Milwaukee Brewers Will Win NL Central in 2009

Ten Reasons the Milwaukee Brewers Will Be in The Playoffs in 2009

Apr 6, 2009

While the national media has already penciled in the Chicago Cubs as the winners of the NL Central, the 2009 Milwaukee Brewers will prove that last season was no fluke.

It’s prediction season for Major League Baseball, and the Milwaukee Brewers are getting no love from any of the media outlets making predictions for this season. The outlook seems to be that since the Crew lost CC Sabathia, they don’t have a chance to make the playoffs this year.

Here are 10 reasons why the Milwaukee Brewers will not only be competitive this season, but win the NL Central.

No More Ned Yost

The single biggest reason the Brewers struggled so much before the CC acquisition was manager Ned Yost. Yost's late-season firing was one of the best moments of the 2008 season. Now, Brewer fans wont have to live with watching Ned Yost stare out onto the field with arms folded with that ‘No, the world isn’t collapsing’ look on his face as things very obviously fall apart right in front of him and he refuses to do anything about it. It was kinda like the look George W. Bush had on his face for the last year of his presidency. If CC won them 11 games down the stretch, Yost cost them at least that many during the course of the season. At least.

Year 3 for Ryan Braun and a Rejuvenated Prince Fielder

Year 3 is usually the year where superstar hitters fully mature. This is Year 3 for Ryan Braun. Injury schmingery. He’s going to have a monster year. And speaking of monster years, a rejuvenated, more slender, better-paid Prince Fielder is in for a big one. The big fella is going to lead the NL in home runs.

New Manager Ken Macha

Not only is Macha not Ned Yost, he’s a playoff manager (who ran into two of the best teams in the last 25 years in the ‘03/’04 Red Sox and Yankees) who did it with a team with a smaller payroll than the Brewers. Oh, and he also has two other playoff managers in the dugout with him in Willie Randolph and Dale Sveum, which can only help. These guys know that missing the playoffs will be a disappointment.

Other Teams Will be Shedding Assets by July 31

Of course, everyone’s talking about the big unpredictable issue in Major League Baseball (and, well, everywhere), the looming dark cloud of the worst economy in 80 years hanging over everything. Fans in cities like Detroit, Oakland, Kansas City, Baltimore, Seattle, Miami, DC, Houston, Pittsburgh, San Diego and Denver will be lucky to have 10,000 fans willing to throw down for tickets to see their crappy teams this season. They will all be shedding assets well before the trade deadline. But not the Brewers. The team has already sold 1.75 million tickets and any success will ensure that the planned in-season promotion packages will be met with the full force of the Brew Crew Faithful. Don't be surprised if Melvin makes a move at the deadline to improve the team for the stretch run.

There Are a Lot of Crappy Teams in the NL

There isn’t a single team in the National League that doesn’t have some serious question marks. Sure, the Brewers have plenty of their own, (starting pitching, Rickie Weeks, etc.) but they’re no different than anyone else in that regard. Plus, the Brewers will be playing the Pirates and Astros many times this season, and both of those teams could be historically bad.

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