FanHouse 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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The Brewers will not pick up Braden Looper's $6.5 million option for next year, Tom Haudricort of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is reporting. They'll have to buy his deal out for $1 million, and it's all being done in the name of financial flexibility for the team to pursue more pitching on this winter's free agent market, according to GM Doug Melvin.

That's an understandable stance since Looper wasn't great in Milwaukee in 2009 (he won 14 games, but had a 5.22 ERA and poor peripherals) but it really leaves the Brewers with Yovani Gallardo, Manny Parra, Jeff Suppan, and probably Dave Bush (he's seen by some as a non-tender candidate now that he's entering his last year of arbitration and will likely be due a raise on his $4 million 2009 salary, but that seems unlikely with Looper's salary off the books) as starting pitchers right now. Melvin better have some plan in mind or things are only going to get worse for the Brewers' pitching staff.

Editor's Note: This story originally appeared in Spanish on Fanaticos.com

By SERGIO MACHADO, Special from Fanaticos.com

Gabriela Escobar faces many challenges. She is not even close to beginning to understand the difference between right and wrong and yet she's touched by adversity. She is at the center of a situation created by adults, but luckily she has no idea of what's surrounding her. She hasn't even had her first birthday yet.

Leury Escobar is Gabriela's mother. She lives in Panamá and is the daughter of Sandra Taveras and Omar Moreno, who was a big leaguer from 1975 to 1986, playing his best years with the Pittsburgh Pirates, stealing 96 bases in 1980 and winning the World Series in 1979. He was part of that magical Pirates team known as the 'We Are Family' Pirates.

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In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down offseason moves from a scouting perspective.

It hasn't taken long for the Hot Stove to get heated up as we roll past the World Series. Some key players have already been locked up and some high upside trades have already gone down. What do these moves mean for each club involved and how will the players dealt respond to their new homes? Just as significant, how important will the prospects dealt turn out to be?

From Mark Teahen headed to Chicago, to the Carlos Gomez for J.J. Hardy swap, to Bobby Abreu's new deal with the Angels, each move had a distinct impact. Perhaps the most interesting of these, however, was Jeremy Hermida being shipped to Boston. For the price of a pair of young lefties, the Red Sox took a gamble that may prove very worthy.

It was no secret J.J. Hardy was likely going to be traded this offseason, but most believed the Brewers would use him to acquire some desperately needed starting pitching help. Instead, they have opted to move him to Minnesota for a young center fielder -- Carlos Gomez.

Hardy, 27, fell out of favor with the Brewers this past season as he failed to meet his previously set offensive standards. He ended the season with an abysmal .659 OPS and the Brewers have uber-prospect Alcides Escobar waiting in the wings (he hit .304 in 38 big-league games last season). Thus, it made sense to move Hardy, who did hit 50 home runs in his previous two campaigns, for help elsewhere.

Only the Washington Nationals had a worse team ERA than the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL this past season. Brewers' starters were the worst in the entire major leagues, sporting a pathetic 5.37 ERA. Obviously, something needs to be done for a team with such a high-powered offense, in order to remain competitive.

Thus, the Brewers are reportedly making a strong push for respected pitching coach Rick Peterson. Peterson has worked with former A's and current Brewers manager Ken Macha in the past, as he was in Oakland from 1998-2003, where he oversaw the development of All-Stars Barry Zito, Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder. He then took a job with the Mets -- which didn't turn out near as well and concluded during the 2008 season.

The ageless closer has at least one more year in him -- and maybe even two. Multiple outlets are reporting that Trevor Hoffman has signed a new contract to remain with the Milwaukee Brewers.

According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the deal will pay Hoffman $8 million in 2010 and has a mutual option for 2011. The option contains escalators involving Hoffman's 2010 stats and could pay him up to $8.5 million in 2011. There is also a $500,000 buyout -- which grows to $1 million if Hoffman reaches 40 saves in 2010 -- should the Brewers decide not to retain Hoffman's services for 2011.

Despite a disappointing 2009 season, the Brewers confirmed Sunday that they will bring manager Ken Macha back in 2010 with a team option for 2011. In fact, most of Macha's staff will be back, with only interim pitching coach Chris Bosio and bullpen coach Stan Kyles not being offered contracts.

That's not the only news out of Milwaukee on the last day of the season. The Brewers are also apparently close to re-signing closer Trevor Hoffman, who pitched exceptionally well in his first season in Milwaukee, saving 37 games with a 1.70 ERA and a 4.27 K/BB ratio. He's 41, but the all-time saves leader certainly didn't pitch his age this year.

A year ago at this time the Milwaukee Brewers were wrapping up their first postseason berth in 25 years, and even though they were knocked out of the Division Series by the Phillies, expectations were raised in Milwaukee. Those expectations weren't met this season as the Brew Crew is battling just to finish .500.

So it's no surprise that the team's owner, Mark Attanasio, is disappointed with this year's results, but he's focused on the future of his club and how it can get back to the postseason. Obviously changes will need to be made in Milwaukee if the Brewers are going to contend in the NL Central next season, and that means there are some tough decisions to be made.

With a full week of baseball left in the 2009 season, the current edition of the Milwaukee Brewers have already allowed almost 100 runs more than the playoff-bound 2008 edition. While a large amount of that difference can be chalked up to losing CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets, a more abstract difference for this Milwaukee team is the absence of well-regarded pitching coach Mike Maddux, who left Milwaukee for Texas after last season.

FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reported that the Brewers are interested in trying to bridge that gap by hiring Rick Peterson. The rumor shouldn't be surprising; Peterson worked both with Brewers' manager Ken Macha in Oakland and bench coach Willie Randolph in New York before being fired by the Mets along with Randolph last summer.