Overall, the performance by the Brewers in these areas was up to par in 2009.  Granted, though, that “overall” rating was bolstered pretty significantly by Ryan Braun’s bat and Mike Cameron’s glove.  They’re going to have some tough choices to make for 2010, because, as they say, “defense starts up the middle,” and two key parts of the Brewers defense are facing free agency.

* – lock for the 2010 opening day roster

** – good bet to be on the opening day roster

Ryan Braun* – You can talk all you want about how everyone has to be theoretically on the table as trade fodder when the Brewers are as desperate for some starting pitching as they must be this winter.  Braun is one of two exceptions (Yovanni Gallardo is the other) on this roster.  He’s got a contract that will last another 6 years, and since his Major League debut in 2007, he really hasn’t slowed down.  Braun made his second all-star appearance this year, while en route to hitting .320 with 32 homeruns, 114 RBI, 20 stolen bases, and he was the only player in the majors to collect 200 hits (and the first Brewer to do it since Paul Molitor in 1991).  To sum it up, he’s a stud.  Only Prince Fielder’s amazing season keeps Braun from being the club MVP this year.  One uncanny aspect of Braun’s offensive game: he still whiffs at too many pitches out of the zone and strikes out more than he should.  In the field, Braun took a step backward on paper at least, committing 2 errors in left field after an errorless 2008.  Fact is, though, the guy was still in just his second season as an outfielder.  The fact that he plays as well as he does out there is a testament to his athleticism.  He’ll continue to slowly but surely get better with the glove (look at the strides Prince made in his 4th full season in the majors), and as long as the Brewers have him, they will have a perennial MVP candidate.

Mike Cameron – Cameron continued to show why he is important to this team in 2009: his offensive stats aren’t flashy (he is downright frustrating to watch at the plate at times), but he hits from a variety of spots in the order, and beyond that, he is a great clubhouse guy and tracks down a ton of balls in center field.  The knocks against him this off-season: (1) he’s a free agent who made 10 million bucks this year, (2) he’ll be 37 on opening day in 2010.  But at the same time, the Brewers have nobody ready to step up and play the sort of D in center that they’ve gotten used to the last couple seasons.  If the Crew lets him go and devotes that money to pitching instead, they better get themselves some strikeout pitchers, because Jeff Suppan’s 5.29 ERA would look a helluva lot worse without Cameron scaling the wall and sprinting around the gaps behind him…

Corey Hart – Corey had an up-and-down (but mostly down) season.  Hitting coach Dale Sveum drilled the importance of patience into the heads of the Brewers free swingers, and for Hart, that meant a 30-point jump in his on-base-percentage and a 3-year low in strikeouts, but his average was also the lowest its been since he became an everyday player, and his homerun total took a dramatic tumble (24 in 2007, 20 in 2008, 12 in 2009).  The timing of his appendectomy couldn’t have been worse; he was finally starting to string some hits together, then sat out most of August and never really bounced back.  He’s definitely a guy that has showed promise from time to time, both on offense and defense.  With the Brewers’ stacked farm system, though, and maybe no place but right field to stick Mat Gamel in 2010, Hart’s name is going to be tossed around a lot in trade rumors this off-season.  It wouldn’t surprise me to see him shipped out in a package deal, but if he doesn’t get moved, he’s probably back starting somewhere in the outfield next year.

Jody Gerut** – Right about the middle of June, swapping Tony Gwynn Jr. for this guy seemed like about the dumbest move of the season for Milwaukee.  Gerut came around later when Hart went out and there was some more playing time to go around.  He showed a little pop here and there, and wasn’t bad with the glove.  He’s up for arbitration and probably will be an affordable backup outfielder.  If they really gut the roster (dumping Cameron and Hart), it could put Gerut in the mix for starting in 2010.  That scares the crap out of me.

Frank Catalanotto – ‘Cat’ was brought in as a left-handed backup outfielder when Brad Nelson and Chris Duffy, who both had nice springs, crapped out.  He, too, had some decent games and collected a key hit here or there.  He’s nothing special, though, and I expect disinterest in his return to be mutual.  If he lands anywhere, I expect to see him back in the AL.

Corey Patterson – The one-time top Cubs prospect didn’t do much in 2009, appearing in a total of just 16 major league games.  He’s 30 now, and has never hit better than .276 in a season where he played at least 100 games.  This is another guy like Gerut, though, who could tumble into the Brewers plans if the incumbents are gone.  It’s another situation where I’d worry about our team’s prospects if he is around and being considered for a starting job…

Jason Bourgeois – As opposed to the other three backups on the 40-man, Bourgeois is on his way up instead of down.  He has bounced around the minors a lot (played with 5 organizations so far), but might finally have shown enough to stick in the big leagues.  He’s got speed, and doesn’t look totally overmatched at the plate.  The Brewers could end up keeping him on the 25-man if they don’t come up with any decent alternatives to backup in the outfield.  Otherwise, don’t expect to see him on April 5.

Jason Kendall** – The Brewers starting catcher the past two seasons finds himself in a similar position to Mike Cameron– he has done a decent job, not a great one, at a position where the Brewers just don’t have a lot of good options to replace him.  For all the people you hear saying “Mike Rivera could start,” let me say this: get your fat head out of your stupid ass.  When they signed Kendall to a 2-year deal in the winter of 2007, you know they were thinking, “that’s about how long it will be until Angel Salome is ready,” and that plan has fallen through.  Salome had an injury-plagued 2009 and definitely took a step back down in Nashville.  It’s sounding like Jonathan Lucroy, who was the #1 catcher at AA Huntsville this year, has passed Salome on the organizational depth chart.  But, odds of Lucroy being ready to be a big league catcher in 2010?  Razor thin.  Personally, I don’t dislike Kendall.  He’s a tough guy, plays a lot at a rough position, handles the pitchers well, and if not spectacular behind the dish, he is stable.  The Brewers might have to just suck it up for another year or two with the 35-year-old Kendall and wait for Lucroy to be ready.  The other options, frankly, suck.

Mike Rivera** – Rivera is a decent backup catcher.  That is all.  He got a little more playing time this season, and his offensive numbers looked much more ordinary than in 2008, where every ball he swung at seemed to turn to gold.  At 33, he has never been an everyday catcher in the majors, and he never will.  He’s arbitration-eligible for the first time and should come back pretty cheap.  If not, the Brewers could easily move Salome up to Milwaukee and not regard it as a loss.

Angel Salome – After a 2008 where Salome owned the Southern League with a .360 average and earned a September call-up to the playoff-bound Brewers, it was notable that he did not make it to Milwaukee in 2009.  The Brewers need one of two things from a catcher: they need a guy who is going to rake at the plate, hitting in the 2, 5, or 6 hole, or a guy who is going to way above average defensively, making his offensive liabilities something they can live with.  Right now, Salome is neither.  He had a chance to bump Rivera off the 25-man with a great spring in 2009, but instead he was hurt and saw limited playing time.  He’ll get a similar chance in 2010, but the odds of seeing him in Milwaukee seem lower right now than they were a year ago.

The Brewers had a couple pleasant surprises, some tough injuries, and ultimately are left with hard decisions as we make our way into the offseason.  Overall, though, the position players were the strength of the club.  If people are healthy, they should score runs next year, no matter what.  If guys need to be traded, there are reinforcements or comparable alternatives on the way…

* – lock to be on the 2010 opening day roster

** – good bet to be on the 2010 opening day roster

Prince Fielder** – Prince was pretty easily the MVP of the team this season.  After smacking 50 homeruns and starting in the all-star game in 2007, his production “dipped” slightly in 2008.  This season, he not only brought all of his offensive numbers up, he also played in 162 games and made some significant strides in the field; he is no longer a defensive liability at first base.  He has a contract for 2010 already, and still one more year of arbitration after that.  The toughest question the Brewers will face in the off-season about Prince is, “is it time to trade him?”  There is a (sometimes) unspoken understanding that the Brewers won’t be able to pay Fielder enough to keep him in the long term, and his agent, Scott Boras, will price the big guy out of the Milwaukee market.  In my humble opinion, Prince has shown that he is at least as valuable as having a top-tier starting pitcher.  This guy will be a perennial MVP candidate who pitchers are scared to face.  He has also become a leader in the clubhouse.  I’m feeling the same about Prince as I was last year about CC Sabathia– we may lose him in the end, but he’s too good to not ride the wave.  Trade him, and who bats 4th in your lineup?  How do you protect Ryan Braun?  I hope the Brewers make every effort to sign him to a long-term deal this winter, but who can predict what will happen?  The only thing I can predict: no matter where he plays, Fielder will be the most feared bat in any lineup.

Rickie Weeks** – Weeks was well on his way to his best season yet when he tore another sheath in his wrist.  He was settling in to his position defensively, hitting for a respectable average, and doing the things you expect a leadoff guy to do (in addition to blasting 9 homeruns in the first 7 weeks of the season).  Doug Melvin has given him a vote of confidence, and moreover, said that moving him to another position was not an option that the team was considering.  With the overall goal of improving the starting rotation at nearly any cost, though, it’s tough to take definitive meaning from that season-ending press conference.  I expect Rickie to be back (he’s still in the midst of his arbitration years), but I don’t think you can really discount the slight possibility of a trade with anyone.

Casey McGehee** – What a surprise from this time a year ago!  The Cubs minor league  castoff played well enough once he got his chances to warrant serious Rookie of the Year consideration.  The guy came from basically nowhere to hit .300 and drive in 60+ runs.  There were a few balls he didn’t get to over at third base, but he was dealing with bone fragments in his knee all year, and was still pretty solid for the most part.  What I worry about with McGehee is the Bill Hall syndrome: how do we know for sure that this isn’t going to end up being the best season of his career?  Is it reasonable to expect him back next year, hitting 5th in the lineup with the same sort of production we saw down the stretch?  It’s tough to say.  With another bluechip prospect right behind him at third base, I feel like the Brewers will have to consider using Casey in a trade scenario if anyone is interested.  That is, if Mat Gamel gets himself straightened out in winter ball.

J.J. Hardy – How the heart-throb has fallen.  Two years ago JJ was an al-star shortstop and one of the cornerstones of Milwaukee’s resurgence.  In 2009, he never got himself going at the plate, and the August demotion not only delayed his free agency by a year, but more or less sealed the deal with the Brewers moving on to Alcides Escobar at short.  I would be shocked if Hardy is still on the team in February, much less April.  What I worry about, of course, is his value.  He was a more attractive trade commodity a year ago.  At this point, do you use him in a package deal for a major league starter?  Or could he possibly net a near-ready, mid-level pitching prospect from a team in dire need of a starting shortstop?  Either way, all those Milwaukee ladies with their #7 jerseys are going to be sad next Opening Day…

Craig Counsell** – Counsell had possibly the best season of his career in 2009, at 39 years old.  Last season, it seemed like the Crew was willing to check out what else was available on the market for utility middle infielders.  They wound up back with Counsell at a very reasonable price.  Assuming Craig is interested in coming back, I will also assume the Brewers are interested in having him.  A similar “wait-and-see” exercise and a late signing wouldn’t surprise me, though.

Alcides Escobar* – When Escobar joined the team on August 12, I leaned over to Dave Schrubbe (figuratively) and said, “Well, there’s our starting shortstop for the foreseeable future.”  While he was here in the waning weeks of the season, he did nothing to make me think otherwise.  Earlier in the year, when Hardy was bumbling, another one of my favorite phrases was, “I don’t care how raw Escobar’s offensive game is; anybody could come up here and hit .230.”  Well, he did that and them some, finishing with a .304 average in 125 ABs, and pulling off a series of amazing plays all over the middle of the infield.  The Brewers have an embarrassment of riches at this position, and Escobar is going to be our guy for at least another 5 years.

Mat Gamel – The other half of the Brewers bluechip AAA duo for 2009 looked more certain than his counterpart, Escobar, to be up in Milwaukee this season.  He made it, but really didn’t make much of it.  The blame fell on inconsistent playing time, and Doug Melvin admitted in later interviews that if they were only going to have Gamel up with the big club to ride the pine and pinch hit time to time, he would have been better served to stay at Nashville all year.  Personally, I couldn’t decide which impressed me less– the .242 average, or the 54 strikeouts in 128 ABs.  I am hoping against hope that he magically shakes the funk while playing in Venezuela over the winter, but right now, the more likely scenario seems to be that Gamel goes back to Nashville to start 2010, and Casey McGehee starts the year at third base.  Things could be worse, but this is not how it was supposed to play out.

Hernan Iribarren – I don’t know if this guy sticks on the 40-man all these years just by default, or what.  A couple years back, it was sounding like he might actually push Weeks for his job if the latter couldn’t step it up at 2nd base.  Then they moved him to the outfield, then back to the infield, and then he spent a little time on the bench here or there as an injury fill-in, but hasn’t done anything spectacular in Milwaukee.  Still, he hit .311 in 105 games for Nashville this summer.  Seems to be a capable infielder, so if Counsell decir.des to retire, and/or they end up having to trade Weeks, I could see Iribarren in Milwaukee to start 2010.  Do I think either of those things will actually happen?  No.

Felipe Lopez – Definitely the best mid-season pickup the team made this year.  After scrambling to fill the leadoff spot after Weeks got hurt, they finally traded for Lopez and solidified both the top of the order and 2nd base.  Lopez had some fantastic hitting streaks and great individual games on his way to hitting .310 with a .383 OBP.  Both respectable numbers for a leadoff guy, and he hits both ways.  The one place his game is lacking at the top of the order is on the basepaths– only stole 6 bases all year.  Lopez was here after being signed to a 1-year deal by Arizona.  He is a free agent again after the season, but the Brewers could offer him arbitration.  If they do so, he projects as a ‘Class A’ free agent, so it would mean the team that signs him would owe Milwaukee their first round draft pick next year, plus the Crew would get a sandwich pick beteween rounds 1 and 2.  That steep a price on a second baseman would pretty much assure that no one else would pursue him.  Hence, count on the Brewers to say thanks for the help, but see ya later.

The bullpen was one of the strengths of this team through most of the season.  There were some great stories of redemption, resurgence, and long-awaited debuts.  If the starters could have gotten through at least six innings a regular basis, the relief guys probably would have looked even better down the stretch.

The bullpen, though, is one of those areas on many teams that gets re-tooled from year to year.  Pitching is such a hot commodity, it’s often tough for a small market club to retain their best players once they reach free agency.  The Brewers have been following a fairly prudent model the last several seasons by starting with a solid closer and working backwards.

They got step #1 taken care of for 2010 by locking up Trevor Hoffman right away on Tuesday.  Oh, and speaking of season reviews and the mainstream sports media: I have to mention that Adam McCalvy from brewers.com has a pretty nice summary of everything that went right and wrong for the Brewers this year, so if you missed it, I think it’s worth a look.

No one will debate that this was the Brewers’ achilles’ heel in 2009.  The Brewers starters had the worst collective ERA in the National League.  Of their 5-man rotation on opening day, 4 finished with an ERA over 5.00.  2 had an ERA over 6.00.  To put it simply, if they return over 40% of this rotation next year, it will NOT be a good 2010.  Having “innings-eaters” on your team is one thing, but if they’re not giving you a legit chance to win, what the hell’s the point?

* – denotes a player that is a lock to make the 25-man roster for opening day in 2010

** – denotes a player that is a good bet to be on the 25-man

Yovanni Gallardo* – Yo did not start the first game of the season, but was the de facto ace throughout 2009.  After an injury-shortened 2008, Gallardo came back to start 30 games, win 13, strike out over 200 batters, and pitch 185 innings.  He had his bouts of wildness as well, though, and the coaching staff shut him down for the year with a week to go in the season after he eclipsed 3,000 pitches for the year.  He also led the staff with 94 walks.  Gallardo will absolutely be back, hopefully with an extended contract, but also hopefully with some more help at the top of the rotation.  He’s one of only a couple home-grown talents the Brewers can tout on their pitching staff, and one of the best pitchers in baseball.  A top-flight pitching coach (which the Brewers claim to be after) could be beneficial for him.

Jeff Suppan** – A year ago, I grudgingly conceded that the Brewers would have no choice but to bring him back.  Suppan’s albatross of a contract will continue to strangle them for one last season.  After cutting Bill Hall loose and eating about 7 million dollars of that terrible contract, I don’t see them being able to afford another, by cutting Suppan.  However, if I were the GM, I would ask any team if they were willing to go halfsies on Soup’s 12 mil for 2010.  Once again, his 2009 was peppered with flashes of brilliance sprinkled across a wide tapestry of awful outings: there was the Easter Sunday game on national TV against Chicago, where he walked in 2 runs in one inning.  There was the 2-game stretch in late July where he gave up 15 earned runs in 8 2/3 innings against the dregs of the NL in Pittsburgh and Washington.  There was also the July 3 game vs Chicago, when he surrendered just 1 run in 7 innings but the Brewers couldn’t muster a win.  Over the course of a season, though, a 5.29 ERA and 1.69 WHIP speak for themselves.  Suppan looked erratic and overmatched more often than not all season long (even when he was rehabbing in Nashville, he was getting shelled).  I would cry a river of joyful tears if they could find a way to unload him, but it’s not going to happen.

Braden Looper** – As unlucky and awful as Suppan looked all year, Looper somehow bumbled himself to a winning record, and likely secured a spot on the 2010 roster (provided he wants to come back; his option for next season is mutual, so the team has to want him, and he has to want the team).  The guy would be crazy not to return.  He dished up 39 homeruns and racked up a 5.22 ERA but only lost 7 times, thanks to an unbelievable amount of run support.  He also stayed healthy all year, taking the ball 34 times over the course of the season.  No Brewers’ pitcher threw 200 innings this year, but Looper was closest, at 194 2/3.  With starting pitching in SUCH high demand throughout major league baseball, the Brewers would wise to bring him back.  BUT– they have to be willing to show him the door in camp if they manage to get some decent young bodies in here that actually know how to pitch.

Dave Bush* – He started out a little slow in spring, looked fantastic as the Crew cruised to 30-20 by the end of May, and then took a nosedive after getting nailed in the elbow by a line drive in Florida the first week of June.  After that, the David Bush of late ’08 and early ’09 disappeared.  Does he just need a full off-season to completely rehab that injury?  Can he be a steady cog in the middle of a contending rotation?  Will the Brewers use his last year of salary arbitration to find out?  Count on it.

Manny Parra** – Last year this time, I had become a Parra-believer.  I thought the Manny that 7-0 through the middle of 2008 was the “real” Parra, and his troubles down the stretch were bad luck.  Today, I am much less certain.  After a mid-season demotion to AAA, he was usually better, but still had his moments where he couldn’t find the strikezone.  He would cruise through some innings, setting full lineups down in order, then fall apart the next time through.  Worse, watching him in the dugout and listening to post-game interviews, the guy sounds like a total headcase.  How many times can you be told to trust your ability, but just not be able to do it?  Once again, starting pitching is a hot commodity, and Parra is still relatively young (just turned 27).  A team with some average to slightly-better-than-average alternatives could afford to wait for Parra to come around.  The Brewers might not be that team (they sure weren’t with Jorge De La Rosa).  I expect him back, but if a trade partner wanted Manny thrown in to a deal for a more mature, seasoned, older and proven starting pitcher, I would not hesitate to fork him over.

Mike Burns – He was a minor-league fill-in during the dark days of mid-summer when our rotation not only looked awful, but had been decimated by injuries.  Again, here’s a guy that showed some flashes, but in the end showed why he couldn’t cut it in the major leagues.  Don’t expect him back.

Josh Butler – Picked up from Tampa in exchange for Gabe Gross at the beginning of the 2008 season, Butler started ’09 in Class A, moved up to AAA, then later made his major league debut after the rosters expanded in September.  Clearly, the organization thinks a lot of the kid, but I wouldn’t expect him to crack the rotation in 2010.  Maybe 2011 if he does a good job at Nashville next year.

Tim Dillard – Unless the Brewers make more than a trade or two over the winter, Dillard is likely to be one of those guys they throw in there during spring training, just to see if he can stick in a major league rotation.  He spent less time on the big league roster in 2009 than he did in ’08, and he didn’t exactly light the world on fire in 140+ innings for Nashville (4.51 ERA).  Never say never, but I would be shocked if he were there on opening day.

Chris Narveson – Threw in 21 games in 2009 and managed to pull his ERA under 4.00 with a couple nice spot starts down the stretch, after pitching from the bullpen earlier in the year.  With the rotation in dire straits during the month of September, Narveson was the hot flavor of the week to save the rotation in 2009.  Like Dillard, he is likely to get a look (and deservedly, a longer one) in spring training.  Barring trades and injuries, though, they have to come up with a better option.  Narveson could prove to be a valuable guy to have on call in Nashville when the injury bug crops up for Milwaukee in 2010.

Coming Tuesday – a look at relief pitching…