Milwaukee Brewers: 3 Free Agent Infielder Targets
By Kenny Jilek
The Milwaukee Brewers came up short in the playoffs due in no small part to their lack of hitting for the entirety of the NLDS. As a team in that series, they hit .235 and slugged just .324, with the only extra-base hits being the two home runs hit by Rowdy Tellez and three scattered doubles. All of this added up to just six runs in four games, including being shut out twice.
For most of the regular season, the Brewers’ infielders were pretty solid in the hitting department. Willy Adames was immediately a star when he arrived in Milwaukee and was liberated from Tropicana Field, Luis Urias started hitting well on Adames’ arrival as well, Kolten Wong had arguably the best offensive season of his career, with an OPS+ of 108, and Rowdy Tellez was lightning in a bottle when he came from the Blue Jays as well.
Even with all of this production, the point still stands that they didn’t get the job done in the playoffs, and David Stearns has never been afraid of bringing in new talent even when it doesn’t seem like there’s room in the lineup for a particular player. Just last offseason, Kolten Wong was signed when it seemed Urias would be the everyday second baseman, and they got Jackie Bradley Jr. to join an already somewhat crowded outfield. If the right deal is there to add perceived talent, the Milwaukee Brewers’ philosophy since Stearns got here is to acquire talent and ask questions later.
So, today I have three infield options, none of whom should be extremely pricey, that could have a good season and put the Brewers over the top with relatively low risk.
Milwaukee Brewers Free Agent Infield Target: Colin Moran
Moran has been a staple in the Pirates lineup for the last four seasons, first as their everyday third baseman and then transitioning to DH duty in 2020 and first base much more in 2021. He can play both corner spots and has been a consistent hitter year to year throughout his career.
His OPS has always ranged in the .700s, which is nothing special, but you know exactly what you’ll get from him as his OPS+ has never been under 96 in his four full MLB seasons, so he’s always at least right around average. Moran is also only 29 years old with plenty of time left in him.
He’s not the best in the field, with a career -32 runs saved above average, but it’s always made clear that having a bat is much more valuable than having a stellar glove. His bat is one that I believe can get even better, especially in the power category. Over his four Pirate years, he’s hit 44 homers, just 11 per year, which is low for a towering corner infielder who doesn’t have much speed. However, he’s shown plenty of power potential. 2020 was a shortened season where he only played in 52 games and still hit 10 long balls and 10 doubles. Just this season he hit four home runs in April alone, but then went on a huge drought that didn’t end until August (which included an almost month-long injury). As a left-handed bat that would play half his games in Miller Park, he could easily hit 20 to 25 deep balls for the Crew.
Finally, they might want to get him just to prevent him from hitting against them. He’s been a Brewer killer with a slash line of .303/.382/.481 and an .861 OPS. He always puts up ridiculous numbers against Milwaukee; maybe it’s time he does the same for us.