Brewers: 3 Former Brewers Players Failing Miserably With Their New Team Early In 2023

The Milwaukee Brewers went through a lot of roster turnover last offseason. Several members of the 2022 Brewers team, some productive, others not so much, are off to rough starts with their new teams in 2023.

Meanwhile, the Brewers are playing well to begin the season. The changes made over the offseason seem to be working well so far even after many in the fanbase were questioning some of the decisions made, especially who they moved on from.

But moving on from these players looks like a wise decision so far.

These three former Brewers are off to poor starts early in 2023.

1. Kolten Wong - Mariners

There was some consternation about the Brewers moving on from Kolten Wong this offseason. He wasn't exactly one of the problems on the Brewers offense last year and is a strong defensive presence, even with some struggles, and a great veteran leader.

Milwaukee traded Wong to the Mariners for Jesse Winker and Abraham Toro. Winker has been a solid presence in the lineup when not dealing with a bronchitis issue while Kolten Wong...hasn't been solid.

Through 14 games, Wong is struggling to a .114/.216/.114 slash line. He has a wRC+ of 3 and is already down to a -0.5 fWAR.

Yikes.

While this may be partially related to Wong being in a new league and a new division that he's never faced much before, spending his entire career in the NL Central prior, it's still an ugly beginning. As a matter of fact, Jesse Winker had the same issue in Seattle, spending his entire career in the NL Central then struggled in the AL West. The Mariners can't be happy with how the trade has been working out for them so far, even if it was in their best interest to move Winker.

2. Jace Peterson - Athletics

On Base Jace as he was affectionately known in Milwaukee was not getting on base as much towards the end of his Brewers tenure. As he reached free agency, the Brewers decided to move on and go a different route with their utility situation, instead relying on Mike Brosseau and Brian Anderson. So far, that's been a wise decision as those two players have had hot starts in 2023 and Jace Peterson has not.

Peterson is on potentially the worst team in baseball in Oakland, and he's been part of the reason why. Through 15 games, Peterson is hitting a woeful .204/.273/.306 with a 66 wRC+.

A .273 on base percentage isn't very on base of On Base Jace.

Oakland does provide a lot of regular playing time for Peterson, which is good for him, but he's been struggling in an everyday role.

3. Taylor Rogers - Giants

The much maligned Josh Hader trade netted the Brewers a late inning reliever that had even less team control than Hader. Taylor Rogers was the immediate replacement for Hader the Brewers needed to deal the longtime closer in the first place and Milwaukee promptly let him walk in free agency last winter.

Rogers signed a three year, $33MM contract with the Giants where he plays with his brother, Tyler. So far, he hasn't been worth a dime of that contract.

Through six appearances, Rogers has completed just 3.1 IP and has an unsightly 5% K rate, a 30% BB rate, yes you read that right, and an 18.90 ERA. He's at a -0.5 fWAR in just 10 outs.

That is just a garbage performance so far. And Rogers agrees, even throwing his own glove in the garbage after a recent poor outing.

At least the Brewers aren't paying Rogers $33 million for this performance. While Rogers had some struggles last year after the trade, he wasn't this bad.

While everyone knew from the start that Milwaukee wasn't going to pay a reliever $11 million a year and he was going to walk, no one could've anticipated this bad of a start to that contract for Rogers.

But, these poor starts from these players are no longer the Brewers problems, thankfully.