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After season, questions remain
Corner outfielders, pitching, team chemistry issues to be addressed
By Andy Egelhoff
The 2006 Milwaukee Brewers season has come to an end.
What once began as a promising campaign, highlighted by a 5-0 start, took a gradual fall into disappointment. Marred by injuries and an inexplicit inability to win on the road, Milwaukee has almost taken a step backwards in trying to get to the next level.
Vital questions remain regarding the club and its future.
It seems like just last week the roster had a mixture of young talent and veteran power that had fans thinking the post season wasn’t just a possibility, but almost a certainty. Unfortunately for them, things don’t always work out as planned.
The injuries to starting pitchers Ben Sheets and Tomo Ohka early in the year crippled the club from the beginning. No one predicted the struggles of closer Derrick Turnbow. With two years left on his contract, what do you do with him?
On top of that, the team lost shortstop J.J. Hardy to an ankle injury in early May, and a mysterious head injury suffered by third basemen Corey Koskie has kept him sidelined since July. Second baseman Rickie Weeks tore a muscle in his wrist that same month.
How will all three bounce back — will they bounce back at all?
Perhaps the biggest problem suffered by all of this was the inability to get in on the same page. When a team is shuffling guys in and out of the lineup everyday, it is hard to get a feel for one another. What needs to change to keep players on the field and off the surgeon’s table?
Basically both starting corner outfielders at the beginning of the season didn’t finish there at the end. Carlos Lee was traded after turning down a contract offer from the club and Geoff Jenkins was benched due to poor production.
So where do the Brewers go from here? They, like most other teams, have holes that need to be filled. A team can never have enough pitching, and there is still the question of those two corner outfield spots that need to be answered.
Whether the team fills these holes via free agency or by trade remains to be seen. But one thing you can be sure of, there will be some new faces in Milwaukee next year.
Then maybe the biggest question of all will be answered: Can this team finally get over the playoff hump for the first time in 24 years?
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