History of professional baseball in Milwaukee
2012
#### 2012

In the offseason, the Brewers would lose many of their spot players that had helped them during the season, such as [Mark Kotsay](/wiki/Mark_Kotsay "Mark Kotsay"), [Jerry Hairston Jr.](/wiki/Jerry_Hairston_Jr. "Jerry Hairston Jr."), and [Craig Counsell](/wiki/Craig_Counsell "Craig Counsell") but their most notable loss was that of Prince Fielder, who would leave the team via free agency after having been a part of the Brewers organization for almost a decade. Fielder would end up signing with the Detroit Tigers. The Brewers would make two significant free agent signings during the off\-season, signing shortstop Alex Gonzalez and third baseman Aramis Ramierez to improve the left side of the Brewers infield. The Brewers would also sign Japanese outfielder Norichika Aoki to bring some needed outfield depth.

The biggest news of all during the off\-season, though, was the issue of the reigning NL MVP Ryan Braun apparently testing positive for PED's and facing a possible 50\-game suspension. Braun would appeal the suspension and won on the basis that the test was not processed properly, making him the first player to win an appeal against a suspension regarding illegal substances.

Despite the offseason losses and controversies, the Brewers fans still looked forward to the 2012 season with great optimism, as the Brewers, by the end of February, had sold over 1\.5 million tickets, the most before the month of March. However, the Brewers started the season poorly, with a 40–45 record by the All\-Star break. Poor bullpen play put the team even further out of contention by the end of July, which caused the Brewers to trade ace pitcher [Zack Greinke](/wiki/Zack_Greinke "Zack Greinke") to the [Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim](/wiki/Los_Angeles_Angels_of_Anaheim "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim") in exchange for top minor league shortstop Jean Segura and two minor league relief pitchers.

Suddenly, in mid\-August, the Brewers went on a run to put themselves back in postseason contention. The bullpen started to turn itself around and the team was able to get production from several minor league call\-ups, like [Mike Fiers](/wiki/Mike_Fiers "Mike Fiers"), [Martin Maldonado](/wiki/Martin_Maldonado "Martin Maldonado"), [Jeff Bianchi](/wiki/Jeff_Bianchi "Jeff Bianchi"), and [Wily Peralta](/wiki/Wily_Peralta "Wily Peralta"). Combined with stellar hitting of [Ryan Braun](/wiki/Ryan_Braun "Ryan Braun"), [Aramis Ramírez](/wiki/Aramis_Ram%C3%ADrez "Aramis Ramírez"), [Corey Hart](/wiki/Corey_Hart_%28baseball%29 "Corey Hart (baseball)"), and [Jonathan Lucroy](/wiki/Jonathan_Lucroy "Jonathan Lucroy"), the Brewers, from August 16 to September 23, won 26 of 35 games. However, the Brewers were eliminated from postseason contention on September 30, a 7–0 loss to the [Houston Astros](/wiki/Houston_Astros "Houston Astros").

The Brewers still finished with a winning record in 2012, going 83–79, finishing in 3rd place in the NL Central behind Cincinnati and St. Louis.


What would have happened if Ryan Braun had been suspended?