When David Stearns spoke with the media on Sunday at the Brewers On Deck, there felt like something up his sleeve. What exactly? Well, it could have been that Brewers are in hot pursuit of free agent pitcher Dallas Keuchel. A report came out yesterday that Keuchel is weighing his offers between Houston, Atlanta and Milwaukee. There was no speculation on what a decision would be made for his team of choice. Brewers going after Keuchel peaks my interest and think he could be very good for the Brewers.

Keuchel is an extreme groundball pitcher. He does not get many balls in the air. For Keuchel to be good, he needs to have a good defense behind him. Craig Counsell shifts his defense more than most teams in baseball which could either mean that He will be able to pitch directly to infielders or there are going to be many hits squeeze through the infield. Last year is a good example of the latter as Keuchel gave up 211 hits last season in 34 starts which led all pitchers in baseball. Is that a symptom of Houston not shifting enough or bad luck? It might be the shifting since his BABIP was average last season.

Brewers wanting to add Keuchel to the mix of their starting pitchers says to me they are not satisfied with their rotation. Part of me thinks Stearns and Counsell worry there is not one horse on this roster as a pitcher to carry this team and be a stopper. Jimmy Nelson might be that guy but coming back from injury, there is so much unknown there. Adding the bearded left-hander would give the Brewers a strong lefty in the rotation which is something they currently do not have on their roster.

People may overreact to a three-year deal that’s around 60 million, but that’s a good value for a pitcher that can be a Cy Young candidate if everything goes right. I don’t see this as another Matt Garza deal. Keuchel has the ability to be an ace of a staff. The pitchers the Brewers signed in the past never had that ability.

Charlie.