Top Milwaukee Brewers Of The 2010s: 43. 3B Casey McGehee

We keep moving through our ranking of the Top 50 Milwaukee Brewers of the 2010s with No. 43 on the list.

Number 43 on our Top Milwaukee Brewers of the last decade brings us back to the beginning of the decade with a third baseman who burst onto the scene as a rookie and upped the ante in 2010.

How We Ranked Them

We created an initial list of the top players by combining their Fangraphs Total WAR from each year they were on the Brewers and ranking them from highest to lowest.

However, this wasn’t going to be a list of simply who had the highest WAR while they were here and that’s it. So we adjusted the list based on postseason contributions, overall quality of player, and general importance to the franchise.

43. 3B Casey McGehee

Casey McGehee technically started making an impact with the Brewers in 2009 before the decade started. But he continued to make big contributions the following year and, despite dipping in production after that, was highly involved in the team’s 2011 postseason run.

2010: 2.8 WAR

2011: -0.3

Total WAR: 2.5

McGehee was originally a 10th-round draft pick of the Chicago Cubs in 2003. After some appearances for them as a September call up in 2008, they released him during the offseason. Before he could hit free agency, the Milwaukee Brewers claimed him off of waivers and he made the Opening Day roster out of spring training the following year.

In 2009, McGehee platooned with Bill Hall at third base, garnering 71 of his 85 starts there and playing in 116 games overall. He slashed .301/.360/.499 that year with 16 homers and 66 RBI. Still with rookie status, that performance was good enough to land him 5th in the NL Rookie of the Year voting.

By 2010, McGehee had earned the third baseman job full time, starting 153 of his 157 games that year at the position. He also continued to ramp up the production as he slashed .285/.337/.464 and put up numbers that had him all over the team’s leaderboards.

His .285 batting average was second on the team behind Ryan Braun while his 38 doubles were also second behind Braun. And while his 23 homers placed him fifth on a team full of sluggers, his 104 runs driven in led the entire team.

Unfortunately 2011 saw the big righty struggle. His slash line dipped dramatically down to .223/.280/.346 and he managed just 13 homers and 68 runs batted in despite still starting 147 games at third base. Once the playoffs started, partially due to leading the league in errors as a third baseman with 20, he had lost the starting gig to midseason acquisition Jerry Hairston and his only appearances were as a pinch hitter, where he went 1 for 5.

After the season, he was traded to the Pirates for pitcher Jose Veras. Since then McGehee has bounced around with four other Major League teams and had two separate stints in Japan. His most recent baseball action was with the Yomiuri Giants in 2018 where he hit .285 and clubbed 21 homers.

Though McGehee’s tenure in Milwaukee was short, his contributions were big. And even though 2011 was his worst season as a Brewer, he still played a big part that year in getting the team to their fourth postseason appearance in team history.