Last year, the Milwaukee Brewers shook things up in their world with the firing of their manager in the final days of the season. This year, they have tweaked their major league roster with some stunning moves
J. J. Hardy had been counted upon by the front office of the Brewers to provide some major offensive firepower as well as steady defense at shortstop. He had always provided home run power and he was viewed by most as a source of home runs and power. Today, Hardy finds himself at AAA Nashville trying to regain his stroke. The Brewers have decided to promote their outstanding shortstop prospect, Alcides Escobar and give him an opportunity to become the everyday player the Brewers brass think he can become. Hardy has been demoted with the hope he will once again find his hitting stroke. He was hitting .229 at the time of the demotion. Escobar was hitting .298 at Nashville in 109 games.
Regular readers of my Minor League Report for Rotowire will recall my effusive praise of Escobar in one of my early filings of the season. At the time, I indicated that Escobar may someday be compared with the likes of Luis Aparacio and Omar Vizquel, fellow Venezuelan magicians at shortstop. I got to see Escobar when he was only 18 years old. He turned the head of every scout at an Arizona Fall League game when he went deep in the hole, planted his feet and threw a bullet strike to nail the baserunner. He has been doing that ever since his debut. Only now, he has added hitting for average, showing some pop in his bat and stealing bases to his repertoire. Now is the time for fantasy players to hop on his bandwagon, unless it's too late. There are few players that I would label "can't miss." Escobar can't miss. If he hits the way I believe he can, that will only be a bonus for the Brewers. His defense is that good.
As for Hardy, this might just be a bit of a hiccup. It might, however, be a true decline. Players are not machines. They can not push a button and turn on the power or the average or the speed. In Hardy's case, he was not alone in his offensive regression. Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun have provided some much needed offense, but even they have been very streaky. The rest of the group is missing in action. That, coupled with very poor pitching (27th overall in baseball and with a 4.84 earned run average) has put the Brewers on the platform of the Wait Until Next Year Express. Hence, some panic has set in.
Hardy wasn't alone in his visit from The Brass. Bill Hall received an even darker pink slip. Hall was designated for assignment, as in "catch ya later."
Hall, hitting .201 with little hope of recovery, will be released outright or traded to another club within 10 days. This is not Alex Rios we are talking about here. This is Bill Hall. He's been steadily declining and the Brewers have seen enough. He is in the midst of a 6.8 million dollar contract for this year, 8.4 million guaranteed for next and a $500,000 buyout. So, a team that takes Bill Hall lifts a hefty bag of contract money to tote around for another year.
Rios will carry 60 million with him in his new role with the Chicago White Sox. But Rios has the possibility of being productive at a position of weakness this year for the White Sox (center field) and slipping in to right field if Jermaine Dye exits for free agency next season. Hall was a liability and the Brewers cut their ties. They can now put someone with some upside in that roster spot. For now, that someone is...
Jason Bourgeois. Bourgeois is a very fast center fielder who was hitting .316 with 36 stolen bases in 105 games at AAA Nashville. He is a top of the order hitter with little power, but the ability to see some pitches and get on base. I'd like to see even more patience from him and a better walk to strike out ratio on a consistent basis, but he can run. He's only 5 feet 10 and he doesn't have much pop in his bat. He may not get lots of playing time with Milwaukee, but at least he will get some opportunities to show what he can or can not do in the last month and a half of the season. If he's on the roster, they should play him.
The final shoe that dropped in Milwaukee belonged to pitching coach Bill Castro. Since someone had to take the blame for the team's poor mound performance, why not the pitching coach? Mike Maddux he is not. Oh, and didn't they lose C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets? And isn't David Bush hurt?
No, they haven't pitched well at all as a team. Minor League pitching coach and Brewers alum Chris Bosio takes over. Good luck!
It's not insignificant that in three days players of the stature of Chris Young and J. J Hardy have been demoted to AAA. There are teams that would probably like to send some of their own veterans down for some soul searching, mechanical refinement and overall tune ups to their engines. In some cases, the players would not approach the demotion with the attitude that allows for growth and change. In some cases, like Howie Kendrick, the demotion renews the player. Let's hope it works for Young and Hardy.
Stay tuned. Player movement continues.