Milwaukee Brewers: Good Luck Trying to Replace Two Aces

The Milwaukee Brewers had two aces in 2008.  Ben Sheets was their first-half ace going 10-3 with a 2.85 ERA during the first half.  CC Sabathia was their second-half ace going 11-2 with a with a 1.65 ERA.

Both Sheets and Sabathia are gone, and the Brewers are left scrambling to replace them. 

Here is a brief look at what to expect from the 2009 Brewers.

4. Milwaukee Brewers  80-82

Key Additions: Trevor Hoffman, Jorge Julio, and Braden Looper

Key Departures: CC Sabathia, Ben Sheets, Russell Branyan, Gabe Kapler, Brian Shouse, Derrick Turnbow, and Salomon Torres

Pitching

The Brewers will have to find a way to replace Sabathia and Sheets.  The good news for Milwaukee is Yovani Gallardo is healthy and will look to build off his solid rookie season of 2007. 

Gallardo is expected to be the Brewers ace this year.  If he stays healthy, I expect him to win 15-17 games for Milwaukee. Other then Gallardo, the Brewers rotation will be made up of four guys with an ERA over four. 

The Brewers also said goodbye to their two best relief pitchers of 2008.  Brian Shouse signed with the Rays and Salomon Torres announced his retirement. 

The Brewers did add Trevor Hoffman to replace Torres as the closer, but Hoffman is coming off his worst year going 3-6 with 30 saves.  Jorge Julio and Eric Gagne will be asked to get the ball to the future Hall of Famer Hoffman.

Offense

The Milwaukee Brewers have one of the better offenses in the league.  

Ryan Braun is coming off a huge season that saw him hit 37 home runs while batting .285.

The Brewers will need Corey Hart to improve on his 2008 season.  Hart did have more RBI in 2008, but his average dropped from .295 to .268, and his OBP dropped from .353 to .300. 

Milwaukee will need to replace Russell Branyan and Gabe Kapler.  Both Kapler and Branyan were productive off the bench, and did a good job when they were called on to start.

Outlook

For the first time in team history, the Milwaukee Brewers drew over three million fans in 2008.  The fans came out in record numbers, and the Brewers did not disappoint them making their first postseason since 1982. 

It's going to be very difficult for the Milwaukee Brewers to compete this year.  They will score a lot of runs, but I don't see their pitching holding up for 162 games.

Next Up:  The Houston Astros

It was a tail of two seasons for the Houston Astros in 2008.  The Astros were awful during the first half, but they bounced back with a great second half. 

It was not enough in 2008, and the Astros did very little to improve their team for the 2009 season.  I will be back later with a preview of the 2009 Astros.  'Til next time.