Brewers: Top 5 Roster Needs The Team Has To Address This Offseason

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The Milwaukee Brewers roster needs some changes. That much is evident after the Crew fell short of the postseason in 2022. But what changes should those be exactly?

The Brewers certainly could use upgrades in a couple of positions while also seeing improvements from the players that are already here (i.e. Christian Yelich). As the offseason gets going and transactions unfreeze following the World Series, let’s look to what the Brewers big needs are this offseason.

The Brewers have several key roster needs to be addressed in the 2022-23 MLB offseason.

Brewers offseason roster need #1: Better pitching depth

You can never have too many pitchers. If you think you have enough pitchers, better grab one more. That’s how the sayings go, and they hold true.

The Brewers probably entered 2022 thinking they were just fine on pitching depth, but they went from everything being fine to relying on Jason Alexander, a minor league free agent signee the previous offseason, for 70+ innings very quickly.

The rotation went through a number of injuries, and some of the performances from both the original pitchers and the replacements, were not good enough.

The core of the pitching staff is still good, despite the mid-season departure of Josh Hader. Devin Williams will lock down the back end of the bullpen and the rotation is led by the trio of Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and Freddy Peralta.

But the depth behind these guys needs to be improved. David Stearns said as much during his end of season press conference. When Stearns says pitching depth is a need, that makes it an automatic inclusion on the list.

Ethan Small‘s struggles in Triple-A this year compounded the rotation depth problem. They were likely planning to rely more on Small this year than Alexander, but his uncharacteristic struggles with walks in 2022 forced the Brewers to rely on other options.

Expect some added rotation depth and most likely another couple of bullpen options.

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – SEPTEMBER 18: Luis Urias #2 of the Milwaukee Brewers before the pitch against the New York Yankees at American Family Field on September 18, 2022 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images) /

Brewers offseason roster need #2: Third Base

The Brewers have long been searching for a long-term answer at third base. We thought they had found it last year with Luis Urias. But he struggled in 2022, with drops in all three of his slash line categories and a general lack of consistency in his performance.

Urias may not reach his full offensive ceiling, and if that’s the case, the Brewers need a new plan for third base. There was a fair amount of mixing and matching at the position in 2022, with Urias, Jace Peterson, and Mike Brosseau all seeing a bunch of reps there.

None of those three are really great starting options, unless Urias gets closer to his 2021 self or better. Peterson is a free agent this winter and there’s no guarantee he comes back. Milwaukee will either be relying heavily on a bounce-back campaign from Urias in 2023 or they will get some outside help to cover or perhaps take over that position.

If I were the Brewers, I’d be looking to bring in some competition for Urias or a straight up starter to take over at third base and move Urias back into a super-utility role that he was in a lot in 2021.

Brewers offseason roster need #3: Catcher

The Brewers received a -1.0 WAA from their catching corps in 2022, which was 17th in the league. The only reason it wasn’t lower was likely because of the defense provided by Victor Caratini and Omar Narvaez since their offensive numbers were atrocious.

Narvaez hit a paltry .206/.292/.305 with just four homers and a .597 OPS. Caratini wasn’t much better, hitting just .199/.300/.342 with nine homers and a .642 OPS.

Milwaukee needs better production from their catchers in 2023. Narvaez is a free agent and, based on his performance this year, is unlikely to be re-signed. The Brewers do have a major league ready replacement in Mario Feliciano. Feliciano could very easily be the catcher upgrade for the Brewers this offseason and they wouldn’t need an outside addition.

Feliciano hit .274 in Triple-A this year with six homers, although he does have more home run power in him.

However, if the Brewers want to go with a more proven option, they could look for outside help.

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – OCTOBER 05: Garrett Mitchell #5 of the Milwaukee Brewers looks towards the dugout after hitting a single in the ninth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at American Family Field on October 05, 2022 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Kayla Wolf/Getty Images) /

Brewers offseason roster need #4: Clear room for the young prospects

Perhaps the biggest upgrades the Brewers can make to their roster can come from simply promoting a bunch of their prospects and clearing the way for regular at-bats for them at the big league level. We saw the beginning of this when Garrett Mitchell was promoted late in the year.

The Brewers have several quality hitting prospects sitting in Triple-A, ready for an opportunity. Stearns also stated in his press conference that the organization has all these hitting prospects in the minors that are ready for opportunities at the next level. Don’t be surprised to see the team clear the deck for them.

There wasn’t room on the active roster at the end of the year for Brice Turang, and Esteury Ruiz, and Sal Frelick, and Joey Wiemer, and Mario Feliciano. Too many guys under contract that they can’t simply move on from in the moment. But now it’s the offseason and some of those guys are free agents, some could be traded, and they can mold this roster with the plan of calling these prospects up.

As stated above with the catcher position, they can let Narvaez go this winter and leave room for Feliciano. They can also decline Kolten Wong’s option and clear room for Brice Turang. Perhaps they look to trade one of Tyrone Taylor or Hunter Renfroe to clear room for Frelick, Ruiz, or Wiemer.

They could also move Christian Yelich to full time DH to get some more room for those young outfielders to play defense. Speaking of…

Brewers offseason roster need #5: Designated Hitter

In the first year of the DH being in the National League full time, the Brewers struggled with a consistent plan there.

Andrew McCutchen was supposed to get a lot of the reps, and he didn’t perform up to expectations. Keston Hiura is probably best at DH, but his offensive ability/struggles still perplex the Brewers and probably can’t be counted on to be the everyday guy there. With all the outfield prospects that are strong on defense and Christian Yelich’s poor throwing arm, he’d be a good candidate to get more time at DH.

The Brewers could also look to make an outside addition to get a bunch of time at DH and help out the offense. There should be no shortage of quality hitters on the market they could acquire to bring some consistency to this group. While Milwaukee isn’t the type of organization to use one single hitter for the DH spot, acquiring someone with the idea of using them primarily in that spot should be under consideration at the very least.

However, addressing needs #4 and #5 at the same time may be difficult unless Yelich is the one moved to the primary DH. The Brewers have a bevy of outfield prospects and the best way to clear room for all of them is most likely going to be moving Yelich out of left field. For every Brewers fan that has watched Yelich throw a baseball to home plate in the last few years, that would be welcome news.

Next. Brewers Arbitration Projections For 2023. dark

This Brewers roster needs some changes in the offseason, and if they address these five needs, they should be well on their way to getting back to the postseason in 2023.

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