The Cycle, Issue 112: Central Division Hot Stove Previews
Hot Stove Previews wrap up in the Central divisions, plus Joely Rodríguez stays in the Bronx, Joakim Soria goes home, Jake Meyers and David Bote will miss Opening Day, and more
In this issue of The Cycle . . .
Hot Stove Previews: NL Central and AL Central
Transaction Reactions: Joely Rodríguez returns to the Yankees, Brent Strom resurfaces, and two relievers retire
Injured List: Updates on Jake Meyers, David Bote, and Cole Hamels
Feedback
Closing Credits
Once again, my apologies for the delay of this issue. I have no good excuse this time other than things just got backed up after Wednesday’s issue was delayed.
Hot Stove Previews
The Cycle’s Hot Stove Previews conclude today with a look at what the winter might, or could, hold for the teams in the National and American League Central divisions. Going through these, I was struck by how little competition the Brewers and White Sox are likely to face in their attempts to repeat as division champions next year. The Cardinals are the only NL Central team trying to catch Milwaukee, and while the Tigers are expected to be aggressive, they have a much steeper hill to climb than the Cleveland Guardians, who won’t be trying quite as hard. It could be a long winter, and they play the games for a reason, but it’s tempting to submit my 2022 Central division picks early.
One last time, Deserved Winning Percentage, which was provided by Robert Au of Baseball Prospectus, is the “deserved” stats equivalent of the old third-order wins. It starts by determining how many runs each team deserved to score and allow over the course of the season, after correcting for a myriad of external factors, then calculates that team’s deserved winning percentage by applying the Pythagorean formula to those run totals (I have taken the additional step of translating those winning percentages into a 162-game record to make the comparison to the team’s actual 2021 results more intuitive).
Also, for the second year in a row, National League teams are heading into the offseason, and likely to spend a significant portion of that offseason, not knowing if they will have a designated hitter in their lineup in the coming year or not. My general impression is that NL teams are assuming that the universal DH will be in place in 2022, so I have included mention of potential designated hitters in the write-ups for the NL teams, where appropriate, but I have not gone as far as to suggest an NL team add a player with the explicit intention of filling the DH role.
National League Central
Milwaukee Brewers
2021 record and result: 95-67 (.586), lost Division Series to Braves
Deserved Winning Pct.: (87-75) .537
Runs per Game (NL Rank): 4.56 (6th)
Runs Allowed/G (NL Rank): 3.85 (3rd)
Free Agents: IF Eduardo Escobar, RF Avisaíl Garcia, C Manny Piña, LHPs Brett Anderson and Daniel Norris, RHPs Brad Boxberger, Hunter Strickland, and Colin Rea
2022 Goal: Win the World Series for the first time in franchise history
Biggest Need: A big outfield bat
The Brewers’ coasted to the third-best record in the National League last year on the strength of their pitching and fielding. Along the way, they remade their infield on the fly around free agent second baseman Kolten Wong, trading for shortstop Willy Adames in May (a gift from the Rays), adding first baseman Rowdy Tellez and infielder Eduardo Escobar at the deadline, and ultimately ceding third base to Luis Urías despite Escobar’s presence.
Escobar and right fielder Avisaíl García are now free agents, which makes the Brewers a team looking to add run production with the left side of the defensive spectrum (right field, first base, and potentially designated hitter) wide open for pure hitters. If Kyle Schwarber were to return to the National League, this is one team for whom he would make sense even without the DH (I mean, doesn’t Schwarber in a Brewers uniform just seem right?). The Brewers should also check in on Kris Bryant, Brandon Belt, Nick Castellanos, and Michael Conforto. Heck, throw Anthony Rizzo and Jorge Soler in there just to round up the other bat-first ex-Cubs on the market, and with the ever-fragile Lorenzo Cain entering his walk year, Starling Marte should also get a call.
It wouldn’t hurt Milwaukee to add a little more depth in the bullpen with Boxberger and Strickland now free agents, and fixing Christian Yelich must be a part of any attempt to upgrade the offense, but Job One is to add a big bat or two, because if the 2022 Brewers can hit, they’re going to win.