Smith to the Giants.
Now, only Ryan Braun and Matt Garza are left as veterans who are under contract. The team’s front office has done a great job to avoid bad contracts during the rebuild and now are equipped with payroll versatility. Most all of the team’s 40-man roster has less than three years of MLB experience, making them available for cheap control for at least a couple more seasons.
Still, there a few pending free agents, as well as players under long-term contracts, and more entering years of arbitration. Let’s start by taking a look at the free agent decisions GM David Stearns will be making this offseason.
Note: Only players on 40-man roster/60-day DL with MLB experience accounted for. Players who are not on a 40-man, or on a 40-man without MLB experience have not had their service clocks started.