5 Things to Hope For in a Brewers New Year, Part 4

The fourth of five parts.

4. A strong full season from Jean Segura

Doug Melvin made a tough decision in July last year when he traded Zack Greinke to the Angels. In doing so, however, he arguably got a better package of prospects in exchange for a half season of Greinke than he gave up back in 2010 for two full seasons of Greinke. Jean Segura served as the most important part of the deal and he stepped in as the Brewers shortstop for most of the remainder of the season.

Segura hit decently well as a rookie after a slow start (.264/.321/.331) and to my eyes played well enough at shortstop to secure the spot to begin the 2013 season. I expect him to see more days off than any of the other regulars, especially considering his age and the fact that he played winter ball this year in the Dominican Republic. (He won that league's batting title.)

He's young (22) and he'll be under contract through 2019, giving the Brewers plenty of time to let him develop, though that development projects to be at the Major League level a la the Rickie Weeks/Carlos Gomez model. Without expecting too much of him my hope is that he picks up where he left off last season (and during winter ball) without fading during the second half due to his heavy 2012 workload.