CLEVELAND, OH – SEPTEMBER 23: Carlos Santana #41 of the Cleveland Indians (Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images)
The Milwaukee Brewers need to retool this offseason to contend in the Central.
The Milwaukee Brewers made it to the postseason in the expanded playoffs after a furious rally near the end of the season. However, their standout bullpen led by Josh Hader and Devin Williams is far and away the best unit on this team, as an iffy starting rotation and shallow lineup outside of Christian Yelich both stand out as major flaws with the composition of their roster.
In a very tough division, Milwaukee needs a fantastic offseason to keep pace with the rest of the division, but they should avoid one free agent who could blow up in their face.
The Brewers need to sign these three free agents, but avoid one potential nightmare signing
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Carlos Santana
1B Cleveland Indians
Santana had a very unusual season at the plate in 2020 following his All-Star season in 2019. While he hit just .199 and had the first season in his career with an OPS+ below 100 in his entire career, he led the American League in walks while slamming eight home runs and driving in 30 runs. Santana is going to be 35 next season, and his defensive versatility has all ebbed away, but there will always be a market for someone with his power and penchant for getting on base. Now that Eric Thames and Mike Moustakas have moved on, they should look into adding Santana on a short-term deal.
First base is wide open, and Santana will play every single day while providing gap power and passable defense at first base. Rather than holding on to someone as high-variance as Daniel Vogelbach, adding Santana would give Craig Counsell a durable vet that can be penciled into the cleanup spot in the order every day while cranking out 30 home runs. On a lineup that left Yelich with minimal protection behind him, Santana would fix a glaring hole.