Settle in, Brewers fans. It's going to be a long wait.

With the team hurtling toward its fourth straight playoff miss last year, the front office finally caved and initiated the long-delayed rebuild, first shipping Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers to Houston at the deadline and then moving Jean Segura, Francisco Rodriguez and Adam Lind in smaller deals this offseason. They even got a new general manager for the transition, moving Doug Melvin up the front-office ladder and replacing him with David Stearns.

So far, Stearns has demonstrated great patience, wanting to give Ryan Braun and Jonathan Lucroy a chance to prove they're still elite (the former coming off back surgery and the latter coming off a down year) before he unloads them for prospects. And even after moving Segura, he has been adamant that top prospect Orlando Arcia won't begin the year with the team, wanting to give him the time he needs to develop fully.

Unfortunately, most of the other presumed assets for the Brewers are actually more like liabilities.

That's especially true of the pitching staff, where Matt Garza, bad shoulder and all, is still owed $25 million over the next two years and one-time 17-game winner Wily Peralta is struggling to hold off fringe prospects like Ariel Pena. Others like Jimmy Nelson, Taylor Jungmann and Zach Davies are still too early into their careers to ship off yet, and they don't have the kind of potential that would fetch a big return anyway. Nelson, the most talented of the bunch, had a 4.11 ERA last year.

Like most rebuilding teams, the Brewers have their share of reclamation projects -- most notably at the corners, where power hitters Chris Carter and Will Middlebrooks will look to reassert themselves. Carter has a much better chance of amounting to something in Fantasy given that he hit 24 home runs as recently as last year, but his deep and lengthy slumps ultimately cost him his job in Houston.

Other than Arcia and the continual trade rumors, the most compelling storyline this spring will be the battle for the closer role, which should matter in Fantasy even if it's not the best situation for saves. Corey Knebel was drafted to close and has proven to be a bat misser, but left-hander Will Smith is the Brewers' most effective reliever overall. Hard-throwing Jeremy Jeffress also has a shot.

2016 projected lineup

1. Scooter Gennett, 2B

2. Jonathan Lucroy, C

3. Ryan Braun, RF

4. Chris Carter, 1B

5. Khris Davis, LF

6. Aaron Hill, 3B

7. Jonathan Villar, SS

8. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, CF

Bench: Domingo Santana, OF

Bench: Will Middlebrooks, 1B/3B

Bench: Rymer Liriano, OF

2016 projected rotation

1. Jimmy Nelson, RHP

2. Taylor Jungmann, RHP

3. Wily Peralta, RHP

4. Matt Garza, RHP

5. Chase Anderson, RHP

Alt: Zach Davies, RHP

2016 projected bullpen

1. Corey Knebel, RHP

2. Will Smith, LHP

3. Jeremy Jeffress, RHP

4. Michael Blazek, RHP

5. Tyler Thornburg, RHP

Jonathan Lucroy BOS • C • 12 2015 STATS .264 BA, 7 HR, .717 OPS, 64 K, 103 G View Profile

More than anything, Lucroy was a victim of bad timing last season. He began it 6 for 45 (.133), which is of course possible for any player over a 12-game stretch, but the difference for him is he was stuck there for six weeks because of a broken toe. Granting him another two weeks to shake off the rust, I submit that his season actually began on June 12 and ended on Sept. 26, when he stopped starting because of a concussion. In those 74 games -- or what amounts to about half a season -- he hit .293 with an .800 OPS, projected for 12 homers and 40 doubles. If he puts up those numbers, we're not having this discussion. He had a typical Lucroy season, just with injury-plagued bookends. No way his batting average dips that low again, not with his high contact rate and all-fields approach.

Khris Davis OAK • OF • 2 2015 STATS .247 BA, 27 HR, .828 OPS, 122 K, 392 AB View Profile

Davis hit 20 home runs in his final 53 games last year. It was euphoric for the Fantasy owners with the guts to play him during that stretch. If we had any reason to believe it was the new normal, he'd be a "breakout" here, but we've seen him get insanely hot in the past, like when he had a .972 OPS over his final two months as a rookie or a .989 OPS over a 31-game span in 2014. He was more strikeout-prone than ever last year, and -- oh yeah -- the Brewers want him out, hoping to clear a spot for Domingo Santana. There's no guarantee Davis plays every day, no matter where he winds up, because all he brings to the table is power in its streakiest form. Just look at his WAR from last year, despite the 27 home runs, and you'll see what I mean.

Jimmy Nelson SP • 2015 STATS 11-13, 4.11 ERA, 148 K, 177 1/3 IP, 1.29 WHIP

Nelson compiled a 1.46 ERA and 0.92 WHIP over 17 appearances, including 16 starts, in the heavy-hitting Pacific Coast League a couple years ago, so assuming he has peaked after one full major-league season probably sells him short. Between his 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings during that time at Triple-A and his six starts with at least eight strikeouts last year (only 32 pitchers had more), he has some room to improve in that area. And the same goes for his suspect home run rate seeing as he's one of the more extreme ground-ball pitchers in the game today. There's also little reason to believe his walk rate will be so high again, and from what we know about FIP, improving in all three facets could shave as much as a run off his ERA. Nelson may never be Cy Young material, but he may wind up being a top-30 starting pitcher in 2016.

Prospects report

The lack of talent in the pipeline suggests the Brewers' rebuilding effort was long overdue, but they do have a few prospects of note, thanks in part to the Carlos Gomez trade last July.

• With Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor and Corey Seager having graduated last year, Orlando Arcia is now one of the best shortstop prospects in all the minors. Of those three, he's the most like Lindor, earning high marks for his defense but not profiling as a middle-of-the-order hitter.

• Brett Phillips' power potential is also in question after he followed up 15 homers in 291 at-bats for high Class A Lancaster with one homer in 134 at-bats for Double-A Corpus Christi, but he at least has extra-base pop and some speed.

• Jorge Lopez got some time in the majors late last year but was rushed. With his power fastball-curveball arsenal, he could eventually overtake Jimmy Nelson as the Brewers' ace.

Trent Clark, the team's first overall pick in 2015, and Isan Diaz, the key acquisition in the Jean Segura deal, are both a ways away but have the kind of upside that could make them impact Fantasy performers in the long run. They're names to consider in dynasty leagues.