After a surprising 2017 season that saw them win an impre sive 86 games, the Brewers are apparently ready to on the free-agent market to improve an already strong team. One free agent in particular who might be a good fit for Milwaukee is former Cubs aceJake Arrieta.The 32-year-old former Cy Young winnerrecently turned down his $17.4 million qualifying offer from the Cubs, officially putting him into the free agent pool for the first time in his career.STELLINI: The list of free agent pitchers this season Julio Teheran Jersey is quite long, but Arrieta immediately stands out as one of the top tier starters available this winter. So whilethe Brewers may be prepared to give their hardest push to bring Arrieta 90 miles north of Wrigley Field for the next several seasons, there is certain to be strong competition to land the right-hander.Lets take a deeper look into why Arrieta could make sense for the Brewers.The Brewers need Arrieta or someone like himWhile the Brewers were able to win in 2017 with a rotation that was somewhat of a revolving door at the back end, the lo s of Scott Kazmir Jersey Jimmy Nelson their best pitcher to an arm injury was a huge blow that severely weakens the front end of the rotation heading in 2018.Arrieta undoubtedly has proven himself as a front-end stalwart. Hes put together campaigns in which hes thrown as many as 229 innings while starting 30-plus games in each season since 2014. The Brewers need longevity out of a starter at the front end of the rotation. With Arrieta, theyd get quality innings matched with nearly nine strikeouts per nine innings as well.Arrieta brings intrigueArrieta went from being a failed starter with mechanical i sues in Baltimore to putting up a Cy Young campaign in 2015, throwing two no-hitters, and helping end the longest championship drought in profe sional sports history. Those things all have merit on the free-agent market. Free agency has become a che s game that means much more than simply landing player X because he fits with your organization. While their are other candidates on the market, such as Yu Darvish and Alex Cobb, Arrieta has a certain intrigue.MORE: Keeping him in the NL Central could be bigKeep your friends close and your enemies closer? Perhaps Arrieta, who has spent the past four seasons as a force in the NL Central, could become an a Kurt Suzuki Jersey set with an upper hand for the title-hungry Brewers. Arrietas highest career batting average against in the NL Central is just .218 against the pesky Cardinals.Keeping Arrieta out of the hands of any other NL Central team could prove important for the Brewers. Arrieta has been dominant against the Crew, too, holding them to just a .178 average in his career so why not just add him to the arsenal?Proceed with caution, thoughThe Brewers have notoriously been small free-agent spenders, and have never signed a Phil Niekro Jersey player to a $100 million contract. But theyre likely to do that this offseason, considering that the pitching market these days wont get you much in the ways of contract length or pitcher quality otherwise. However, the Brewers should proceed with caution. Their rebuilding efforts may be ahead of schedule, but their core is still young and their contention window will likely remain open for a few years.Arrieta has struggled to maintain the image that he created for himself during his 2015 Cy Young season. Of course, asking Arrieta to repeat his 2015 would be nearly impo sible, but Arrieta has shown signs that could be troubling when a team is looking to lock up a pitcher for the long term. His mechanics have been a bit le s sharp, and his velocity has ticked down a bit. Arrieta lowered his ground ball rate in 2016 by 7 percentage points while his HR/FB rate jumped 3 percentage points to 14 percent, which may not be all Arrietas doing as the league as whole saw a spike Tom Glavine Jersey in home runs in 2017.So the Brewers must decide whether this type of expensive commitment is the best use of their resources.
