Ryan Braun is optimistic that rebuilding Brewers will return to playoffs sooner than later

Ryan Braun has only three years remaining on his long contract with the Milwaukee Brewers, but after the team’s surprising showing in 2017 he is optimistic about getting another shot at the playoffs before his career with the club ends.

“It was a fun year, an exciting year,” said Braun, who continued his Thanksgiving tradition of helping the Brewers with their annual food drive at Miller Park on Wednesday.

“We finished one game short of the postseason this year. So, you can look back and think about how many games could have finished differently. If we had found a way to win one extra game, we could have been in the playoffs.

“Obviously, it gives me great hope, it gives all of us great hope, that we can find a way to get back to the postseason. Once you get there, anything can happen. The goal for me, for as many more years as I’m playing, is to be on teams that are consistently competitive and have a chance to get to the postseason. So, that’s what I expect after what we accomplished this year.”

In the second full season of their large-scale rebuilding process, the Brewers surprised many by surging to a 5½-game lead in the National League Central at the all-star break. They eventually were passed by the Chicago Cubs but stayed in the hunt for the second wild-card berth until the penultimate day of the season.

The Brewers’ 86-76 record was an improvement of 13 victories from the previous season and left them a game behind Colorado for that second wild-card spot.

Braun said that surprising showing moved the rebuilding process forward more than could have been expected, perhaps avoiding the years of losing that most teams experience when completely rebooting.

“Overall, it went better than I anticipated; I think far better than most people anticipated,” Braun said. “The exciting thing is it pretty significantly moves up our time frame as far as when we expect to be competitive again, consistently competitive. So, it’s exciting for us as players knowing we’re going into the off-season hopefully looking to add instead of thinking about subtracting.”

How significant any addition will be, or should be, has been a topic of discussion among Brewers fans and the baseball world in general. General manager David Stearns has been reported to have interest in the top tier of free-agent starting pitchers, including the likes of Jake Arrieta and Lance Lynn.

Such acquisitions generally are considered finishing pieces in a rebuild, and the Brewers might not be in that position just yet. So, Braun was asked how bold he’d like to see Stearns and assistant Matt Arnold be this winter in acquiring talent.

“I think David and Matt deserve the benefit of the doubt,” Braun said. “Whatever it is they decide to do, everybody should believe in. If you look at their track record to this point, they’ve been incredibly successful in all the decisions they’ve made, all the guys they’ve brought in and all the trades they’ve made.

“So, I think we’re in really good hands with David and Matt at the helm. I’m sure they’ll make whatever decisions they think is best for us, both in the short term and long term.”

The most-hyped free agent on the market this winter is Japanese sensation Shohei Ohtani, a two-way player who just happens to be represented by Braun’s agent, Nez Balelo of Creative Artists Agency. So, Braun was asked, somewhat playfully, if he could put a bug in Balelo’s ear to steer Ohtani to Milwaukee.

“What team couldn’t use him, right?” Braun said. “I don’t know how much of an impact I would have on his decision-making process, but if they came to me and asked my opinion, and were considering a place like this, I would strongly encourage that.”

It is no secret that the Brewers tried to trade Braun in the past, specifically to his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers. But Braun has full veto power over trades now and, having turned 34 last week and coming off an injury-plagued season, he probably isn’t going anywhere.

“You never know,” said Braun, who was limited to 104 games by two stints on the disabled list with calf strains as well as other smaller maladies. “Obviously, anything could happen at any point but, more than anything, because we’re back in a place where we’re expected to win and are going into a season with hopes of being competitive, I hope that for the most part we’ve put it behind us.

“Most of those rumors are just that. There’s very rarely truth to a lot of those things. So, I’m sure they could arise at some point but I think it’s unlikely.”

With the Brewers doing better than expected in 2017, expectations for the club – rebuilding or not – will be higher next season.

“That’s the place you want to be,” said Braun, who was complimentary of the job manager Craig Counsell did leading the club. “You want to go into a year with higher expectations. That’s what this game is about. I’m confident that having gone through the experience this year as a group will help us going into next year.

"It’s fun and exciting to know we’ll go into the season with higher expectations than we’ve had in a few years.”