Brewers Cutting Ties

With their playoff hopes hanging by the thread the Milwaukee Brewers have decided its time to make some changes. In my opinion the moves they made today were long over due changes. Here’s the list of moves.

1. Designated Bill Hall for assignment.
2. Demoted J.J. Hardy to AAA - Nashville.
3. Dismissed pitching coach Bill Castro.
4. Promoted OF Jason Bourgeois from AAA - Nashville.
5. Promoted SS Alcides Escobar from Triple-A Nashville.

First off I have to say its about damn time they did something with Bill Hall. The guy has been a waste of space for years and been nothing but a thorn in the lineup. This year alone he’s batting .201 with 6 homers, 24 rbis and 72 strikeouts. The strikeouts look even worse when you consider he’s played in only 73 games, almost a strikeout per game. What makes things even worse is that its not a new trend with him.

2005 and 2006 were breakout seasons for him, but since then things have been completely downhill.

In 2005, he had a career high .291 average, two years later he was barely able to hit .254.
In 2006, he had a career high 35 homers, the next season that number was down to 14 and has stayed consistent at that rate since.

Some would wonder steroids, but no the guy just can’t hit a beach ball if it was thrown to him, he’s a strikeout machine. In 2006 when he hit the 35 homers he struck out an astonishing 162 times. He hasn’t come close to that number since but has been around the 125 mark the past two seasons.

Time off hasn’t done him any good, so it was only a matter of time till the Brewers let him walk. They’ve done so now and we’ll see if a change of scenery can do him some good.

Next up is J.J. Hardy. The struggles Hardy has had are much more confusing. He’s never been a star caliber hit but he’s been a very productive one throughout his career.

In 2007, .277 avg with 26 homers and 80 rbis.
In 2008, .283 avg with 24 homers and 74 rbis.
In 2009, .229 avg with 11 homers and 45 rbis.

I’m not quite sure what’s going on him with. His strikeout totals have been rising over the three year period, definitely being on pace for a career high in 2009. He doesn’t walk much but he does enough that you’d think the guy does have some patience at the plate.

When you see that the power numbers haven’t increased it makes you wonder what’s wrong. It’s not like he’s swinging wild, trying to hit homers.

Maybe some time in the minor leagues will do him some good. Clear his head, work with some different instructors and come back in 2010 strong.

They’ve let pitching coach Bill Castro walk. I hate hearing when coaches are let go because the players perform like shit. Especially when you consider the coach is working with nothing but shit. Outside of Yovani Gallardo and Trevor Hoffman there really isn’t a standout name on that pitching staff.

Could a better pitching coach make a difference with players like Manny Parra and his 6.26 era, or Dave Bush and his 5.67 era? Sure, a better one probably could. I don’t think many coaches could do anything with that middle relief thou.

Castro is like many other coaches, the scapegoat. Maybe this off season management will look at the root of the problem, and actually get better personnel in there.

Now the kids they’ve called up. The Brewers have brought up a couple players that are terrors on the base paths. Jason Bourgeois (27) had 36 steals and Alcides Escobar (22) had 42 steals at the time of their call ups. Both are also batting around .300 and should get plenty of chances to show if they belong in the big leagues.

The Brewers are 6.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the National League Central, with the Chicago Cubs in between the two of them. The playoffs are a long shot with the pitching staff they have. The decisions to bring up the kids and demote the struggling veterans is a good one in my eyes.

Hopefully these two guys show they can play, especially Escobar. If they can the team can focus on their pitching staff this off season, the area they really need to upgrade.