Milwaukee

Ryan Braun is a very good player. According to the MLB Network, he's the top left fielder in the game today.

In fact, Braun's numbers have been so good for the Brewers since joining the team in May 2007 that the argument can easily be made he's off to a Hall of Fame start to his career.

However, Braun's numbers have declined steadily since winning the NL Rookie of the Year award that season, and he needs a strong bounce-back in 2011 to re-establish himself as one of game's best players.

One of the most popular topics to debate over the past two seasons for Milwaukee Brewer fans has been if and when first baseman Prince Fielder would be traded.

Fielder is slated to become a free agent after the 2011 season, and no one expects him to sign a long-term contract with the Brewers. 

Many, myself included, felt that Fielder would be traded this winter in order for the Brewers to get some sort of a decent return for the impending free agent.

Veteran reliever Takashi Saito has agreed to a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers, according to the team's spokesperson.

Saito will be 41 years old when next season arrives, which leaves fans wondering why any team would want to sign him.

It's because of the fact that he has been very effective and a reliable pitcher out of the bullpen. For example, last year with the Atlanta Braves, he posted an ERA of 2.83 in 54 innings.

The Boston Red Sox have been linked with Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder for several seasons now, but with Boston's recent acquisition of Adrian Gonzalez from San Diego, are they finished with their pursuit of Fielder?

Gonzalez is a first baseman too, and has a better glove than Fielder. With Kevin Youkilis likely to begin the 2011 season at third base, there is no room for Fielder at Fenway Park.

With extravagant talk about newly acquired superstar Zack Greinke on his way to the Brew City, a majority of experts are now dubbing Milwaukee's pitching staff the foremost pitching staff (on paper) in the league.

It's about time.

In recent years, the Brewers have been a prime example of how maintaining an embarrassingly under-talented pitching staff can halt the rest of the team's success—as well as dishearten the entire Milwaukee fanbase, for that matter.

Well it seems things are changing in Brewer-land. The powers that be have, once and for all, determined that starting pitching may just be the way to win games and possibly even championships. Apparently, it took the San Francisco Giants winning big to hammer that point home.

So now that Zack Greinke is a Brewer, what makes it a good fit? You see it all the time where free-agents or traded players struggle in their new surroundings.

Move over Cliff Lee, because this move will make more of an impact than Lee going back to Philadelphia. Zack Greinke was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers Sunday morning and this shifts the entire outlook of the National League.

The Brewers finished third in the National League Central last year, 14 games back of the Cincinnati Reds. Milwaukee was not light in hitting, but struggled mightily on the mound. They finished 12th in runs scored, but were 26th in ERA.

As my previous article about the Oakland A’s described the recent activity of these traditionally small-market and to some extent '80s-competitive “super” power teams, because I discussed the A’s in that article I will omit them from this one, their moves notwithstanding.

Now that the Winter Meetings are over and Carl Crawford and Jayson Werth have signed mammoth contracts, what's next? What other impact free-agents are still out there? 

It looks more likely this winter that there will be significant player movement via trade. In this economic climate it makes sense for smaller market teams to trade players who are looking at large salary increases in the near future in exchange for younger players that they can control for a significant amount of time.

According to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Brewers GM Doug Melvin confirmed that the Brewers were one of the teams that met with Carl Pavano and his agent, Tom O'Connel, on Tuesday.

Melvin was rather tight lipped about the meeting saying, "I don't want to get into anything other than we met with him."