Bill Batterman is the Spring Training begins in less than a month and the Brewers will have no shortage of fresh faces at their Arizona compound. To help fans get acclimated with this year’s crop of newcomers to the organization, the Daily Brew will be publishing a series of player profiles over the next several weeks. This is the third installment in the Newcomer Breakdown series, which will cover major leaguers as well as selected minor leaguers; the first two profiles covered Jerome Gamble and Derrick Turnbow.
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Faced with a depleted relief corps after dealing closer Dan Kolb to the Braves and top-setup-man Luis Vizcaino to the White Sox, Brewers’ General Manager Doug Melvin targeted the Athletics in December and acquired right-hander Justin Lehr. Along with outfield prospect Nelson Cruz, who will likely prove the more important commodity, Lehr netted for Oakland second-baseman Keith Ginter, one of the Brewers’ best hitters in 2004 and a player long coveted by A’s GM Billy Beane. In Lehr, Milwaukee adds another power arm with an inconsistent track record to their bullpen with hopes that pitching coach Mike Maddux will mold him into a productive big leaguer in much the same way he helped resurrect the career of Kolb.