What About Bill?
The momentum is shifting. I guess it takes two dramatic late-inning games to get a fire under a team, but the Brewers certainly are beginning to look more and more like the team that started April at a break-neck 24-10 pace.
The question looms, however, with who scored the game-winning run tonight against the Atlanta Braves. That is, what will happen with Bill Hall?
Since Hall’s breakout 2006 season (.270, 35 HRs), the Brewers have given him a four-year, $24M contract, and moved him to center field and consequently third base. He’s now been seen at four different positions in his Brewer career (second base and shortstop).
However, a down year at the plate last year for Hall (.254, 14 HRs) was blamed on the move from infielder to outfielder. Give him the benefit of the doubt. But now, hitting .158 against right-handers heading into tonight’s contest against the Braves, Yost made the move to bring veteran strikeout-or-home run third baseman Russell Branyan from AAA Nashville and platoon the two.
Naturally, Hall won’t be batting and playing third only when a left-hander pitches, which come few and far between. But, Branyan and Hall will, according to a lot of the things that Yost is saying, split time. What I take out of this move is a clear, concise message to Hall.
You need to start hitting and earning your contract. We gave you the benefit of the doubt next year, and we’re glad you’re hitting home runs again. But let’s get on base.
If the hitting slump against righties continues, Hall’s contract would not be too hefty for a payroll-induced American League team looking for a utility Chone Figgins-esque player. However, with Hall’s current value and his contract, it would be hard for the Brewers to get anything of interesting value for him.
Perhaps, however, the best place for him is with the San Diego Padres. The Padres have a young group in the infield save second baseman Tad Iguchi, and Hall would fit in nicely at second there. If the hitting improves for Hall and the Brewers decide to trade him in July once Jake Peavy and Chris Young come off the DL and Mark Prior is close to making a comeback for the Padres, wouldn’t a few of the Padres’ arms be expendable?
The thought of acquiring Greg Maddux is always a tempting one. He’s 3-4 with a 3.76 ERA this season, and has only 12 walks in 64.2 innings and a WHIP of 1.30. Just glancing at the starting rotation of the Brewers, Maddux’s numbers rival those of Suppan’s and certainly pass those of Bush’s.
I would hate to draw comparisons to 1982 all the time, but maybe, just maybe, Maddux and a few prospects for Hall could give us the boost to a more formidable pitching staff and a better shot at the playoffs this year and the World Series.
The move wouldn’t necessarily hurt the team in the long run, either, as it seems the Brewers don’t really have a spot for Mat Gamel, who is tearing up AA Huntsville. However, it’ll be a situation similar to someone near and dear to our hearts. The thing is, though, barring a trade or massive injury, there simply is not any room in our outfield.
Ryan Braun will play the extent of his contract out in left field. So that takes left out of the picture for Gamel. Right field is Corey Hart, although when Matt LaPorta is ready in right, many fans including myself believe that Hart, who played center in the minors, has the tools to shift over and play just fine. That outfield “of the future” with Braun, Hart, and LaPorta looks very, very solid.
Perhaps the Brewers would then give Gamel more of a shot at third base if he hits as well as he is in the minors. Many people were willing to live with Braun’s production at the plate at third compared to his lack of production in the field. Rickie Weeks was never really that good at defense when he came up, and he’s now a solid defender. Same goes for Prince Fielder.
It’s very early in Gamel’s baseball career, and there is no doubt that he’s going to be a talented player if he continues what he’s doing in the past two years. But, he’s going to be major league-ready before Hall’s contract expires.
Sacrifices are going to be made, however, and players like Rickie Weeks and J.J. Hardy may find themselves suiting up for someone else in the future if the payroll doesn’t increase (buy now, Brewers fans, spend as much money on this team as you can!).
Or, the more simpler solution lies in Hall finding his swing against righties (he did against Bennett in the 9th today) and keeping Branyan on the bench. It certainly would be huge to have a third baseman hitting .270 with 25, 30 home runs alongside the bats of Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun.
Trade Prince Fielder
Prince Fielder is the Brewers first baseman. Every fan that’s come aboard the Brewers bandwagon in the past three years has come to adore Prince and his interesting charm that he has. He’s got the trademark past–feud with his ex-All Star dad–and a huge swing that draws crowds to the stadium.
However, if there’s one principle that is great to keep in mind for baseball, it’s to buy low and to sell high. I believe that Fielder’s slump this year has given me reasonable doubt that once he gets hot and finishes the season on an absolute tear, that the Brewers should trade him to the team offering the most. The Brewers have had some good luck with this principle.
Good Luck: Richie Sexson. A two-time All Star, Sexson’s first appearance in the Midsummer Classic was at Miller Park in 2002. Hitting .279 with 29 home runs and 102 RBIs in ’02, he helped the Brewers at age 27 win a paltry 56 games in the season where Davey Lopes was canned. Enter Ned Yost in 2003, where Sexson appeared in all 162 games and hit .272 with 45 HRs and 124 RBIs.
Appearing, at age 29 in 2004, to be heading into the prime of his career, the Brewers dumped him to the Arizona Diamondbacks along with Shane Nance and Noochie Varner (household names, I know) for Lyle Overbay, Junior Spivey, Craig Counsell, Chad Moeller, Chris Capuano, and Jorge de la Rosa.
Overbay gave the Brewers a fan favorite for two years and one good first baseman until Fielder was ready to take over the position. He translates into Zach Jackson, Dave Bush, and Gabe Gross in the trade with Toronto. Gabe Gross translates into Josh Butler.
Spivey played alright, and translates into Tomo Ohka, who did everything required of him for a fifth starter, very hard to come by these days in Milwaukee. Counsell left for a few years in between through free agency, and Moeller hit for the cycle once in uniform.
How could we over-look All Star left-hander Chris Capuano? Despite all his control issues, he was pretty special for the two years he spent actually pitching with confidence. Jorge de la Rosa translates into Tony Graffanino.
So, take a player like Richie Sexson, who gives the Brewers two great years and an identity, and turn him into Chris Capuano, Tomo Ohka, Junior Spivey, Gabe Gross, Dave Bush, Zach Jackson, Josh Butler, Jorge de la Rosa, Chad Moeller, Craig Counsell, and Lyle Overbay. One of the most underrated one-sided trades in the past few years.
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Back to what I was saying before, however. Despite the success and popularity of Fielder, the market is big for game-changing players. Fielder would be an instant fan favorite wherever he went, is one of baseball’s most known names, and is a Scott Boras (if you don’t know what this means, think $$$) client. Imagine what the Brewers could reap from a player who draws statistical comparisons to Lou Gehrig, Willie McCovey, and Willey Mays at age 23? (Ben Grieve and Jon Olerud, too.)
We’re talking the likes of pitchers such as Jon Lester, Cole Hamels, or Tim Lincecum, or maybe even Felix Hernandez. With Sheets gone after the year, are we really ready to rely on a Gallardo / Suppan / Bush / Parra / _________ rotation next year to get us to the World Series?
Fielder is at age 23 one of the league’s best first basemen, hands down. His power and leadership can take a team to their prime. If the Brewers do decide to “sell high,” they must keep the long and short-term in sight and get players that will benefit tremendously in both regards. The downside of this is, well, let’s say Fielder does blossom into a Lou Gehrig or Willie McCovey-esque player. We would have traded him at age 23. Ouch.
Although, look at what was available from the Diamondbacks for one first baseman that was going to be heading into his 30s and was a one-year rental until his contract ran out. Just remember what value Fielder is worth. Perhaps, almost too valuable and therefore untradable, but remember what we all thought of Miguel Cabrera?
Nevertheless, certainly a thinker.
Ben Brews Up Something Special
I could not have picked a better game to help kick-start my blogging about the beloved Brewers. A couple of days ago, I sat in my backyard hammock. The Brewers were just swept by the Boston Red Sox, it was Sunday night, and homework was yet to be accomplished.
I couldn’t believe it. Throughout this entire year, all I’ve thought about and all I’ve let myself think about was getting a shot at winning the pennant and playing postseason baseball. Here we were, though, Ben Sheets blew his last start against the Dodgers with a rough 7th inning, and the team couldn’t get over the hump against Boston. We were, well, playing, but as Braun said, there was no heart on that team.
Then, begrudging, we moved ahead to the Pittsburgh series, and rumors began flying about Yost being “Yost”ed as manager. Well, whether or not that was true and was just debunked to save the team some credibility, Yost is still the manager and has turned the team around. Was the team really the loser of nine straight road games?
Wasn’t this the team that I watched handle the NL Central in the first half and enjoyed the All Star Game as a signal that the Brewers were going to control the National League for years to come. We had a starting first baseman, a dominant ace and closer, and a shortstop who was known for his defense hitting home runs by the bushel.
Now we’re just about a year out and so much has changed. We have a completely different closer–who right now can’t close–and our first baseman’s power has somewhat evaporated while J.J. Hardy has quite simply forgotten how to hit a ball out of the park. The only constant has been Sheets.
Ben Sheets showed today why he healthy is worth any amount of money that a team throws at him next year. Nine innings, and while Benny gave up his hits he was crisp and confident on the mound. His velocity was up around 95, and he really had a good bite on his curveball. But what saved him and allowed him to go nine innings was the Pirates.
After the third inning, it seemed like the Pirates attitude changed at the plate against Sheets. They started hacking away at the first pitch. It was just like Johnny Estrada Tribute Day out there, with hardly anybody driving the count deep. Despite giving up 11 hits, he didn’t allow a single walk and dominated.
It’s very easy to not worry about the closer when the starting pitcher decides to pitch the entire nine. While this game is just one out of 162, I can say with the utmost certainty that games like this make me believe that Milwaukee is going to be around late in the season.
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