All Brewers team, position players

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In putting together this lineup, somehow I thought it would be stronger. While the Brewers have had a lot of guys with strong name recognition, the production isn't what I thought it would be. That's not to say they haven't had some truly great players perform for them. And here we go.

Catcher: Jonathan Lecroy Over the years the Brewers have had such notable names as B. J. Surhoff, Darrell Porter, Ted Simmons and Dave Nilsson behind the plate for them. Unfortunately, most of those guys didn't have their best years in Milwaukee. Jonathan Lucroy, however, did have his best seasons with the Brewers. Lucroy had good defensive metrics to go with a good bat with some power thrown in. Lucroy's WAR in 2014 was 6.7. Lucroy led the NL in doubles that season with 53. He also hit .301 and had an OPS of .837. Lucroy had some other nice seasons with the Brew Crew and is an easy choice as their catcher.

First base: George Scott When you think of Brewers first basemen, probably the first guys you think of are Prince Fielder and Cecil Cooper. They bother put up some serious offensive numbers but were lacking defensively. Prince had some tremendous offensive stats, but was mindbogglingly bad with the glove. He does make a great DH, however. Coop had five seasons with 100+ RBIs, twice leading the AL in that category. Three times Cop had 120 RBIs or more. Coop spent 11 seasons with the Brewers, hitting .302 with an OPS of .809. The RBIs were surprisingly high while the OPS was not as high as I would have thought. For his 11 seasons with the Brewers, Cooper had a WAR 30.5. That number is held down by negative defensive metrics. George Scott spent 5 seasons with the Brewers, and won a gold glove each season. He also hit fairly well, leading with 36 home runs and 109 RBIs in 1975. In his time with the Brewers, Scott had a WAR of 22.4. George Scott, the surprising choice at first.

Second base: Jim Gantner Jim Gantner is another familiar name. Gantner played 17 years for the Brewers, but compiled a WAR of only 22.3. I don't mean to disparage Jim, but that's not a great number for 17 seasons. Jim had a batting average of .274, but an OPS of only .671. He did, however play pretty good defense. Jim's best season was 1983 when he put together a defensively driven WAR of 4.3. I would have went with Paul Molitor, but needed to plug him in at third.

Shortstop: Robin Yount While Jim Gantner spent 17 seasons with the Brewers, Robin spent 20 years with the team. Robin started his career at short and then spent time in center field. Robin twice led the Al in doubles and triples. Yount's big season was 1982 win he won the AL MVP Award. That season he led the league in slugging with a mark of .578 and OPS of .957. For his 20 seasons, Robin had a WAR of 77.0. I had forgotten Robin broke into the big leagues at the age of 18. He even put up a WAR of 1.5 that year. That's a remarkable accomplishment. 

Third base: Paul Molitor Third is yet another position where the Brewers have had some guys with name recognition. Unfortunately, yet again, those guys were past their prime. Sal Bando was decent for a couple of years, but not enough to get this position. Aramis Ramirez was also okay for a while but was past his prime. That's where Paul Molitor comes in. Paul played both second and third for the Brewers. I've got him at third based on the overall look at the team. Molitor was a great offensive player and a versatile defensive one. In Paul's 15 seasons in Milwaukee, Molitor's WAR was 59.6. Molitor was a 5 time all star and three times led the AL in runs scored. Twice he scored more than 130 runs. Molitor was an excellent base runner, stealing 412 bases in his stay with Milwaukee. I suspect in a couple of seasons, Travis Shaw will be the choice here and Molitor will be moved to second.

Left Field: Ryan Braun In the interest of full disclosure, I really hate to put Braun on this team. It's not that he failed a drug test, it's the way he blatantly threw somebody else under the bus to cover his butt. On the field, his stats are good. He has twice led the NL in OPS. Braun has 6 seasons with 30+ home runs. His WAR for 11 seasons in Milwaukee is a strong 45.6. It would be higher if he was better with the glove. His batting average is currently at .302 with an OPS of .902. He's also a sneaky good base runner, stealing 193 bases while getting caught only 54 times. He's also sitting at 302 home runs. Geoff Jenkins gets a mention by virtue of his bat. Jenkins spent 11 seasons with the Brewers and had four seasons of 25+ home runs.

Center field: Gorman Thomas From 1978 thru 1982, Gorman had WARs ranging from 3.0- 4.9. Twice he led the AL in home runs. In all, Thomas spent 11 seasons with the Brewers-and put up an OPS of .786. It was, however, considerably higher in his prime. While not a great center fielder, he was tolerable. Plus he was fun to watch. Thomas gets the decision over Rob Deer, Marquis Grissom and Lorenzo Cain. Rob Deer was like Gorman Thomas lite.

Right field: Ben Oglive Ben had a couple of seasons with 30+ home runs and 100+ RBIs. He also had some other nice seasons in his 9 years with the Brewers. In all, Benji's WAR was 21.2. A lot of that was amassed in 1978 and 1980, when his combined WAR was 10.6. Geoff Jenkins also spent some time in right field, and is a fairly close second choice in right field.

DH: Prince Fielder Since the Brewers spent time in the AL and Prince is such a natural fit, I've added a DH to the Brewers. As a hitter, Prince was one of the best in baseball. His OPS for 7 seasons with the Brewers was .929. In 2007 he led the NL in home runs with 50. In 2009 he led the league in RBIs with 141. Prince was pretty much all you could ask for in a DH. Unfortunately for him, the Brewers were in the NL when he played for them.

So there is my Brewers lineup. It's an interesting assortment of players. Yount and Molitor spearhead a team of guys that Brewers fans have enjoyed over the years. So, what do you think? Agree? Disagree? Let me know. 

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