It's been hard to like the Milwaukee Brewers. Between Bud & Wendy and a pathetic on-field product since the days of Sal Bando, it's just no fun. Add in a bad (new) ballpark that completely killed the fun "real Wisconsin" feel to going to a game and ... well, the Brewers have been a team easy to ignore.

The supposed upside to being bad for so long is good draft picks. The Rays may have B.J. Upton and Delmon Young, but not much else populates their system. The Brewers, on the other hand, have gone the way of good depth the past couple seasons. There's a credible prospect in the system at almost every position except pitcher.

New owner-to-be Mark Attanasio has some Michael Milken connections that are a positive or negative depending on your outlook, but reports that he'll bump the payroll, giving Doug Melvin some room to work, look nice. A couple good trades -- Jose Capellan for Danny Kolb and Carlos Lee for Scott Podsednik -- have given the Brewers an interesting mix for next season.

Let's take a quick glance at the hope and faith that Doug Melvin, Ned Yost, and Mike Maddux have put together for next season, then a glance at what's coming:
C - Damian Miller (nice, reasonable free agent acquisition. Miller's reputation for handling pitchers is supposed to make him an extension of Maddux. I'm not sure I buy that, but Lou Palmisano is a ways off.)
1B - Lyle Overbay (part of the Richie Sexson haul, Overbay is Mark Grace lite without the smokes or slumpbusting. A player like Grace did a couple good things, but he got carried a bit by the fact that Ryne Sandberg hit more like a typical 1B slugger, allowing Grace to hit like a middle infielder. Overbay won't block Prince Fielder for a second and could even bring some prospects in return from a team that will overpay for a shiny BAvg. Fielder should be ready mid-season.)
2B - Junior Spivey (Spivey looked like an odd re-sign. A look over Rickie Weeks' minor league numbers makes it a bit more understandable. Weeks is a year away at best. Alex Cora would be a great pickup here now that he's been non-tendered.)
SS - J.J. Hardy (Watching Hardy last season in Indy, I was left completely unimpressed. I watched a game next to a group of scouts and they agreed with my assessment that his upside is more like Michael Young than Derek Jeter. Sure, Young's a very good player, but no one expected him to be this good. Hardy could improve, but you'll likely be taken by surprise. He's also a major injury risk with a chronically damaged shoulder. Bill Hall is a replacement level replacement.)
3B - Wes Helms (Helms is WYSIWYG at this point. Adequate. Russell Branyan makes for an ... interesting backup. Someone should be digging for a unique platoon split or just spotting Branyan in against low-K pitchers. There's no help coming from the minors, leaving Melvin to comb the waiver wire now and the free agent market next season.)
LF - Geoff Jenkins (Jenkins is the player that the Brewers thought they would build around. That's hardly something to brag about. He's overpaid, hard to trade, injury prone, and honestly not that great. He'll give decent performance -- 280/330/480 is reasonable -- while Brad Nelson, a fringe prospect with power, tries to make a case.)
CF - Dave Krynzel (Krynzel's another Brewer prospect I got a good look at last summer and came away unimpressed. He's cheap, has good speed and defense, but that's about it. PECOTA compared him to Corey Patterson (2002 version) and Roger Cedeno. That sounds about right. His upside is a Scott Podsednik 2003 season without the power.)
RF - Carlos Lee (Melvin's big trade brought a big dose of power north. Lee's likely not going to be a Brewer long, but it's still a nice deal. He'll make the rest of the offense credible. Corey Hart - and no 80's music references please; so played - is the one Triple-A prospect I liked. He's tall and very gangly, giving him some pop to go with a swing a mile long. He could be Richie Sexson very easily, but not quite yet.)

This one's gone long, so I'll do the pitchers another day. I'll need a beer or two to talk about that horror story.