MILWAUKEE BREWERS--David Marasco

Back when I was a youngster we would play with water guns during the summer. One day somebody showed up with a new-fangled squirt gun. Who are we kidding, he had a water cannon. He could shoot into other people's front yards and his gun shot out much more water than anyone else's. Needless to say, this disrupted the balance of power. No longer did you have to be good at hiding behind trees, or have a dead-eye aim, to win you simply needed to have parents who would buy this expensive weapon. Over the course of the summer enough of us whined that nearly everyone had one of these toys. Woe to the poor kid who was stuck with the old technology! But eventually everyone had one of these mega-guns, and in the end order was restored. To win you needed to hide behind trees well, and have a good aim.

After many years the Milwaukee Brewers finally have their new stadium. They sold it to the taxpayers by saying that the increased revenue stream (in other words, the fact that they would squeeze a whole lot more money out of their fan base) would allow them to compete with the big boys. But there's a problem here. Look around baseball, almost everyone has a new house, or will soon move into a new house. In other words, new digs won't give you that huge advantage enjoyed by the first few teams that got new stadiums. It's back to hiding behind trees and having a good aim. Looking at the Brewer's track record, things don't look so good. Granted, most of the unhappiness in recent Brewer's history can be placed at the doorstep of now-departed GM Sal Bando. He's the one who offered big bucks to Cal Eldred when he knew the pitcher had a busted arm. He's the one who got the Indians off the hook on their Marquis Grissom signing. He's the reason that the minor league system is so dry when it comes to position players. Dean Taylor has been running the show for a year now, with mixed results. The Brewers haven't had a winning season since the early 1990's, will things change?

Sadly, in the short run the answer is no. While the fans will be able to cheer the exploits of players like Geoff Jenkins, Jeffrey Hammonds and Richie Sexson, there are some serious holes on this team. Third base is a question mark, and the future of Jeromy Burnitz is also a big unknown. While Hammonds is a huge upgrade from Grissom in centerfield (good old Marquis came in dead last in OBP for regular starters in baseball last year), the Brewers are committed to $12M for their centerfield combo of Hammonds and Grissom. They better hope that Hammonds isn't just one of those Coors Babies and can put up good numbers outside of Colorado.

Pitching. Well, the bullpen was very strong last year, and Jeff D'Amico made an amazing comeback from arm troubles. But outside of D'Amico, who might suffer from serious regression to the mean, nothing in the starting rotation pops out at you. For each Paul Rigdon who may put together a nice season, you also have a John Snyder who is a train-wreak in action.

There are some promising arms on the farm. Two names to remember are Ben Sheets of Olympics fame and flamethrower Nick Neugebauer. But in this stage of their careers the young pitching that the Brewers might trot out to the mound this year will be for seasoning rather than to win ballgames. If the Brewers make a commitment to youth, it couldpay off down the road. The patch-the-hole, hope to sneak into contention model just isn't working.

In the long run a serious tear-down and rebuild is what Milwaukee should be doing. Between the new park in 2001 and the All Star Game in 2002 (barring work stoppage) the fans will be distracted enough that they might not notice a season with 90+ losses. With a sparkling rotation and younger players like Jenkins and Sexson, minus the burdensome contract to Marquis Grissom, this team can be a joy to watch in a few seasons.

But why do I get the feeling that they'll be soaked in water instead?