Surplus of outfielders is an asset
In the history of baseball, no manager has complained to his bosses for providing too many good players, and Craig Counsell of the Milwaukee Brewers isn’t about to be the first.
Ever since the Brewers stunned the baseball world on Jan. 25 by acquiring outfielders Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain almost simultaneously, Counsell has heard the same question, over and over: “How are you going to get all of your outfielders playing time?”
The din grew louder when the Brewers defied conventional wisdom and opted to keep all of their outfielders rather than trade one. Keon Broxton, the starter in center last season, was sent to Class AAA Colorado Springs but the rest of the experienced outfield crew remained intact.
The situation was eased somewhat by giving leftfielder Ryan Braun playing time at first base against left-handers, allowing Domingo Santana to start in right with Yelich at his best position in left and Cain likewise in center. But that move puts returning first baseman Eric Thames, who slugged 31 home runs last season, on the bench.
Counsell admitted the situation “is
a challenge” but expects things will get sorted out over time. He conceded that the opening weeks of the season are toughest because everyone is physically fit and raring to go, with no desire to sit on the bench.
“I think keeping guys fresh will be beneficial to our offense and how they produce," Counsell said. "But it will be a little bit of a challenge (at the outset). There will be some guys that are off who don’t want to be off.
“We’re not worse on the field. It’s just there’s a good player on the bench. So, it will be fine and it will work out well. In the end, we’ll keep guys fresh and we’ll look at the end of the season and say, ‘Thank God we had all those guys.’ ”
Actually, that time came much earlier than expected. Yelich experienced oblique soreness a few days ago that put him out of action. Just like that, the Brewers no longer had too many outfielders.
Many folks thought general manager David Stearns would kill two birds with one stone and trade Santana for an established starting pitcher before opening day. Such a move would ease the outfield glut while also answering the cries of those who insisted the Yelich/Cain moves were not enough without the addition of a quality pitcher.
Stearns said he never considered trading
an outfielder mandatory, however.
“As I said throughout the off-season, we didn’t think we had an outfield problem. I thought we had outfield depth. I’ll reiterate that,” Stearns said.
“We’re going to let it play out. I’m very comfortable with our organization depth as a whole. We’ve worked hard to get to this place, so I’m not looking to remove it.”
As Stearns pursued a trade with Miami for Yelich as well as the free-agent signing of Cain throughout the winter, he couldn’t be sure he’d acquire either player, much less both. But, when it became evident that both processes could play out successfully, the internal discussion between Stearns and principal owner Mark Attanasio became more animated.
“You could see the Yelich trade developing and the Cain negotiations developing, and all of a sudden, they looked like they’d land at the same time,” Attanasio recalled. “I asked David, ‘What do you do now? Do you back off on one and choose the other?’ He said no, that it increased his desire to get both players.
“Clearly, if you can add Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain, your team is going to be better. Then, all the other questions, how many outfielders, the team is just much better. It’s very rare to add either one of those types of players, in terms of talent. We knew we could keep all the outfielders.
“I think some of the teams out there didn’t think so, and we knew we could. David and (assistant) Matt (Arnold) do a really good job managing the roster. If
you look at the other teams that have had success, the Astros and the Dodgers are really smart about managing their rosters.”
That doesn’t mean the odd man out of the starting lineup on any given day is thrilled about this situation. One of the team’s major clubhouse themes is “staying connected” with each other, meaning being a good teammate, no matter the personal situation.
As long as there are more quality players than positions in the lineup, that approach will be tested somewhat with this close-knit, fun-loving bunch.
“If you look at it on paper, most people probably were surprised we came into the season with all of these guys,” said Braun, who was rested in the third game of the first two series against San Diego and St. Louis, both times after hitting game-winning home runs.
“All of us as players would probably say the same thing. But, because we’re all here, all we can do is make the best of it. It’s the best situation for the team, really.
“Everybody is going to do what they can to be a good teammate, be prepared when they’re called on. For whomever doesn’t start the game, you’ll have to be prepared to maybe come in a little sooner than they’re used to. We’ll have a lot of moving parts but they’re good parts to have, to move around.”
Braun agreed with the Counsell theory that player depth likely will be an issue only at the outset of the season and down the stretch. As a player who has battled injuries in recent seasons, he also understands
the physical rigors of the 162game season.
“Being objective about it, I haven’t played over 140 games in a few years,” Braun said. “Lorenzo Cain has only done it once in his career. Two years ago, Domingo was pretty banged up. So, these things have a way of working themselves out. It’s a story line for you guys (reporters) now but as we get into this thing, it will become a non-factor.
“You know you’re going to go into your minor-league depth, so just having major-league depth, and knowing our bench is really good and deep, is something that should benefit us. We’ve seen it already. We’ve had huge contributions from guys who didn’t start games. So, it’s a good position to be in.”
Boiling the situation down, Braun, Santana and Thames are in a three-man rotation for two spots, because Cain and Yelich are going to play regularly if healthy, with rare exceptions.
“There’s a lot of guys; it’s all fluid,” Thames said. “You never know who’s going to start from one day to the next. We have a lot of dudes.
“Usually, you have a few guys that are salty if they’re not playing every day. They think they should be playing every day, and they bring up their stat sheet from the year before, or the year before that.
“Everybody is just happy (when) we’re winning. You need that attitude to go to the postseason. You can’t just be caught up on, ‘I deserve this’ or ‘I’m entitled to this.’ It’s really about the team.”