After winning the NL wild card last year, the Brewers have taken a step back in 2009. They're six games below .500 and well out of both the NL Central and wild card races. Despite that, team owner Mark Attanasio went out of his way to endorse general manager Doug Melvin in 2010, saying that he has faith in Melvin fixing the holes the club currently has. Since taking over as Brewers general manager in 2002, Melvin has turned what was one of the worst franchises in baseball into a competitive team with a slew of young talent. There's no denying the Brewers have regressed this year, but it'd be foolish to show Melvin the door so quickly when he's the main reason they actually have somewhere to step back from.
Still, Melvin's work is cut out for him. He's got a very good, very young core in place with Ryan Braun (25), Prince Fielder (25), Yovani Gallardo (23), and Alcides Escobar (22). Their offense is in good shape, but the pitching staff is barren behind Gallardo. After CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets left Milwaukee via free agency last winter, Melvin had hoped they could solve their rotation problems internally, but with Manny Parra's poor season, Jeff Suppan's continued aging and Dave Bush's injury problems, Braden Looper is probably the team's second best starter.
Melvin should have some options this winter, though. Both Mike Cameron and Jason Kendall will be free agents, which should open up some payroll for a free-agent starter. Melvin will also be looking to deal shortstop J.J. Hardy now that Escobar has arrived in Milwaukee, and he'll almost certainly want a starter in return.
Of course, as I said before, Melvin's earned the chance to try and patch these holes up. If the Brewers are still stuck in this rut in a year or two, maybe the story will be different.
