Once again, the Milwaukee Brewers head into the offseason much earlier than expected or hoped for. They fell short of their ultimate goal to win the World Series.
In 2021, they seemed closer to the right answer than ever before. The pitching that they had been developing and stockpiling for years had finally blossomed into a dominant core, led by Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff, and Cy Young frontrunner Corbin Burnes. The rotation was filled out with strong seasons from Adrian Houser and Eric Lauer.
The bullpen also had some breakouts with Devin Williams continuing his success after his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2020 and newcomers Jake Cousins and Miguel Sanchez turning themselves into valuable options.
The pitching was certainly World Series caliber.
The offense was a different story.
All season long, Christian Yelich and Keston Hiura struggled, although Hiura’s were much more pronounced. Yelich was at least able to provide something, but nowhere near the level that was expected or needed for this offense.
The struggles with the offense were the big story all season, and the Brewers added some help, including Willy Adames, Rowdy Tellez, and Eduardo Escobar. But in the end, it still wasn’t enough to overcome the lack of production from Yelich and Hiura.
This offseason, the offense will be an area of focus that needs improvement. Once again, a unique set of challenges is going to impact how Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns and GM Matt Arnold go about improving this roster.
In this article, we will preview the Brewers upcoming offseason, including: Important dates, departing free agents, option decisions, arbitration, Rule 5 eligibles, positions of need, and payroll outlook.
There’s a lot that goes on in an MLB offseason, let’s get into it.