My Brewers fandom has been lacking this season. The fact that I didn't have cable for the first time since the '99 season didn't help, but from the onset I knew that the Brewers were, at best, a .500 team this year. Nothing inspired me to write (although I could have made some noise about Corey Hart and how he should have been traded earlier … now it looks like the Brewers are stuck with him).
As the 2010 season closes, this Dave Cameron piece at Fangraphs tamped down my expectations for the offseason. Fielder is likely to be moved, as expected, but because of the article I'm wary of the return. The rumor around the internets for many years has been a straight up Fielder for Matt Cain move, but now that seems unlikely. Cain is a key part of a resurgent Giants team and in no way leaving the San Francisco, so I'm at a loss for which pitcher the Brewers can obtain and be a playoff-like team for the next 3-4 years.
Plenty of coulda/shouldas can be brought up here, but my short research list is to find lumbering first basemen and what they were netted in trades. Fielder is definitely worth something of value, but with such a glaring organization need, his 2011 salary, and his imminent free agency, the Brewers could be negotiated out of a deal and the same 2010 Brewers will appear next season.
