Milwaukee Brewers

Off-season Overview:

The Brewers are another team that had an interesting off-season. Milwaukee made a lot of changes without really signing anyone. Most of the notable additions and subtractions came via the trade. The Brewers made it clear that they are cutting payroll when they traded away Hunter Renfroe, Kolton Wong, and young speedster Estuary Ruiz. TO free agency, the Brewers lost RP Taylor Rogers, OF Andrew McCutchen, and C Omar Narvaez and traded for the likes of OF Jesse Winker, IF/OF Abraham Toro, and C William Contreras. Overall, I would call the off-season a wash in Milwaukee. Importantly, the Brewers pitching is intact and they enter 2023 with one of the best rotations in baseball.

Ceiling:

A first place finish in the NL Central and a trip to the NLCS. If anyone can take the Cardinals out of the top spot, it's the Brewers. The offense leaves a lot to be desired but the pitching staff is ELITE and hard to overlook. Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and Freddy Peralta make one of the best 1-2-3 combos in baseball and if they can make the playoffs, that makes the rotation very dangerous. Add Eric Lauer if can repeat what he did last year, and assuming Aaron Ashby improves, this rotation could be the best of 2023 give them an opportunity to fight for a playoff spot and, ultimately, make a deep run. I don't see Milwaukee making it past the NLCS because pitching can only take you so far at that stage. The offense needs to drastically improve before this team is World Series potential.

Floor:

A 4th place finish in the NL Central. I would be shocked if the Brewers finished 4th honestly. The ONLY reason its feasible is if the Brew Crew becomes sellers and off Corbin Burnes and other starting pitching around the deadline. Burnes made it very clear at the beginning of Spring Training that he was unhappy with how his arbitration hearing went. He went so far as to publicly criticize Milwaukee's front office. If playoff hopes are dwindling, Burnes may be bait for a contender and this team has plenty of talent to a be a target for trades.

My Prediction:

A 2nd place finish in the NL Central and just missing out of the playoffs. This pitching will carry them to an 85 win season, but that's just not quite good enough to get them into the Playoffs in the NL.

-- Cyrus Beermann