Contenders or Pretenders: Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers were great in 2011, and had high hopes for the 2012 season despite the loss of Prince Fielder. They figured that Mat Gamel would finally get the chance to play everyday and that did not end well. Gamel tore his ACL in the beginning of the season and hasn't played since then. Also, it appeared, at first, that the whole Ryan Braun saga of the 2011 off-season kind of drained the energy out of the Brewers.

Should Melvin re-tool or rebuild?

Coming into this season, I expected the Brewers to finish right around where they are now, 4th in the division. If they made a surprise playoff push, It wouldn't have surprised me because they still had a great amount of talent on their roster. However, once their ace Zack Greinke was dealt to the Angels in exchange for a bunch of prospects, I knew that Milwaukee was most likely giving up on the season, looking toward the future.

Honestly, Milwaukee's rotation isn't very bad. They have Yovani Gallardo, who is a very underrated pitcher who consistently puts up good numbers. They also have Shaun Marcum, who is injury-prone but very efficient when healthy. Along with those two, they have rookies Mark Rogers and Mike Fiers. Rogers may have a future with Milwaukee, but is nothing more than a #3 or #4 starter at the moment. Fiers has had an excellent season, and Milwaukee will most likely shut him down soon in order to prevent a possible injury. The club also has Marco Estrada, who is a nice swing-man to have on the team, proving spot starts every here and there.

The problem is the bullpen. Axford and K-Rod have been atrocious, and the team doesn't really seem to have an answer at the closer role. Veras and Loe have been alright this season, but nothing spectacular. The club tried to let Jim Henderson close, but if I was looking toward the future, I wouldn't have a 30 year old rookie pitcher auditioning for my closer's spot.

The offense isn't the problem. With the exception to Rickie Weeks, the entire club is having a typical offensive year. Braun has been amazing, as have Hart and Ramirez. Don't forget about players that are less-known, such as Norichika Aoki and Carlos Gomez.

Overall, if the Brewers were to contend this season, they would have had to keep Greinke and make a few other moves to bulk up their bullpen. It appears that GM Doug Melvin is gearing toward the future, and in a small market like Milwaukee, perhaps that is the right thing to do. So Contenders or Pretenders? I'll say Pretenders.