Should the Brewers reunite with Casey McGehee?

The Milwaukee Brewers’ need for a healthy and consistent third baseman is rather critical, so as the Hot Stove rages on, are they ready to get their hands warm to grab a firm deal?

Perhaps the team could reunite with first and third baseman Casey McGehee.

Casey McGehee could be a viable option for the Brewers’ infield. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

McGehee, 31, spent this last season in Japan with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and pretty much jump started his professional career again. He hit .292/.376/.515 and smacked across 28 homers while driving in 93 runs in 144 games. The Golden Eagles would go on to win this year’s Japan Series over the Yomiuri Giants and McGehee’s bat helped propel his team to get there in the first place.

During 2012, which was his latest season in the MLB, McGehee played with both the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees, but did not look like the same player the Brewers had years prior. Overall that season, McGehee hit .217/.284/.358 and saw an increase in strikeouts (17.3 percent to 19.9). He did however walk more (7.5 percent to 8.2), so his patience at the plate wasn’t totally annihilated.

The Brewers have a need for a first baseman if they do not re-sign Corey Hart and a third baseman if they can trade Aramis Ramirez or if he cannot stay healthy. McGehee can fill both of those roles and it makes a lot of sense for this to happen. Of course, reuniting with McGehee would mean one of those two scenarios would have to happen and in reality, I’m not so sure either one would work. If they did however, McGehee should be one of the Brewers’ top priorities.

In Milwaukee, McGehee was an under-the-radar type power hitter who was usually overshadowed by Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. He was a career .267 hitter in Milwaukee, but did belt 52 homers and drove in 237 runs in his three seasons. Of course, 2011 was a very off year for McGehee who saw a massive decrease in his batting average (.285 to .223) and struggled in nearly every category such as BABIP, ISO and slugging percentage.

However, this is a new McGehee. He was able to snap out of his two year funk just this past season in Japan and who knows, maybe it did him some good. The Brewers probably won’t re-sign him, but they should definitely keep an open mind as the offseason progress. He’s not the best player available for a plug in at first or third, but he’s certainly far from the worst.