brewerguy71

I feel that he is appropriately rated. I think that Brewer fans tend to overrate him but baseball people and stat heads tend to get it right on him. He has benefitted recently from his power output when compared to other shortstops offensively and really took a jump last year in a down year for SS. He is definitely not a top 5 SS in the game. I have said it before and will say it again, when it comes to Shortstop, defense is the primary concern, arm second, anything else offensively is a bonus, or icing on the cake. Hardy lags a large part of the SS in the NL when it comes to the most important aspect of being a SS. He has a nice arm, but he doesnt have the benefit of making throws on the run or from deep in the hole because he just doesnt get to those balls. Having a solid glove helps but if you have the range of a slug, then what good is it? He is just an odd case. His offense helps him when compared to other shortstops, but his defense hurts the team. We will all see the effect of having a great defensive player at SS when Escobar arrives, and everyone who thought Hardy was this great defensive shortstop will finally get it. You move him over to 3b where his arm plays well, then his offense becomes below average. I think in the end the team will have to decide when do they want to move Hardy and what they will want for him in return... Weeks has bigger upside than Hardy at 2b, Hardy is at his peak, and when Escobar's bat is ready, the team will have to decide if they can live with Gamel at 3b or want to deal Hardy for pitching. (imo the latter is the best move for the team).

Im sorry, but do you really prefer players with better human interest stories!?!?!? Its time to stop watching ESPN.No, I prefer the player with the better talent, and upside. Hamilton's story is interesting to the world, not only me, and it is ONE of the nice aspects about him as a player and a man. I would still take him over Braun on talent and upside alone. Youth goes to Braun, but overall Hamilton is the better player long term imo.

Even though I take stock in some numbers, statistics dont really measure up to a whole heck of a lot when scouting. Its all about looking at ability, bat speed, foot speed, evalution of the strike zone, etc. A little different with pitchers because K's and K/BB ratio as well as batting average against have great value in addition to the subjectives like delivery mechanics and body size. If you value statistics, you might have thought that Matt Wieters should not have been a 1st round pick. Its just too hard to judge a lot of statistics in college players because the aluminum bat inflates a lot of things, you face a wide variety of abilities in opposing pitchers/batters, and stats do not tell anywhere near the story or potential of a player.

Its a workman's comp type of issue. If you get hurt on the job and leave that job, the company that you worked for, while being injured is still due to pay for medical costs. And if you are a "free" agent and do not work for that company anymore, they have no right to retain you for your services for simply fulfilling their duty as an employer at the time of your injury. (fixed code --1992)

Since we're all in a kind of baseball doldrum right now waiting for Spring Training to start, maybe we could look at some fun numbers/comps and wonder "what if?" Using baseball-reference's comparable players, I took the Brewer 09 starting lineup and put together a list of the most comparable players. Who would you rather have? c - Kendall: Mark Grudzielanek (2b) 1b - Fielder: Adrain Gonzalez 2b - Weeks: Brian Johnson © 3b - Hall: Jhonny Peralta (ss) ss - Hardy: Junior Spivey (2b)..what the heck???? lf - Braun: Josh Hamilton cf - Cameron: Ray Lankford rf - Hart: Josh Willingham doesnt work as well with the pitchers. The most interesting thing is that Kendall is more comparable to a 2nd baseman and Weeks is more comparable with a catcher. The two big marquee names on the team, Braun and Fielder of course have pretty good comparable players. Would you rather have Braun or Hamilton, Fielder or Gonzalez? Personally I would take Hamilton over Braun in a heartbeat. Lefthanded bat, bigger power, plays CF and great human interest story. And with Gonzalez you get a better hitter but with less power. Just fun stuff I thought I would share. Also kind of surprised that Hardy didnt have a better comp.

A while ago I had proposed a Hardy for Blanco and Kelly Johnson trade. They could put Escobar back on the table in a possible Peavy deal. Morton, Hart and Reyes all had disappointing years last year (Hart 2nd half only) so this idea might work. TGJ is nothing more than a throw in these days, imho. But Hart wouldnt really have anywhere to play in that OF. They have the best OF arm in RF already, a big time prospect ready to take over in CF, and a very good hitter in Diaz in LF, only injuries slowed him last year.

I guess I wouldnt get too excited about this pick up. Net Zero Effect. He was at best the 21st best pitching prospect in the Yankees system. If he winds up being in this years Brewer rotation, things are much worse than what some of are assuming.

I havent heard anything at all on him. My hope is that he focuses more on defense, obp and college pitching than Jack Z did.

Just got it in the mail today. Here's the Brewer list: Alcides Escobar, SS Mat Gamel, 3B Brett Lawrie, C/3B Jeremy Jeffress, P Angel Salome, C Lorenzo Cain, OF Cutter Dykstra, OF Taylor Green, 3B Cole Gillespe, OF Jonathan Lucroy, C Jake Odirozzi, P Zach Braddock, P Alexandre Periard, P Caleb Gindl, OF Cody Scarpetta, P Lee Heydel, OF Brent Brewer, SS RJ Siedel, P Eduardo Morlan, P Seth Lintz, P Omar Aguilar, P Wily Peralta, P Efrain Nieves, P Evan Fredrickson, P Luis Pena, P Amaury Rivas, P Eric Ferris, 2B Cody Adams, P Logan Schafer, OF Tim Dillard, P Bonus: Erik Komatsu, OF Nice to see an abundance of pitchers for a change.

Easy question to answer, very difficult to pull off... World Series becomes as popular as the Super Bowl when the collective intelligence level of the country rises by about 50 points. Baseball is a thinking mans game. It takes intelligence and patience to enjoy and understand. Americans love football because it doesnt take a lot of thought to like it.

I dont know where some of these "scouting reports" have come from that people have referenced here that say Salome is being pencilled in or improving as a catcher. The truth of the matter is that IF he can improve defensively he will be a starting catcher in the major leagues, but if he does not, he will be a man without a place to play. His defensive ability has a long way to go before he is anywhere near being mlb ready. And at best, even for the start of 2010, he is a DH/Pinch hitter type of player for the Brewers. The shame of the issue is that if he were 6 inches taller he could be a Thirdbaseman or a leftfielder. But he is slow, is weak defensively and has an average arm at best behind the plate, and is short, he would have to have Albert Pujols' bat to get him in the lineup with those vitals. Salome was a freak/experiment when the Brewers got him and they only have about one year left to see if that experiment will work out to their benefit. So is he worth one for one for Kennedy? I am not high on either player so it is probably a wash. Lucroy has a better chance of being the opening day catcher for the Brewers in 10 than Salome does. The Brewers have more use for Kennedy right now that Salome, so I too would give him up for Kennedy. He has potential DH written all over him. Deal him before its too late.

The problem with Villanueva is that his stuff is not good enough to be a starter. He may be good enough to be an average #5, but why use him in that spot if he is more useful as a long (3 inning) reliever? He doesnt have huge variation between his fastball and changeup and his curve ball is only an average pitch. With that kind of stuff he doesnt even bode well as a set up man. He has historically been hammered the 2nd and 3rd time through the lineup because of his lack of stuff so using him as a starter would not be wise. Its the main reason he isnt a starter anymore. And as far as being an 8th inning guy, he just isnt overpowering enough for me to be in that role. He is the best option on this years team as a long reliever, why not use him in that capacity?

Got my print edition today of the NL West prospects....of no surprise to me Will Inman is not in the Padres top 10. Probably would not have made the Brewer list if he were still here. That Scott Linebrink trade looks to be pretty benign after all.

Evan Crawford from Indiana is a top watch guy as well. Its too bad they wont be anywhere near here this year. Closest shot you get is Iowa or Illinois (U of). Derek McCallum and Eric Decker from Minnesota are interesting prospects as well. Couple of kids at Iowa have some promise too. Mizzou is definitely the place to go to see the best talent in the country in Coleman and Gibson.

Parker is a stud. I saw him pitch in HS and he was pretty advanced already. He probably has a couple more years before he is MLB ready. Going into last year I thought that Meyer would be the next "Parker" but that didnt happen. Shocked he didnt sign. No way in the world I thought that kid wasnt going first round. Telling teams he wanted to go to college and pass up a $1mm+ signing bonus is perhaps the biggest mistake a kid can make. I am all for going to college, but as one scout once said, even if you do go to college, no job in the world is going to pay you $800,000 as a 21 year old, much less a 17 year old, to go to work every day and do your job.

I dont think this is a monumental move or anything, but it is a nice pick up. Lets not forget that he still is 41 years old and his best pitch is a 74 mph changeup. I am kind of baffled at the exuberance by fans regarding next years team. The pitching staff is an all out mess imo. Gallardo has the potential to be an ace, Parra is an injury risk imo, and the rest of the rotation is bottom end loaded. The bullpen now has a 41 year old closer, a guy who is coming off of surgery and was quite ineffective last year (Riske), another whos best years are behind him (Julio) and a couple of guys who can do nice work in Villanueva (never can be the closer) and McClung (one pitch pitcher, no where else that he can be effective other than as a set up guy). And all of this talk about bringing Sheets back is pretty alarming too. There is a reason why he hasnt gotten a lot of attention this offseason.....his arm is injured. Why would anyone want him back? The team didnt want him back when he was healthy. Hoffman is a nice pick up, but I still see this team as a 83-84 win team next year. (Healthy) Sheets and Sabathia losses are going to keep this team quite far from how they finished last season in the standings.

I will be interested to see where certain people wind up when BA's Top Prospects book comes out this month with a more expanded view. I thought it very interesting in the most recent BA (we get it before a lot of people here in WI because it is printed in Neenah or something like that) and it said that the Braves system is at a critical mass. That sure would be a nice problem to have. That also would lead me to believe that if they all pan out as expected 2 to 3 years from now the Braves will again be a major force in the game. Could you imagine if they had not given up Saltamacchia or Andrus? Looks like Wren and Schuerholz' departure havent drastically hurt the team.

120 IP, 1.45 WHIP, 100 K, 55 BB, 7-9... blows out his elbow or shoulder sometime in July or August...

180 IP, 190 K, 75 BB, 1.30 WHIP, 13-10

Rockie and Diamondback fans might disagree with Hardy being rated above their guys, and they would be right. Not to mention Astro or Braves fans. Shortstop is a defense first position. To say that a guy who's defense is lackluster, let alone average at shortstop is being completely unfair to the good shortstops of the league, bat or no bat. Hardy has the range of a 2B, he has range to be a good 2B, his bat and defensive ability would make would make him one of the best second basemen in the league. I am not blaming Hardy for being a Shortstop. Hardy has a good bat, but he is far from one of the best shortstops in the game. The reasoning being used to say this would have allowed Ryan Braun to be rated as one of the best 3rd basemen in 2007. The problem with my argument is that the problem with his defense is not blatant. You tend not to notice a guys misgivings if he catches the balls hit to him and has a nice arm. Good shortstops have great range and great arms, if he has a bat too that is icing on the cake. You dont start with the offense and work your way backward with a shortstop.

I would put him in the top 5 but I wouldnt say he would be the best SS in the AL. I think that that honor would have to go to Jhonny Peralta or Michael Young. Orlando Cabrera is much better defensively as well. I'm all for keeping Hardy until Escobar is ready. The problem with that though is that by keeping Hardy and passing on a viable #2 starter, you make the 2009 Brewers a .500 team. The other problem is that Hardy doesnt ever get more valuable than he is right now. I would much rather have a sub .500 team this year and trade Hardy for two young pieces (such as an Ellsbury and Buchholz) that help the team be even better than they were last year.

Hardy/Cameron for Ellsbury/Lowrie and Bard is a nice deal too, except the Brewers wouldnt have a need for Lowrie. I think the original deal involving Hardy for Buchholz/Ellsbury is a very good offer, more so for the Brewers than Sox. The Red Sox dont have too much to offer in the way of equal value though for Cameron in that deal. Maybe Sean Casey or Julio Lugo, nice backups at the very best. I wholeheartedly disagree with the posters though, that say that Hardy is the best player in the deal. Its all about future value. Both Ellsbury and Buchholz have much higher future value than what Hardy has now (at his ceiling). I would do the deal in a second. No time better than right now, this offseason to deal Hardy and get maximum return. Team needs a leadoff hitter and speed and they need a young pitcher or two with upside potential.

Ellsbury has the most upside of them all, and when dealing players of his caliber that is whats most important. Hardy could probably fetch Ellsbury and Delcarmen and the Sox would then move him to 3rd. Cameron couldnt bring Buchholz though, Brewers would probably have to throw in a prospect to even out such a large salary dump. Sox wont give up on Ellsbury any time soon though, he is the epitome of what they are trying to do as an organization. Great young player, multiple tools, lots of upside, and very cheap. If anything, when it comes to dealing young players, they would only get rid of guys who are on the cusp of major league ready to get major pieces for a playoff drive. They dont really need a guy like Hardy or Cameron so this doesnt really work for them. Make it Fielder for those 3 guys and its a great trade for the Sox and Brewers.

Sure, but the difference between a good shortstop and an average one is whether or not they can range to either side to get to a ball, and still convert the out. Hardy just doesnt do that. Do you cringe when it's hit to him, no, but I would much rather have a guy playing shortstop who can make those plays in the hole or up the middle. Its what good shortstops do.

You have to keep in mind, when looking at Hardy's defensive numbers (such as OOZ and his range factor) that he was positioned perfectly for MANY plays last year by the coaches and scouting department. Many balls that were headed straight up the middle for base hits last year were hit directly at Hardy, and as we all know, if he can glove it, its a sure bet to be an out. This raised his numbers defensively. Bottom line, he was playing out of position. This isnt his fault, he did what he was supposed to do. But he is an average to below average shortstop defensively. The guys with great range like Tulowitzki, Rollins, Reyes, Escobar, Furcal...win games because of their range defense. I believe our Escobar has that same sort of ability. Hardy is a Hold or Sell when it comes to his defensive ability at SS, the guys mentioned above are Buys.