The Best Lineup Of Former Brewers Currently On Another Team

The best lineup of former Brewers players around the league

• Catcher: Martin Maldonado 

Maldonado was an interesting selection, and slightly beat out the honorable mention. His offensive performance is pretty subpar with an OPS+ of 72 and a wRC+ of 75. However, he has been one of the better defensive catchers in baseball, which explains why he held down the starting catcher role for the Houston Astros for some time.

• Honorable Mention: Yasmani Grandal. He has been hurt for a good portion of 2022 with the White Sox, and he has not been great at the plate when healthy. However, he put together a stellar offensive performance in 2021, so I assume better days are ahead for Grandal earning himself an honorable mention.
• Left Field: Ben Gamel 

I have to admit, this might be skewed due how Gamel always seems to play against the Brewers. He has the most home runs against the Brewers than any other opposing team in his career (4), and has a career slash line of .280/.379/.520 for an OPS of .899 against the Crew. With that being said, he is still putting up decent numbers on the year, rocking an OPS+ of 99 and a wRC+ of 102 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Ben Gamel, The Brewers Killer.

Full disclosure, these next two positions are where I bend the rules a little bit. There were some qualifying candidates for the outfield, but none that I thought should make the “Best Former Brewers of 2022” team. Avisail Garcia has been completely dreadful at the plate, Jackie Bradley Jr. got DFA’d by the Boston Red Sox, and while Trent Grisham has been performing better in the last month, I chose to keep him off the list.

• Right Field: Garrett Cooper

2022 All-Star Garrett Cooper takes the right field spot. While he never played an MLB game with the Brewers, Milwaukee did actually draft him in the 6th round back in 2013. That counts for something, right? Cooper has had a good season with the Miami Marlins, slashing .276/.349/.426 with an OPS+ of 118 and a wRC+ of 122. The 31 year old has had a couple of solid offensive seasons with Miami, and he can also bounce between first base and the outfield as needed.

• Center Field: Mitch Haniger

Similar story to Cooper, Haniger never played for Milwaukee, but was drafted by the Brewers in the 1st round of the 2013 MLB draft and traded for Gerardo Parra in 2014. Haniger has spent most of the 2022 season on the injured list but has looked good for the Seattle Mariners when healthy this season. In 14 games he has an OPS of .859 and a wRC+ of 148.

Haniger has performed well in his career with the Mariners. He was an All-Star in the 2018 season, and in 2021 he hit 39 home runs and had 100 runs batted in. With how good Haniger has looked since being activated off the injured list, I expect him to have an impactful final third of the season.