Comparing the Crew to the NL Champs
October 24th, 2009 | by adamburnett |After a wild card berth in 2008, the Brewers missed the playoffs this season. The Brewers finished third in the NL Central with an 80-82 record and 11 games behind the division winning Cardinals. At the championship level, I always like to compare the teams I follow to the championship squads to see the dramatic difference. How many players on the Brewers would actually start for the Phillies? The Brewers actually won 4 out of the 7 games the teams played this season.
Ryan Braun is a better player than Raul Ibanez in left field. Ibanez was a tremendous signing blasting out 34 bombs and driving in 93. Braun led the NL in hits with 203 hits, .320 avg with 32 bombs, 114 RBI and 20 steals. Yovani Gallardo had a .219 opponent’s batting average and is a better pitcher than Joe Blanton or Pedro Martinez at this point. Mitch Stetter is an upgrade over Scott Eyre as a situational lefty. Stetter pitched in more games and emerged as a guy that can pitch a whole inning. Trevor Hoffman is definitely an upgrade over Brad Lidge closing out games. Hoffman saved 37 out of 41 with a 1.83 ERA. Lidge saved 31 of 42 opportunities went 0-8 and had a 7.21 ERA. Lidge’s 2008 season was one of the best I’ve ever seen and this year he’s completely fallen apart.
Prince Fielder is a phenomenal player and is on the same level as Ryan Howard. I don’t think you could wrong with either player. Prince hit 46 bombs, while Howard hit 45 and they tied for the major league lead in RBI’s with 141. I’ll give the edge to Howard because it’s hard to say you could upgrade over the NLCS MVP. So we have 4 players on the Brewers that would be an upgrade for the Phillies.
2B Chase Utley, SS Jimmy Rollins, CF Shane Victorino, RF Jayson Werth, and 3B Pedro Feliz are better than anything the Brewers have at their positions. Chase Utley is the premier second baseman in the game today with his ability to hit for power and average. He’s a guy that hits 30 bombs, drives in a 100, and hits around .300. Rickie Weeks validated the organization’s support until a wrist injury derailed his campaign. Jimmy Rollins is a power and speed combo that is a better player than if you combined the positive attributes of Alcides Escobar and J.J. Hardy. Rollins scores around 100 runs, hits 20 bombs, and swipes over 30 bags. Shane Victorino is exactly what the Brewers need to find next season. He’s a left handed bat that gets on base and plays center field. The Flyin’ Hawaiian sports a .358 OBP in front of Utley and Howard. I love watching Victorino play. Jayson Werth hit 36 ding dongs with 99 RBI and 20 steals this season. He’s everything we wish Corey Hart could be. Pedro Feliz provides pop at the back of the lineup with 12 homers and 82 RBI’s. I’d take him over any of players that saw time at the hot corner for the Crew. Carlos Ruiz isn’t a special player behind the plate, but Jason Kendall can’t possibly be an upgrade over anyone at this point in his career.
The gap widens even farther as we move to the rotations. Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ, and Pedro Martinez are light years ahead of the Brewers staff. The Phillies would have missed the playoffs if their rotation was Yovani Gallardo, Manny Parra, Dave Bush, Jeff Suppan, and Braden Looper. Gallardo is the only one that could break into the Phillies rotation while all five Phillies starters could break into the Brewers rotation. Happ is what we’ve been hoping for Parra to become. Happ wore down at the end of the season, but he’s able to pitch deep into games and doesn’t get flustered with runners on base. Parra has dominant stretches, and then the wheels will completely fall off. Both pitchers are the same age but, Parra has 24 more appearances. By watching the two southpaws you’d think Parra was the one with less experience. The Phillies starters regularly pitch more than 5 innings so the bullpen isn’t completely abused.
You can clearly see the difference in talent from top to bottom. The Brewers front office has a lot of work to do with offseason to try and close the gap. The popular topic of trading Prince Fielder for pitching makes my ears ring. Braun and Fielder provide a great base to build the organization around. The Brewers need more guys to get on base in front of the big boys. (I’ll try to come up with a nickname for them this offseason.) Feel free to send me any ideas, I read them all. The rotation should be gutted and I would have 3 or possibly 4 new starters in the rotation next season. Two years ago, some Phillies fans believed that Charlie Manuel was one of the biggest idiots in baseball. Now he’s in back to back World Series. Did Manuel get a lobotomy or did he get better players? Some Brewers fans despise manager Ken Macha, but look at what he’s working with. I’m not a big believer in Macha, but it’s difficult to solely place the blame at his feet.
