Doug Melvin: ‘We’re putting a lot of faith into our system’

Courtesy of thegreedypinstripes.com

The Milwaukee Brewers are the only team that have yet to sign a major league free agent this winter.

The Brewers, who have a glaring need for a reliable first baseman, have shown interest in numerous free agents, James Loney and Corey Hart to name a few, but failed to reel them in. They have also explored the trade market, most notably talking with the New York Mets about Ike Davis. But the Mets requested a young starting pitcher, like Tyler Thornburg, from the Brewers and general manager Doug Melvin wasn’t having it.

“I’ve had ongoing discussions with [Mets general manager] Sandy Alderson, but we haven’t gotten to anything where we’re comfortable with the deal from our side, and he’s not been comfortable with the deal from his side,” Melvin told Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.

The organization is banking on their young prospects, which is why the Brewers have been dead silent this offseason. As Melvin puts it, the team can “look at $5-$6 million guys” but why should they when “we think our guys are better or as good at $500,000”.

The Brewers have enormous faith in the back end of their rotation with young hurlers Wily Peralta and Tyler Thornburg, and are counting on Jimmy Nelson, Will Smith, Johnny Hellweg, and Hiram Burgos – all who are vying for a spot.

Milwaukee refuses to make a move for the sake of making a move.

“If you look at a lot of the teams that got involved in free agency in the past few years, it hasn’t been that successful for them — and then there are the players whose price range isn’t even close to what we could consider,” Melvin said. “We’re putting a lot of faith into our system.”