Year 2 of the David Stearns era begins!  Or at least the baseball season is!  Few have begged as hard for a rebuild of the Milwaukee Brewers as I have since 2013 and now that we’re in full swing (pun intended) it’s so refreshing!  Unlike my feelings toward the Packers (apathetic), my feelings towards the Brewers and expectations are in line!  With a major rebuild I’ll give 4-5 years before I expect the Window to Open.

Many publications rank the Brewers’ Farm System in the top 3.  That’s exciting and should be the goal of every small-market MLB team.  The Brewers should always be in the top 10, even if trading pieces to gain MLB-talent to “make a run.”  This means drafting well, extremely well as well as ditching old expiring talent for kids to supplement their farm.  The 2017 season will be viewed as important to the rebuild by seeing what some of the young talent can do in the minors and majors (Santana, Arcia, Villar, and more), but also to see how many additional pieces the Brewers trade to acquire young talent to continue their loading of the minor leagues.  Will Braun be traded?  Hopefully to add more kids to the system and continue the strength for years 2019-2025.  That should be the target for the Milwaukee Brewers to compete for the postseason and eventually a World Series.

Last season the Brewers had a pleasant surprise by Jonathan Villar and should continue to expect other young players to “shock” some fans.  This is expected as when acquiring young talent and keeping with the system.  Milwaukee won 73 games last season which is about where many thought they’d fall.  This season the win total isn’t the goal like I implied earlier, but to determine the young talent – who can assist and be a part of this franchise when the Window Opens.  Since I’m a sucker for predictions let’s go!

The National League was dominated by the Chicago Cubs all last season and I don’t expect much to change in 2017.  The San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, and Washington Nationals should also compete and have strong teams, but the Cubs were built (similar to the Brewers now) the right way and have the best GM in baseball with deep pockets.  They’re strong and are set to be the class of the MLB for quite some time.

The AL last year had a balance of power, ultimately resulting with the Cleveland Indians representing the American League and holding a 3 games to 1 lead over the Cubs in the World Series.  Cleveland should have another strong team this year, but expect Kansas City to respond to last year’s disappointing season with another good showing.  Boston had a good team last year and with a rededicated Panda, he could add a great bat to a lineup that’s already the envy of the AL.

These are pure guesses, but was close last year saying Cleveland was going to be good and everyone knew the Cubs were poised.  Sadly, as a Brewer fan, the Cubs seem like the well-deserved obvious favorite to win it all again.  Hopefully the Brewers will see the fruits of their labor in a few years as the Cubs are now.

Brewers Record: 77-85
NL Champion: Chicago Cubs
AL Champion: Boston Red Sox
WS Champion: Chicago Cubs