Comments on: Sorting through “Black Wednesday”

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 04:03:38 +0000

Congrats to you if you thought Bill Hall’s contract was dumb, because you were one of the only ones. I don’t remember reading anything that panned it.

In hindsight the contract was obviously a mistake, but that was over and done with. What should the Brewers have done with Hall at this point? Better to admit a mistake than to continue to let it hurt your team. I actually hope they do the same thing with Suppan next year removing him from the rotation.

No, I don’t hate defensive shortstops. It has allowed Andrus to have positive value. I like Andrus a lot. I probably went too far in calling it a foolish move, but I still think Texas would have been better served to keep him down another year. You make a solid point, but I don’t think that same point applies to the Brewers.

The Brewers already have a good defensive shortstop in Hardy. In fact, fangraphs rates Hardy as the best defensive shortstop in baseball this year (Andrus is third). The Brewers aren’t gaining anything by calling Escobar up.

By: TK

TK — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 02:41:28 +0000

Boy, you stat guys sure do hate good defensive shortstops. Yes, Andrus was rushed. But without Andrus playing SS, would the Rangers have as good a defense (and thus, as good a pitching staff, thus as good a record) with Michael Young at SS and Hank Blalock at 3B?

The Rangers knew he wasn’t ready offensively, but isn’t it better to be playing every day at the big league level (and working with big league hitting coaches) and contributing then playing in the minors due to service time? They also knew they had a lineup around him to take a “sure” out in exchange for gold-glove caliber defense.

From what I saw of Escobar, he is never going to be a power hitter (and thus never put up a good OPS), but he shows good defensive mechanics and the ability to hit gaps. As a plus runner, that is all you need.

I hate when team devalue their own assets and the Brewers have now done that with 2 players (optioning Hall and Hardy to AAA). I think Doug Melvin deserves even more blame then you let on (I personally thought the Bill Hall contract was retarded at the time and never thought he would hit close to 35 home runs again), but every GM will make their share of good and bad moves.

By: Andy D

Andy D — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:35:14 +0000

Steve, I know you’re a big Melvin fan, and I thought you might let him off the hook for this whole mess. But I’m glad you didn’t. I would say that more blame lies on his shoulders than anyone else. After losing the top two starting pitchers from last season, he did next to nothing to improve the pitching staff. When Braden Looper is the big off-season acquisition, that is sad. He knew the rotation would be a liability, and it has arguably led to the majority of the team’s problems this year. It’s time that he takes some real accountability, instead of a scapegoat like Bill Castro. What a slap in the face to him. Like you said, Melvin’s tenure in Milwaukee may be nearing an end.

R.I.P. Billy Hall