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Major League Baseball’s non-waiver claim trade deadline is still well over two months away; however, the Milwaukee Brewers—per usual—have wasted no time in vocalizing their needs and interests within the trade market.

After watching long-time first baseman Prince Fielder walk through free agency last January and grimacing at 26-year-old replacement first baseman Mat Gamel tearing his ACL earlier this month, Brewers general manager Doug Melvin reportedly searched the free-agent market for a veteran first baseman to help provide depth. Reports indicated that Melvin contacted 37-year-old first baseman Derrek Lee a few days back, though a potential contract never came to fruition.

Now, it seems Melvin could shift his attention to the trade market. MLB Network analyst Harold Reynolds voiced his opinion about a move that could fix Milwaukee’s current situation at first base. What he said was rather surprising.

Reynolds claimed that the Brewers should attempt to trade setup man Francisco Rodriguez for 33-year-old Boston Red Sox first baseman/utility infielder Kevin Youkilis. The biggest question worth asking at this juncture is if such a deal is a legitimate possibility.

Rodriguez, who the Brewers acquired shortly after the All-Star Game last summer, has struggled considerably this season, posting a 5.28 ERA and 1.44 WHIP in 15.1 innings of work. The least attractive part of his ineffectiveness, however, is that he’s due to receive $8 million by the end of this season.

Many surmised that Milwaukee would keep Rodriguez throughout the 2012 season despite his hefty contract. Now that manager Ron Roenicke and company find themselves sitting at 14-18 through Saturday, second to last in the NL Central, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see Melvin actively shopping his veteran setup man for a quality first baseman—possibly even Youkilis.

Likewise with Milwaukee, the Boston Red Sox have looked nothing short of appalling thus far. Coming into Saturday’s action, Bobby Valentine’s crew boasted a 13-19 record good enough to place last in the highly competitive American League East division.

Valentine has labored to keep clubhouse continuity and has moreover grappled with Youkilis on a few occasions. Youkilis has garnered a .219/.292/.344 line with just two home runs this season, and is due to make $13 million by the end of 2012.

The promotion and palpable success of third base prospect Will Middlebrooks has taken away some of Youkilis’ playing time. Couple that with his distaste toward Valentine and a lofty contract, and it seems the writing could be on the wall for Youkilis. Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com certainly believes it.

Having said that, is a deal between these two needy clubs a possibility?

For the Brewers, who have already come out to say that they’re committed to winning this season, that could be a definite possibility. Owner Mark Attanasio had this to say to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy ealier this week:

“We’re only [27] games in,” he said. “It’s going to depend where we’re at, at that point in time. Look at where we were when we added CC [Sabathia]. We were over .500, but we were several games back.”

The Brewers have a reputation for making big deadline deals (see CC Sabathia), and I highly doubt that their historical trade deadline aggressiveness will subside this season. Bringing in a veteran presence such as Youkilis could be the difference between making the postseason and watching at home.

For the Red Sox, who after losing longtime closer Jonathan Papelbon witnessed newly acquired closer Andrew Bailey go to the disabled list with an injured thumb, the need for an effective relief arm is clearly there.

Throw all that together, and a deal may not be as farfetched as originally thought.

Alec Dopp covers the Milwaukee Brewers as a featured columnist at Bleacher Report.  Follow him on Twitter @alecdopp and read his blog.

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The Milwaukee Brewers‘ quest to repeat as National League Central champions just became a whole lot more difficult.

In the second inning of their 5-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants Saturday afternoon, newly acquired 35-year-old free-agent shortstop Alex Gonzalez appeared to have badly injured his right knee while attempting to steal second after singling in a run off Giants hurler Madison Bumgarner.

Gonzalez’s basepath snafu now marks the fourth straight game where a Brewers regular has exited with an injury. Gonzalez will now join fellow teammates Mat Gamel (torn ACL) and Carlos Gomez (hamstring strain) on the Brewers’ 15-day disabled list

Brewers beat writer Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the Brewers plan to place Gonzalez on the 15-day disabled list. From his Twitter page:

In 88 plate appearances this season, Gonzalez has posted a .250/.318/.450 line with four home runs and 14 RBI, ranking third only to left fielder Ryan Braun and right fielder Corey Hart with 36 total bases. General manager Doug Melvin inked Gonzalez to a one-year, $4.25 million 2012 contract with a vesting $4 million option, hoping he’d help to shore up Milwaukee’s porous infield from a season ago, though he’s been a shell of his former self defensively this season, garnering just a .969 fielding percent and 4.42 range factor thus far.

The Brewers have called up 30-year-old journeyman shortstop Edwin Maysonet and 25-year-old infield prospect Taylor Green from Triple-A Nashville to fill the void left behind from Gonzalez’s injury. More details to come regarding the story in the subsequent hours.

• UPDATE (8:23 PM CT): According to the Washington Post, Gonzalez will undergo an MRI on Monday, May 7 to “determine the severity of the injury“.

Alec Dopp covers the Milwaukee Brewers as a featured columnist at Bleacher Report.  Follow him on Twitter @alecdopp and read his blog.

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It’s been hard to be a Milwaukee Brewer fan for the last 25 years or so. Only a handful of memories stick out.

But then 2011 came along.

One of the most memorable seasons started when the Brewers acquired Nyjer Morgan from the Washington Nationals.

Nyjer Morgan was the Brewers fans favorite player in 2011. The eccentric “T-Plush” brought enthusiasm and energy night in and night out.

Morgan, mainly known for his off-the-field antics, had a very solid season for the Brew Crew a year ago. He hit .304 in a platoon role in center field.

Most call him “T-Plush,” but Ryan Braun calls him “T-Clutch” and for good reason.

Here is the play a Milwaukee Brewer fan will never forget.

Begin Slideshow

Casey McGehee, a dead fastball hitter, had the best season of his career in 2010.

The former Cub hit .285 with 23 home runs and 104 RBI in his first full season as a starter. Batting behind Prince Fielder, McGehee was a dangerous hitter. The Milwaukee Brewers thought they had struck gold by acquiring the third basemen from their bitter rivals, the Chicago Cubs. A year later, however, their thoughts had changed.

The then-28-year-old was mired in a season-long slump in 2011. His .223 batting average was the worst among starters in the National League. His power numbers decreased dramatically and no longer had the knack to drive in base-runners.

McGehee’s on base percentage dropped over 50 points. Pitchers were figuring out that McGehee had trouble hitting breaking balls and started avoiding giving him fastballs. The Brewers once-dangerous five-hole hitter was becoming a liability.

As the playoffs came around, manager Ron Roenicke had a decision to make. Should he stay with the struggling McGehee at third, or should he replace him with veteran utility player Jerry Hairston? Roenicke went with the latter, which turned out to be crucial to Milwaukee’s postseason success.

A little over a month after the 2011 season ended, the Brewers signed the 33-year-old and former rival Aramis Ramirez to a three year deal. Three days later, Milwaukee shipped McGehee off to Pittsburgh and acquired hard-throwing reliever Jose Veras.

Aramis Ramirez seems to be a home wrecker for Casey McGehee. The reason the Chicago Cubs placed McGehee on waivers was because they had no spot for him, as Ramirez was their third basemen. Now Ramirez comes to Milwaukee and kicks McGehee out once again.

After three seasons in Milwaukee, two of them as a starter, McGehee was given up on by the Brewers organization.

Although it is very early, people—myself included—are beginning to wonder if sending McGehee away will come back to haunt the Brewers.

Ramirez is a better third basemen and a more proven hitter then McGehee, yet he is four years older at the age of 33. After a dreadful season in 2010, he hit .306 with 26 home runs and batted in 93 in 2011, winning him the silver slugger award.

However, 2012 seems to be on it’s way to be a repeat of Ramirez’s 2010 season: He is in a 4-for-35 slump to begin his Brewers career, his on-base percentage is a pathetic .179 and opposing pitchers are no longer afraid to face him.

Granted, Ramirez is a notoriously slow starter. He is only a .250 hitter in the month of April. Still, his batting average is well behind that of.McGehee, who is hitting .308 to begin the new campaign. After striking out over 100 times a year ago, McGehee has only struck out twice in 26 at bats.

McGehee’s main focus during the offseason was to try not to do so much at the plate. “I think I’ve got plenty of baseball left in me to where I’m not ready to take on a coaching role,” he told the Bradenton Herald in late February.      

Milwaukee is paying Ramirez $6 million this year, and will eventually be paying him $16 million in 2014. If the Brewers had kept McGehee, they would be paying him a little over two million. If they had put more faith in McGehee, they would have had more money to try and sign Jose Reyes or make a bigger offer to Jimmy Rollins.

As Ramirez gets older, his productivity will decline, which is becoming more evident this year. The Brewers gave up on McGehee too soon and they very may well regret it in years to come. It will be interesting to compare Ramirez and McGehee’s stats as the season progresses.

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After a tumultuous offseason, Ryan Braun is shutting up his critics so far in 2012.

In early October, Braun tested positive for a banned substance. He appealed the findings and was eventually exonerated due to a chain of custody issue. Because of this, the majority of fans believe that Braun got off on a technicality and have labeled him a cheater.

Many thought that the hatred from the fans during road games would distract Braun and his level of play would decrease. Critics of Braun also pointed out that, with Prince Fielder’s departure, teams would pitch around Braun more often, and he wouldn’t see as many good pitches as he did with Fielder behind him.

Braun claims that he tunes out opposing fans and doesn’t let it affect his play. He must be telling the truth.

For the season, Braun is hitting .357 with one home run and four runs batted in. In four games on the road, Braun is hitting .375 with three RBI. This includes three games at Wrigley Field, where Cubs fans loudly booed him every time he stepped to the plate. If Braun doesn’t let the wild fans in Chicago faze him, I don’t see what will.

Aramis Ramirez is no Prince Fielder, and Ramirez will be the first to admit that. Since Ramirez is no Fielder, many people thought Braun would struggle without someone like Prince behind him. Although Ramirez is struggling mightily, batting .111, Braun has still been able to deliver. It doesn’t seem to matter who’s hitting behind Braun, because he is just that talented. When Ramirez starts hitting like he has his whole career, the Brewers will be extremely dangerous.

Say what you want about Ryan Braun. He may very well be a cheater who got off on a technicality. Or, he could be telling the truth. Personally, I’d rather believe that Braun is clean and has done things in the most professional manner. It’s better for baseball if people believe in him.

We may never know the absolute truth, but what we do know is that not many things affect Braun, as he’s proving. Braun is a once-in-a-lifetime player, and he will contend for the NL MVP once again.

If Braun continues to perform in MVP style in 2012, there will still be critics, but not as many.

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Prince who?

Just kidding. Prince Fielder will be missed by the Milwaukee Brewers no matter which way you slice it; from his elite offensive production to his clubhouse charisma and leadership qualities, Prince is an irreplaceable talent. But if you’re a Brewers fan, the loss is starting to look less and less painful the further we get into spring.

Ryan Braun is finally starting to find his rhythm, Corey Hart will possibly be able to make it back on the opening day roster, Rickie Weeks is returning to full health, and the Brewers are getting offensive production out of every position.

There are a couple of position battles are that are shaping up to be dead heats, namely for the starting center fielder, backup outfielder and backup infielder. But as interesting as they are, I’m not here to talk about position battles.

I’m here to talk about Mat Gamel.

The polarizing, long-time prospect is putting together the best spring of his career, and the closer we approach to opening day, the quieter the critics are becoming.

Everyone knows Gamel can hit. He’s proven it time and time again in the upper minors and he has even shown glimpses of being a viable major leaguer during his call-ups, but most of his time in the majors has been forgettable. Gamel’s problem has never been ability, it has always been motivation.

By now, everyone has heard about his stints in the majors. His ugly MLB career stat line of .222/.309/.374 is not impressive to anyone.

But what I, and other baseball optimists (yes, we exist), have been saying for years is that Gamel has not been given his fair chance yet.

Sure, he has had call-ups in four separate seasons. He has had 171 major league at-bats over the course of those call-ups, and all he has to show for it is an ugly set of statistics and no real contribution.

But Mat Gamel has not been given the opportunity to start on a consistent basis. His call-ups have been brief, and he has not had the chance to figure out major league pitching on a consistent basis.

Gamel, a third baseman by trade, had his path to the majors blocked by the emergence of Casey McGehee at third, and last year he was sent to Triple-A and switched to first base for the entire season in anticipation of Prince Fielder’s departure.

He put together the best minor league season of his career and convinced the Brewers to give him the shot he’s been waiting for.

And this spring he is making the most of it. He came to camp in the best shape of his life, with a newfound motivation that impressed even the harshest of critics. Gamel knew this was his chance to prove that he has what it takes to shake the “Quad-A” label that has been assigned to him. He knew that if he wanted to be a major leaguer this was it.

So far, Gamel has had arguably the best offensive spring of any Brewer (with the possible exception of Jonathan Lucroy), and he has proven that he can and will be a legitimate power threat in the majors.

At the time of writing this article, Gamel has six spring homers to his name, including a three-game stretch where he hit home runs in back-to-back-to-back games.

He has a two-homer day against the San Diego Padres under his belt, when he cranked a monster grand slam and then in his next at-bat hit another no-doubter to almost the exact same spot in right field. 

Gamel’s swing has major league power hitter written all over it, and his output at the plate has been undeniable so far this spring.

Will it translate to the regular season? Again, as a baseball optimist I’m inclined to say yes. He’s done this against major league pitching, and his attitude off the field leads me to believe that he really wants to be great in the majors. But only time will tell.

The Brewers knew that replacing Prince Fielder would be impossible, but with Mat Gamel playing as well as he has so far, it’s hard to believe that his departure will hurt as much as many believed.

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The Milwaukee Brewers had a remarkable 2011 season. They won their division for the first time since they were in the American League in 1982 and advanced to the National League Championship Series, where they fell to the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals.

They had a 96-66 season, the best in franchise history. To finish things off, they had the National League MVP in Ryan Braun. 

Well that season is long gone, and this spring starts a new season, one without the likes of NL All-Star first baseman Prince Fielder. 

With as big of an offseason as there has been in a while, including two of the biggest power hitters in the major leagues leaving the NL Central in Fielder and Albert Pujols, the division is wide open. 

The Brewers’ pitching remains their driving force. They return every starter from a season ago in Yovani Gallardo (17-10, 3.52 ERA), Zack Greinke (16-6, 3.83 ERA), Shaun Marcum (13-7, 3.54 ERA), Randy Wolf (13-10, 3.69 ERA) and Chris Narveson (11-8, 4.45 ERA).

Last season, the starting pitching was second in total wins, seventh in ERA, third in quality starts and fifth in strikeouts in the National League.

If those guys get the team to the eighth inning, the Brewers will be unbeatable. Setup man Francisco Rodriguez and closer John Axford return to a Brewers team that finished fifth in saves a season ago.

Even without Fielder, the Brewers have a legitimate shot at winning the division. Pitching wins games—just look at the 2010 San Francisco Giants.

The Brewers have plenty of power to complement their pitching.

Losing Fielder is tough, but the Brewers picked up the Chicago Cubs‘ Aramis Ramirez, who didn’t look like he aged very much after batting .306 last season, with 26 home runs and 93 runs batted in.

The team still has the MVP and decent power from the three to six spots in the lineup (Braun, Ramirez, Rickie Weeks, Mat Gamel). With Gamel moving to first base, no one knows how he will perform. Although he has struggled in his time in the big leagues the past couple of seasons, you never know—he could emerge like Weeks did.

If Nyjer Morgan and Carlos Gomez can keep the energy up, and if Weeks has another All-Star year, there is no question that there is offensive talent on this team.

Finally, one of the bigger offseason moves that had to be made was to fix the defense. The Brewers were in the bottom half of the majors in errors and fielding percentage last year, so General Manager Doug Melvin made another good move by picking up Alex Gonzalez.

Without Yuniesky Betancourt at shortstop, the Brewers have a chance.

With another year of solid pitching, the Brewers have a good chance to win the division. The only other team that has a chance would be the defending champs. They have an even stronger starting rotation with Adam Wainwright coming back. The only question for them is if they can stay healthy.

2012 Projected Opening Day Lineup

1. Nyjer Morgan/Carlos Gomez—CF
2. Corey Hart—RF
3. Ryan Braun—LF
4. Aramis Ramirez—3rd base
5. Rickie Weeks—2nd base
6. Mat Gamel—1st base
7. Alex Gonzalez—shortstop
8. Jonathon Lucroy—catcher

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Ryan Braun and the Milwaukee Brewers have dealt with a lot over the last several months. Tuesday brought about another bump in the road for Braun.

Braun was scratched from the lineup on Tuesday afternoon after experiencing tightness in his groin. 

The Brewers are likely being cautious with Braun, but if this injury lingers it certainly won’t do Braun any good as he attempts to find his swing this spring.

He has one hit in 17 at bats and has struck out five times. Braun was trying to play back-to-back games for only the second time this spring. The last time he did was on March 8th and March 9th. 

Many will wonder if his horrific spring is related to his PED scandal. 

Perhaps Braun has been unable to find a rhythm playing in only a handful of games. If there were not extenuating circumstances, a dreadful spring would not be much of a concern.

With Braun however, a fallout from a long offseason fighting a PED suspension might have taken him out of his game.

Hopefully for the Brewers, Braun is back on the field sooner rather than later.

You can follow me on Twitter @NargOnSports.

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Norichika Aoki may have been feeling some pressure. At the very least, the Japanese rookie was surely pressing after compiling a .194 batting average going into the Milwaukee Brewers‘ Cactus League game against the Texas Rangers on Monday.

Acclimating himself to a new country and playing baseball against a level of pitching he’s never seen before likely wasn’t helping matters. Perhaps Aoki was also feeling underprepared, with the intensity of spring workouts more than a notch below the workouts Japanese players typically go through. 

Brewers manager Ron Roenicke had no answers, but thought Aoki might benefit by trying to relax and not try too hard to impress his new coaches and teammates.

Maybe it was just a coincidence, but after having that conversation with his skipper, Aoki had the breakout performance of his spring (he says the chat helped him). 

His bat came to life on Monday with three hits in three at-bats, including a triple, to go with three RBI and a stolen base. Aoki was the only hitter in the Brewers lineup to get a hit off Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish, knocking a RBI single up the middle in the second inning. 

Perhaps facing a fellow countryman helped, as well. Aoki certainly seemed familiar with Darvish’s pitching repertoire, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Haudricourt. “He throws a lot of breaking balls,” Aoki told him Sunday. “He throws fastball, too, but has a lot of breaking balls.”

Familiarity didn’t work out so well for Darvish, who apparently had some tough battles with Aoki in Japan.

From MLB.com‘s Adam McCalvy:

“I’ve always hated facing him,” Darvish said. “The Brewers have a lot of good hitters in their lineup, and he seems just like one of them. He’s a very tough hitter to face.”

Aoki’s struggles haven’t necessarily affected his status on the team. He was slated to be the Brewers’ fourth or fifth outfielder once the regular season began. But with Corey Hart recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee earlier this month, Aoki is likely to be Milwaukee’s Opening Day right fielder. That means he should get plenty of opportunities through the rest of spring training to work on a swing two years removed from a 200-hit season.

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Since they acquired the pitcher in a blockbuster trade in December 2010, there has been much speculation that the Brewers have a good shot at keeping Zack Greinke long term.

The reasoning is simple. Unlike CC Sabathia, fans and some media have said, Greinke is not a good fit for a big market club like the Yankees, Dodgers or Red Sox. In addition, some took his four year, $38 million extension with the Royals in 2009 as a sign that money is not his top priority in picking a team.

The reality is that when Greinke signed that contract, it was a very lucrative deal for a player of his service class. He remains one of the highest paid players in that class. Given that Greinke stands to make upwards of $15 million per year should he hit the open market, taking a “discount” would likely mean remaining at his current pay level, which just would not make any sense for a 28-year-old with a Cy Young to his name.

But a more important discussion than whether the Brewers can sign Zack Greinke is whether or not they should.

Though he will command top-starter money with a repeat performance in 2012, Zack Greinke has not pitched like one for nearly three years.

Coming off of that magical Cy Young season in 2009, Greinke posted thoroughly mediocre numbers (10-14, 4.17 ERA). In 2011, his first year with the Brewers, he struggled mightily coming off of a freak basketball injury before having an exceptional second half and ending up with significantly improved numbers (16-6, 3.83 ERA).

Still, those are not elite numbers. And as they learned from the Jeff Suppan catastrophe, the Brewers cannot afford to pay top money to an undeserving pitcher. That is not to say Greinke is anything like Suppan, but more that if the Brewers are going to spend ace money, it should be on an ace.

While Greinke was certainly not the only Brewers pitcher to struggle in the playoffs, his implosion against the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series certainly should not make Mark Attanasio more willing to open his wallet for a major extension.

Complicating the situation is the status of prospects Taylor Jungmann and Jed Bradley. The Brewers front office believes the pair can move quickly through the system and be ready for big-league play as soon as 2013. Whether that happens remains to be seen, and it would be a risky proposition betting that even one of them can help fill out the rotation next year.

Additionally, Greinke is not the only Brewers pitcher up for free agency after 2012. Shaun Marcum, their other prize acquisition before 2011, and Randy Wolf are also in contract years. The Brewers need to decide which, if any, should be brought back.

Neither Marcum (age 30) nor Wolf (35) stand to make as much on the open market as Greinke, despite the fact that both had comparable performances in 2011. Bringing back the two of them on short-term deals is perhaps much less risky than trying to lock Greinke up for the five-plus seasons it would likely take to get a deal done.

With Prince Fielder now terrorizing American League central teams, the idea of letting another key piece of the best Brewers team in nearly 30 years walk is probably enough to make most fans cry into their beer. But in this case, as with Fielder, it might be the smartest move.

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