Brewers to add Looper

February 10, 9:32 AMMLB ExaminerAlex Brown

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The Milwaukee Brewers have a deal in place with free agent pitcher Braden Looper.  The deal is pending a physical, and will likely be for one-year with some sort of option for 2010.  Looper will likely assume a spot in the Brewers rotation, which had some holes following the departures of C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets via free agency.

Braden Looper hardly comes close to replacing Sabathia or Sheets in the Brewers rotation, but he won’t hurt their cause.  Since converting to a starting pitcher in 2007, Looper has made 63 starts and won 24 games, posting an ERA around the league average for the two-year period.  Maybe most importantly, the signing of Looper pushes Seth McClung to the Brewers bullpen, where he posted a 3.67 ERA in 41.2 innings pitched in 2008 (compared to a 4.24 ERA in 63.2 IP as a starter). 

Here is the new Brewers projected rotation for 2008 – lots of question marks with this group:

• Dave Bush: 9-10, 4.18 ERA in 2008
• Jeff Suppan: 10-10, 4.96 ERA in 2008
• Manny Parra: 10-8, 4.39 ERA in 2008
• Yovani Gallardo: 9-5, 3.67 ERA in 2007 (made only 4 starts in 2008)
• Braden Looper: 12-14, 4.16 ERA in 2008

For the Brewers to repeat their success in 2009, this group has to find a groove.  Gallardo and Parra need to stay healthy and have breakout seasons, while Suppan and Looper need to provide a steady veteran presence.  Dave Bush could be the defacto ace of this staff – he needs to pitch like he did in August (4-0, 2.16 ERA) and not April (0-3, 6.75 ERA).  Ultimately I think losing the contributions of Sabathia and Sheets will prove to be too much for Milwaukee – I say they’ll miss the playoffs but will re-tool and be back in 2010.