Kuzul

The Milwaukee Brewers find themselves at a pivotal crossroads as a franchise.

Unlike most mid-market franchises, the Brewers woes aren’t the surefire sign of a fire sale and lengthy rebuilding process. Although there are structural issues with this team that point to bolstering their talent pool by trading some major league talent to this year’s contenders. 

However, some selling could mean being a strong contender next season.

The hot rumor, of course, has Prince Fielder available and several teams in hot pursuit of his services. The power hitting Fielder is viewed by many as a middle of the order cornerstone. A view shared by super agent, and mid-market nemesis, Scott Boras.

With his outlandish demands and thirst for the biggest deal, Boras is almost certain to steer Fielder to a bigger market and more lucrative contract than the Brewers could offer.

It appears Fielder’s greater value to the Brewers is the bounty of major league ready prospects he would net for Milwaukee. One potential scenario could have him going to the Chicago White Sox for some combination of second baseman Gordon Beckham, starting pitcher Daniel Hudson, third baseman Dayan Viciendo, and other prospects. It is no secret that White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams always gets his man even if it means overpaying so there is a good chance the Brewers could get the best value from Williams.

Is that the only move?

No.

While this means they would acquire great talent with huge upside, but it would create a log jam in the infield. This means the Brewers could sell high on Rickie Weeks, Casey McGehee, and possibly Mat Gamel. These players could help bulk up on lower level minor league talent, back-of-the-rotation starters, or relievers.

Speaking of selling high, there is the matter of Corey Hart. The outfielder is having the classic trap year for those who think he is going to hit at this pace for the rest of the prime years in his career. His numbers year to year suggest he is far from a sure bet and it behooves the Brewers to sell him to the highest bidder immediately. With the Giants, Rays, and Padres rumored to be interested, there is no doubt Hart could increase depth for the Brewers on the major league level. 

How about Hart for Matt Garza or Ben Zobrist or B.J. Upton? That sounds like something that could happen.

Other veterans like Craig Counsell, Randy Wolf, LaTroy Hawkins, or Jim Edmonds could also bring back players that could provide organizational depth in key areas of need.

Using the current payroll $90 million and project their current obligations, with potential deals being taken on by trades, at about $30 million to spend. That is enough space to add significant talent to reload for a serious run.

It could mean making a free agent splash and signing Adam Dunn. Dunn makes sense for the Brewers and his price tag will be significantly less than Boras’ bonkers asking price for Prince Fielder.

The rest could be used to grab workhorse Javier Vazquez for significantly less than many teams are expected to offer Cliff Lee. They could also invest in some bullpen help like Jon Rauch or Matt Guerrier.

The Brewers moves at the deadline could feel like a rebuilding project, but with proper foresight this could retool this team for a more serious run over the next five years.

So let the rumors run wild, but please don’t stand pat. Milwaukee is ready to see a true contender.

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When the Twins and Brewers swapped Carlos Gomez and J.J. Hardy in the off-season, Minnesota GM Bill Smith and Milwaukee GM Doug Melvin were looking to improve their squads.

As both teams crank up the second half of the season they find themselves in third place of their repsective divisions. Both players have spent time on the DL this season; Gomez for a strained rotator cuff and Hardy for a wrist injury. They also share the same number on their jersey, but the similarities end there.

So who’s gotten the better end of this deal?

Here’s my attempt to rate the performance of both players and the impact they’ve had on their team. I realize it’s a little like comparing apples to oranges, outfielders to infielders, or sports cars to sedans, but I’ll give a shot anyway. 

Let’s start with J.J. Hardy:

Hardy, currently batting .241, below his career average of .260. He has picked it up lately, batting .321 over the last past 10 games.

Like the Twins, he started the season displaying some power, hitting two home runs in in the first series of the season against the Angels. His last home run came on April 23rd against the Royals.

He is well behind his career average of 20 home runs for a 162 game season.

He has played in only 48 of the team’s 91 games this season. If he played every remaining game this year, he would only exceed his five-year career average of 114 by five games.

The Twins were hoping that a change of scenery would help Hardy to rebound from a down season in 2009. In 2010 his average is up, but not much else.  

With less than half the season remaining there’s no way Hardy can match his career averages of 29 doubles, 20 home runs, and 74 RBI. 

After 91 games in 2009 the Twins found themselves at 47-44, third place in the AL Central.

2010 they are only a game better at 48-43, still third in the division, two and half games behind the first-place White Sox.

Now looking at Gomez:

Gomez is batting .239, just below his career average of .245. Like Hardy he has done well over the last 10 games batting .267.

He has two more home runs than Hardy in 30 more at-bats. With five home runs going into the second half of the season he is sure to exceed his career high of seven set in 2009.

With eight doubles, two triples and 20 RBI, his numbers projected over the full season would match up well with his career averages.

Known for his speed, Gomez has stolen 10 bases this season. If he continues to swipe them at his current pace he should reach 20, which would be his second highest season total in his short career.   

For the Brewers, after 92 games in 2009 they were 47-45 in the NL Central, three games behind and in third place.

For 2010, they have dropped five games from 2009, currently at 42-50, again in third place, but nine games out of first, behind the Reds and Cardinals.

Based on the performances of each player the edge has to go to Gomez, who will perform closer to his average than Hardy. 

If you base it on the records of the Twins and Brewers, than Hardy might have the edge since the Twins are one game better and the Brewers five games worse.

The tie-breaker could in their salaries and the expectations of the management and fans for each club.

At $1.1 million, Gomez seems to be a steal compared to Hardy’s $5.1 salary.

At this point I give the edge to to “Go-Go” Gomez.

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It has been a while since I’ve written anything in this space. The reason for that is two-fold.

First, I am the proud parent to a new baby boy (he’s a month old today, as a matter of fact)! Second, the team hasn’t exactly given me much in the way of motivation to sit down and really put forth any concerted effort.

To be fair, in all reality it is the former that has kept me away more than the latter. I can write about my favorite team in the dead of winter when they’re not even playing with no issue. Certainly I have had plenty on my mind during these recent lean days but diapers/bottles/baths/bonding/etc. really chew up my “free” time.

I was going to sit down and write a free-form rant (I even advertised it on my blog’s Twitter account—twitter.com/BrewerNation), but I got busy and calmed down while caring for my little boy that can’t care for himself yet.

That’s kind of a metaphor for the 2010 Milwaukee Brewers so far this year.

I know that the team will tell you that they are maturing and how they don’t want to be seen as the team that other teams love to beat, but if you ask me all they’ve accomplished by toning down their youthful exuberance is rip their own heart out.

They no longer seem to be having fun while playing a fun game. They no longer seem to be enjoying their days at the ballpark which is an enjoyable place. They no longer seem to have that swagger that carried them to a 90-72 record and a postseason playoff berth WAY back in 2008.

Yeah…2008. Remember when CC Sabathia couldn’t be stopped and this team was having fun all summer long, culminating in the picture above? It doesn’t seem that long ago when you think about it outside of sports, but in Major League Baseball so much can change in two short years.

I could list things like that they’ve had three managers since then, or that they’ve burned through four pitching coaches, but the main thing that’s changed from 2008 to 2010 isn’t tangible like that.

It’s the fun.

Let me break it down to you this way. They say that a group takes on the personality and characteristics of its leader. But has there ever been a seemingly more mismatched pairing than Ken Macha and the majority of this Brewers roster?

Macha is admittedly old school. Don’t get me wrong, I like a lot about old school baseball. I like (most of) the unwritten rules. I like drilling a guy for showing up the game. I like a good old-fashioned bench-clearing brawl.

The players, and perhaps it’s mostly a by-product of their median age, are decidedly new school in a lot a ways. The earthquake celebration against San Francisco, Braun and Fielder’s boxing celebration after home runs, the untucking of their jerseys after victories…it all is about having fun.

They never were trying to show anybody up. They were simply trying to enjoy each other and each other’s successes on the field.

But apparently somebody got in the ears of the clubhouse leaders over the off-season and planted a distinctive “knock it off” somewhere in there.

Sure, Braun and Fielder still celebrate home runs and now Fielder and McGehee have even developed a little foot shake routine. And yes, if they were still untucking their jerseys with a 16-26 record, it might seem a touch out of place.

My argument, though, is that once this team stopped having fun this team stopped playing loose. They’ve been uptight, trying to be too perfect (I’m looking at you, pitching staff) and generally almost seem to be playing scared.

Not that they’re afraid of the ball or anything, but they’ve got “what’s going to go wrong tonight?” syndrome.

When you arrive at the ballpark and expect to lose, you generally lose. I’m not saying that any players have told me that they feel this way, or that I’ve heard any of them say it or even imply it. It’s just my feeling as a very interested observer.

Maybe getting Trevor Hoffman fixed will be the spark that this team needs. It can’t be easy when the innings are getting late and you don’t have at least a four-run lead. Hoffman was so maddeningly inconsistent that you almost had to assume failure and be pleasantly surprised if he came through.

Maybe getting healthy will provide the boost that this team needs. When your Opening Day center fielder and right fielder have missed time and 40 percent of your starting rotation has been replaced due to injury or ineffectiveness and your setup man is on the DL and now your starting catcher will miss at least two weeks…

Then again, maybe simply getting a few wins will be the ointment that heals the wounds of so many losses.

If you win, maybe you loosen up. If you loosen up, maybe you win some more. If you win some more, maybe you stay loose and go on a run.

So the question becomes: How do you win to start that chain of probabilities?

My answer to that question sounds simple. In fact, it sounds so simple that one might wonder why it isn’t already happening. It sounds so simple that one might question why it was ever abandoned in the first place.

That answer to the Milwaukee Brewers? Find a way to enjoy the game again.

Untuck those jerseys, watch a few home runs a little too long, pump your fist when you strike out a guy in a key situation on defense, hoot and holler and get the other guy’s dander up, put a target on your back again if you must.

In short…just relax and be yourselves.

You might find out that it’s what’s been missing this whole time.

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