Footprints in the Snow: Brewers

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

If I wanted, I could copy and paste the main points of the Brewers "Footprints in the Snow" from last year and they'd still be valid. After losing CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets, the Brewers failed to address their pitching woes and dropped from 90 wins and the wild card to 80 wins and a long winter.

Their offseason this year should follow a similar track, only now with the added pressure of Prince Fielder's ticking free agency clock. The Brewers are experiencing the worst feeling a small-market club can; that of the window closing. What can (or will) GM Doug Melvin do to avoid squandering his team's chances?

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Who Might Leave

Felipe Lopez, 2B; Craig Counsell, IF; Mike Lamb, IF; Jason Kendall, C; Mike Cameron, CF; Braden Looper, SP

Shopping List

The Brewers have already gotten a start on their shopping list by sending J.J. Hardy to Minnesota for Carlos Gomez, who should fill in for Mike Cameron nicely in center field. The problem is that Hardy was their best trade chip, which means that while they did fulfill a need by trading him, they failed to address their biggest need.

That, of course, is pitching. I think that secretly Doug Melvin dreams every night of getting to call a press conference to announce John Lackey's signing, but I'm just not sure how realistic that dream is. There is a decent amount of secondary talent on the market for them, as I discussed when they announced they wouldn't pick up Looper's option last week. If Lackey's not an option, Jarrod Washburn and Joel Piniero make good fall back plans, though the Brewers really could use both of them and those two guys will be the second option of every team that comes up short in the Lackey sweepstakes.

From there it's a pretty big dropoff. Carl Pavano is still a big question mark, Doug Davis isn't quite what they need, and there are lots of question marks out there, from injuries (Justin Duchsherer) to ineffectiveness (Jason Marquis, Brad Penny, Vincente Padilla).

Money Matters

The Brewers also have quite a few arbitration-eligible players, which could hamper their pitching spending spree. Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart, the newly acquired Gomez, Todd Coffey, Carlos Villaneuva, Seth McClung, Jody Gerut, and Dave Bush are all up for arbitration this winter. Gerut seems like a non-tender candidate (due for a raise on his $1.775 million) and they may not offer contracts to all three of their relievers. Bush is now in his third year of arbitration and will probably be expensive, though it's hard to believe they'd cut ties with him and leave only Yovani Gallardo, Manny Parra, and Jeff Suppan in the rotation without knowing how free agency will pan out.

The big, overarching question of the offseason, though, is what to do with Prince Fielder. He's theirs through the 2010 season, but he and agent Scott Boras have made it clear that he'll be dipping his toes in the free-agent market after that. He could be a huge trade chip at this year's deadline or even this winter. Dealing him, though, would throw an immediate white flag up on the present, and with Ryan Braun, Yovani Gallardo, Alcides Escobar, Mat Gamel, Weeks, and Hart, it's understandable why Melvin wants to first focus on winning now and worry about Fielder later.

Offseason Goals

I feel like a broken record, but the goal here is pitching, pitching, pitching. If Melvin can acquire two mid-rotation starters, they can probably slide Jeff Suppan into the bullpen and rely much less on Bush and Parra at the top of the rotation. If he can't, the 2010 season will probably be a rehash of 2009, and that could end with Prince Fielder in a different uniform.