Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin watches his team practice. Credit: Journal Sentinel files

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San Diego — Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin has heard complaints that he hasn't done enough to improve his team this winter.

That's not the way Melvin looks at it.

"We could start the season tomorrow and have a regular player at every position," he said. "A couple of teams don't have a shortstop yet.

"I was talking to one GM and he was saying he had a lot of part-time players. He said, 'You've got a real player at every position.'"

Melvin moved quickly after the end of the 2014 season to fill the team's biggest void at first base. He acquired left-handed-hitting Adam Lind from Toronto in exchange for Marco Estrada, who had pitched his way out of the starting rotation and into middle-relief duty.

"(Adam) LaRoche was the only other guy out there (as a free agent)," said Melvin of first-base prospects. "We looked at trade possibilities. There weren't a lot of first basemen available.

"We just didn't want to have the uncertainty. And Lind is a left-handed bat. We needed a left-handed bat for the middle of our lineup."

Accordingly, Melvin doesn't expect major personnel moves for the Brewers at baseball's annual winter meetings, which begin Monday in San Diego. Whatever happens, Melvin will be working on crutches after fracturing his left ankle in a spill on the icy concourse at Miller Park last week.

After the Brewers collapsed in the final five weeks of the 2014 season to fall from a 150-day stay in first place in the NL Central and out of the playoffs, some wondered if major moves were coming. Owner Mark Attanasio and Melvin made it clear they were not pleased about that turn of events but opted to confine their changes thus far to a couple of coaching positions.

"The winter isn't done yet," cautioned Melvin. "We still might make a change or two. You take the emotions out of it and evaluate it. We didn't hit when we needed it in September (average of 2.57 runs per game).

"(Ryan) Braun and (Aramis) Ramirez both had five RBI that month. We just didn't hit at the right time. Our pitching was OK. That's a tough thing to identify because we were sixth in the league in scoring runs (with 650). But hitting was our downfall when we needed it."

The Brewers opted to pick up options on third baseman Aramis Ramirez ($14 million) and right-hander Yovani Gallardo ($13 million). After acquiring Lind, who will make $7.5 million in 2015, there is little flexibility remaining in the payroll barring the trade of a high-salary player.

Currently, the Brewers have 10 players signed for next season at nearly $92 million. Once arbitration-eligible players Gerardo Parra and Martin Maldonado are signed, that total will approach $100 million. Most of the other players expected to be on the club are minimum-salary types but the payroll still is headed for a franchise-record $110 million.

"People say we haven't done much in the off-season," said Melvin. "The way I look at it, we got (reliever Jonathan) Broxton and Parra last season knowing we'd have them for next year, too.

"We didn't think Ramirez would come back. We thought he might go out on the market. There's always a possibility we could make a trade. I think there's a possibility we could make a trade but we'll see. We're always looking to get players for both the present and the future.

"People ask me what we need to do to get better. I'd like to see (Matt) Garza get 200 innings (an oblique injury limited him to 1631/3 last season). I'd like to see Braun and Ramirez each knock in 25 more runs. That would do a lot."

Melvin has six veterans on his roster who can be free agents after the 2015 season — Parra, Broxton, Ramirez, Gallardo, right-hander Kyle Lohse and Lind, who has a club option for $8 million. If none of those are traded before the season begins, Melvin is sure to get plenty of calls before the July 31 non-waiver deadline if the Brewers are not in contention for the playoffs.

Melvin would like to improve his relief corps after the loss of lefty Zach Duke to free agency and the expected losses of Francisco Rodriguez and Tom Gorzelanny. He does not know what to expect from Tyler Thornburg (elbow) and Jim Henderson (shoulder), who are coming back from injuries.

"We'll have to wait and see where they're at in the spring," Melvin said of Thornburg and Henderson. "There's some uncertainty with that. You can't go in totally counting on them. They're both coming off injuries. Sometimes they come back better than what you hoped for. We still have four months.

"I would like to add a bullpen piece or two. Broxton could replace K-Rod (as closer) in some sense. We have Will Smith and Jeremy Jeffress to pitch in the late innings. We have (Brandon) Kintzler. We have some guys who can compete for spots. Jeffress might be an up-and-coming closer, the way he pitched last year.

"I need to talk to (manager) Ron (Roenicke) about it but I don't have a problem with having two or three guys do that role. Unless you have a lights-out, veteran guy that closes, I think you're better off to try to use two or three guys. Last year, K-Rod went eight games without pitching during a couple of stretches when we weren't winning games."