New Brewers regime inspires optimism

Even in the midst of a snowy Wisconsin winter and the Green Bay Packers making another NFL playoff run, David Stearns’ trips to the grocery store felt like a summer stroll.

- J.J. Cooper

Coming off of a 73-win season and consecutive fourth place finishes in the National League Central, the Brewers have a fired-up fan base.

“The enthusiasm when I walk around Milwaukee, even in the winter when it’s Packers time, is unbelievable,” said Stearns, the club’s 31-year-old general manager. “People stop me in the grocery store and want to talk Brewers baseball. It’s unbelievable.”

Those fans are starting to have more to talk about. The Brewers’ rebuild is still in its nascent stages, but after trades restocked the farm system over the past two years and the 2016 draft netted an impressive talent haul, Milwaukee is showing signs of hope in a division formidable enough to quash all optimism.

Optimism has been an intermittent emotion for Brewers fans through the years. The franchise’s 47-year history is largely bereft of memorable moments.

The Robin Yount-Paul Molitor clubs averaged 86 wins per year over the six seasons from 1978 to 1983. They won an American League pennant in 1982 and also made the playoffs the year before.

Then came the Ryan Braun-Prince Fielder clubs that twice won 90 games and qualified for the postseason in 2008 and 2011, the season they recorded a franchise-record 96 wins.

As far as playoff appearances, division titles or simply breaking through to the national consciousness, that’s it for the Brewers. They aren’t even famous for their futility, like the division-rival Cubs, who went 108 years between World Series titles, or the Pirates, who weathered a record 20 straight losing seasons.

This is the challenge Stearns and his front office face. Can they build a winner in a city where winning has never become a habit? Can they build a winner in the smallest metropolitan market in the major leagues?