Here We Go Again: The 2011 Projections Are In

I don’t know if anyone else cares as much about this stuff as I do, but Baseball Prospectus has released its 2011 Projections this week. If you’ve never been to the site, be prepared: it is a great hub of baseball news and a wonderful place to get lost if you are a stat freak.

Oh, and the Brewers are projected to finish 2nd, with an 85-77 record.

Though I could take the time to toot my horn on earlier predictions, found here and here, I know there probably isn’t a lot of stock in these sorts of things anyway so I’ll spare you the self-aggrandizing. What I will say, however, is that the Cardinals’ loss of Wainwright should be cause for a recount of this simulated result. According to BP, the Cardinals will hold a scant two game advantage over Milwaukee. Wainwright, as everyone knows, holds some sort of mafia vendetta against the Brewers, and his loss may win us a handful of games and put the Brew Crew over the top.

Beyond that, it is quickly becoming apparent that the Milwaukee Brewers are going to receive more national attention than the previous 15 years combined. In the interest of keeping things short, I will ask you a few questions:

Are you, as a fan, comfortable with the amount of attention the team is going to get?

Is the attention deserved at this point?

Will the team be able to live up to the expectations?

Being a Brewers fan in the past has meant resigning yourself to anonymity to some degree, and for pretty much all of the ’90s you had to hope for something akin to Angels in the Outfield to get any measure of success or notoriety. We’ve been hammering at this idea for months now, but as a long-time fan of both the Brewers and baseball, I find small market mentalities fascinating. Am I alone in the fact that I have been yelling at ESPN to talk more about Milwaukee? Or am I alone now that I get nervous when they do mention my team?

So we obviously have plenty to think about on and off the field as Spring Training keeps rolling ahead. It’s always fun when your team gets a spotlight, but it can be nerve racking as well. Personally, I just want the season to get started already so I don’t have to worry all the time.