30 Teams In 30 Days: The Milwaukee Brewers Are A Mystery

It has to be frustrating being a Milwaukee Brewers fan. It isn't all doom and gloom. The organization has seen a fair amount of success over the last several years, but it never really feels like they have a legitimate shot of winning a World Series. Last year seemed like a potential opportunity, but they were undone early in the postseason by a Diamondbacks team that ended up winning the National League pennant. There's been a lot of change within the organization. Corbin Burnes is gone. Brandon Woodruff is injured, and Craig Counsell, who is one of the best managers in baseball, is now a manager on the north side of Chicago for the Cubs. 

Usually, I would call this a transitional year, but the Brewers have become one of those teams that consistently turn out a competitive product. There is another team that it's difficult for me to get a gauge on. On paper, I don't think that they should be that good. Their offense last season ranked among the worst in the National League; their pitching carried them, and, as I said, two of their best pitchers won't be on the roster this year. But they do have an excellent farm system, and if some of their young talent can develop quickly, they could have a shot at this division. I didn't think they would do a lot last year, but they ended up pretty comfortably winning the National League Central. 

I don't think that there's going to be a great team in the NL Central this year. I don't even know if there's a team that I consider very good. Whoever comes out of that division has a pretty low ceiling but I think that it will be relatively competitive all the way through. The Cardinals were ranked 20th on my list when I featured them yesterday. There's a very small difference between them and the Brewers at this point. So the bottom line is that while I'm not crazy about Milwaukee this year, there are another team that I could see hanging around and potentially being dangerous down the stretch given the subpar division that they play in.