It’s been a crazy 48 hours for the Milwaukee Brewers. On Saturday night they got a bombshell dropped on them with the news that OF Ryan Brauntested positive for PED’s. With a 50-game suspension looming, the Brewers needed to act quickly and figure out how they are going to survive without Braun for potentially 50 games.

Ramirez will provide some pop in the middle of the Brew Crew lineup

They took the first step in compensating for the potential loss of Braun this afternoon.

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Brewers have signed 3B Aramis Ramirez to a three-year worth between $34 – $37 million. Ramirez has spent the last eight years of his career with the Chicago Cubs.

Ramirez is quite the upgrade for the Brewers at third base.

In 2011, Brewer third basemen combined to put up a .222/.273/.341 slash line with 15 HR’s in 746 plate appearances. Casey McGehee, Josh Wilson, and Jerry Hairston Jr. combined for a 0.1 WAR, which was one of the worst in baseball.

With Ramirez, the Brewers now have one of the better offensive third baseman in baseball. Ramirez has averaged a .297/.359/.533 slash line with 31 HR’s since 2004. Last year with the Cubs, Ramirez hit .306/.361/.510 with 26 HR’s in 626 PA’s. His 3.6 WAR was good for fifth amongst all Major League third basemen.

Of course not everything is peaches with Ramirez.

First, the guy is injury prone. Since 2004, Ramirez has averaged just 133 games per season, so giving a three-year deal to 33-year-old, who has a history of injuries is always a risk.

Second, whatever defensive upgrade they made with Alex Gonzalez at short, they lost with Ramirez at third. He is one of the worst defensive third basemen in baseball. His -9.4 UZR was second worst in baseball in 2011.

Overall, this isn’t a bad deal for the Brewers. Regardless of Ramirez’s fielding, the Brewers needed a bat to replace Prince Fielder and maybe even Braun. If Ramirez can stay healthy, he will certainly provide the Brewers a quality bat in the middle of their lineup.

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By The Baseball Index