[BirdWatcher]

Moving from left to right:
Leftfielder Antonio Puente had another disappointing season with the bat- particularly in terms of his power hitting. Puente, for the first several years of his career was the Brewers primary power threat, as he belted 31 homers apiece in his first two seasons- at the ages of 21 and 22- and another 26 his third season. In 1968, his fourth major league season, his offensive numbers tanked and he hit just 10 HR's. Preseason predictions this year had him bouncing back, at least in terms of HR power, and hitting 37 HR's. He did bounce back, a little, but only managed 18 HR's in the 1969 season. On the other hand, he upped his walk total to 110, by far the best of his career. While he does strike out a ton also, his 100 strikeouts in 1969 were his lowest season total yet and his .393 OBP, particularly coming off a .241 batting average, was quite impressive. He is a well above average defensive outfielder and has good speed. Although he would have been better off not trying to steal bases this past season as his 11 successful steals were more than offset by his 19 times caught trying. Puente is signed through the 1974 season. He will only be 26 years old this coming season and the team hopes he can still produce again at the level he did in his early 20's.

Centerfielder Ryan Rodgers got off to a slow start in 1969 but with some robust hitting towards the end of the season he finished with batting totals well within his norm. He drew 109 walks and for the 3rd season in a row led the league in OBP. His WAR was the lowest of his career, but still elite level. At age 30 during the 1969 season, he remained a well above average defensive centerfielder. Rodgers is signed through 1977 and will likely eventually need a position change. Depending upon how Puente does in the next few years, Rodgers could always move to leftfield as one of best prospects in the Brewers organization- Joe McPhillips- is a natural centerfielder.

Then again, if the Brewers don't manage to sign Ruben Souffront to a long-term contract extension and he decides to leave through free agency (or, heaven forbid, is traded), Puente could always move over to rightfield, and Rodgers shift to left. Souffront put up solid numbers in 1969, although a late-season slump dropped his batting average well below .300. Ruben did give some indications of growing power as he belted a career high 15 HR's and he led the team in RBI's with 98. Ruben also remains the best runner on the team and stole 38 bases while being caught just 8 times. His defense is largely solid if unspectacular, though he is still prone to the occasional gaffe. Ruben is never going to be a superstar but he is a solid contributor and a great clubhouse influence.

The Brewers primary outfield back-up is 26-year old Pat Rondeau. Rondeau continues to be pretty much everything you would want in a 4th outfielder (minus HR power), as he is a consistently good hitter who sprays the ball around and shoots plenty of hits into the gaps and down the lines for extra bases, has tremendous speed and is a gifted base-runner and base stealer, and he is about a solid an outfielder as you will find. Rondeau may never be a starter, but he brings tremendous value to a team off the bench.

The other back-up outfielder, who was picked up near the trading deadline this past season, is James Jackson. Jackson is a right-handed complement to the left-handed Rondeau and possesses the power that Rondeau lacks, while still being a decent fielder and fine runner. In spite of his lack of natural speed, Jackson has the knack for stealing bases when the opportunity arises and runs the bases better than his lack of speed would suggest.