The Milwaukee Brewers enter the offseason as one of the more intriguing storylines following the 2007 baseball season. With plenty of young talent mixed in with a couple of battle-tested veterans, overall the Brew Crew seems well-suited to make a playoff run, especially with one more year of experience under everyone’s belts.

With what is arguably the best young infield in baseball and unquestionably the best corner tandem in the league, a division title seems to shine on the horizon. Yet clearly holes exist, or else they would have at least met Boston in the World Series. Most of those shortcomings come in the area that every team seems to lack: starting pitching and middle relief.

The biggest free-agent question that Mark Attanasio, Doug Melvin and the rest of the franchise must answer is this: How much is Francisco Cordero worth, seeing as he is a free agent this year?

Disregarding his successful – and perhaps not coincidentally timely – 2007 season for the Crew, his career stats remain solid, albeit unspectacular: 3.28 ERA, 177 saves, a high 1.35 WHIP, and not a single inning of postseason experience.

In 2006, the New York Mets signed a much better closer, Billy Wagner, to a four-year, $43 million contract. Is Coco worth $11 million a year, which is reportedly his asking price? Absolutely not, especially since Mike Maddux and the organization discovered Dan Kolb and Derrick Turnbow and made them into All-Star closers.

Let Cordero, who only has three seasons of twenty or more saves, walk unless he will resign for around $5.4 million, his salary in 2007.

If the Milwaukee Brewers do resign a member of the horrific 2007 bullpen, hopefully it will be Scott Linebrink. Owner of a career 3.21 ERA and a respectable 1.27 WHIP, he acted as Trevor Hoffman’s set-up man for four and half years, appearing in the playoffs with San Diego, and continually providing bullpen stability at the reasonable price of $1.7 million.

While his contract demands will assuredly go up, his asking price will still sit below Cordero’s. This is a player the team cannot let go of, especially in a market with diluted middle relief and set-up men.

On a side note, both Linebrink and Cordero are type A free agents, meaning they are in the top 20 percent of players at their position, this as compared to type B free agents, who are in the top 20-40 percent. Teams that lose a type A free agent receive two draft picks in compensation, those that lose a type B free agent get one draft pick. So there is a silver lining if either one cannot agree on a contract.

Therefore, the organization must test the free-agent waters and hope to secure some pitching help, either a solid starter like Jeff Suppan or another credible arm in the bullpen. Baseball minds have also theorized moving Dave Bush to the bullpen, and thus going with a rotation of Ben Sheets, Suppan, Yovani Gallardo, Villanueva and Manny Parra.

This may potentially work, as Bush was a closer for Wake Forest, but only if Bushy were to act as a middle-relief pitcher rather than a closer. He does not possess the nasty arsenal necessary for consistent ninth inning success.

The 2008 free-agent class lacks any notable pitchers, unlike the 2009 class which could potentially see Jake Peavy, Johan Santana, Sheets and Jeremy Bonderman all joining new teams. It may be wise for the Crew to wait it out and try to obtain one of those three and then let Ben Sheets walk.

However, if the Brewers decide to pursue a starting pitcher, something not advisable, the player they should target is Kris Benson. Along with being born in Wisconsin and drafted first overall in the 1996 draft, he would be reasonably priced, owns solid stats (4.34 ERA), and is only 33.

In a relatively weak class of relief pitchers, the one name that sticks out is Jeremy Affeldt. A left-handed set-up man for National League champions the Colorado Rockies, he sported a 3.51 ERA despite a somewhat high 1.35 WHIP.

Nonetheless, accomplished, experienced lefties in the prime of their career do not come around often, and with a base salary of $1.25 million in 2007, the price may be right.

With few big names that would offer substantial help and also fit Milwaukee’s financial restraints, Benson and Affeldt should be two players the team has its collective eye on.

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