JJ Hardy optioned to AAA- Latest: Per McCalvy, JJ will be left at AAA and add another year before free agency

[brewizard]

Anybody who says Hardy is a flash in the pan may have missed the last several seasons when Hardy helped the Brewers climb from a mediocre team to a playoff team. Last season, Hardy was the most consistent player we had down the stretch and into the playoffs.

 

He's had a down year. So has half the team.

 

And I think his down year is directly related to the way the Brewers management has dealt with Hardy.

 

Those fans who are so vicious and rabid anti-Hardyists really surprise me.

 

Escobar is not the second coming. In ten years, after another ten seasons under .500, you all will miss Hardy.

[Invader3K]

How did the Brewers management deal with Hardy in any sort of negative fashion before sending him down to AAA (when it was probably overdue)?

 

If you're going to be so negative all the time, at least back it up with some solid reasoning.

[JoeHova]

Hardy is a professional athlete. He's always going to have to worry about some young kid coming up and taking his job. If he can't handle that, he's in the wrong profession. I don't think management did anything wrong in their handling of Hardy (until they sent him down, but I can see why they wanted to do that, even if I don't necessarily think it was especially fair to JJ). In fact, they went out of their way to accommodate JJ, they moved a shortstop who had hit 35 home runs as JJ's injury replacement to another position. Most teams wouldn't have done that, I don't believe.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Hardy started slow, but has hit homers in his last couple games. He was in a pretty bad funk when he went down. Between that and the disappointment, no surprise he's struggled early. If he can pull it together for a run in September, he could really help the Crew out by upping his trade value. The silver lining is no one will be griping for keeping him down there to get that extra year anymore after his slow start in Nashville.

[TheCrew07]

Escobar is not the second coming. In ten years, after another ten seasons under .500, you all will miss Hardy.

 

Really? I didn't realize one position either way was the difference in a sub .500 ball club. Once we get some pitching the team will be fine.

[sheethead]

Yeah, I didn't realize JJ Hardy was responsible for the two previous winning seasons. Now I really will miss him.

[jhart05]

I don't understand this either:

"And I think his down year is directly related to the way the Brewers management has dealt with Hardy."

He was starting. They gave him more than enough time in the Majors to work out of his slump. If they didn't have a young, hot shot, cheaper, top prospect SS in the minors to bring up, they probably wouldn't have sent him down.

I don't see where they have treated him poorly, but then again, this is my first year watching the Brewers.

And I wasn't specifically saying Hardy IS a flash in the pan, just brought up the question of maybe.

[DougJones43]

And I wasn't specifically saying Hardy IS a flash in the pan, just brought up the question of maybe.

I don't know. He had 2 solid years, and an additional half of a year that was very good as well. When I think of a flash in the pan, I think of one good year out of nowhere followed by a flameout. Hardy was a good player in the minors, and has been pretty good throughout most of his big-league career, so I don't think he can be considered a flash in the pan.

[logan82]

In a pregame interview with BA, Macha mentioned that JJ would be back up in a few days. It certainly sounds like he will be a September callup. More than likely before the 20 day minimum.

[DougJones43]

It certainly sounds like he will be a September callup. More than likely before the 20 day minimum.

Lame. So, what was the point of this exactly?

[jeffy]

In fact, they went out of their way to accommodate JJ, they moved a shortstop who had hit 35 home runs as JJ's injury replacement to another position. Most teams wouldn't have done that, I don't believe.

If anything, the Brewers have given too many from this group of players, that were supposed to save the franchise, the idea that they are entitled to a position (JJ Hardy, Corey Hart, Rickie Weeks). Maybe there were good reasons for doing this, but only Braun and Fielder have really shown that they deserved it.

 

What justification was there, at the time, for taking SS away from Hall? Why wasn't Hardy pushed over to 3rd base or traded, instead?

[Buckylovesbeer]

JJ could have helped his own cause by giving 3rd base a try. Yes, I know, he is a good shortstop. So was A-rod. I really wonder if the Brewers discussed this option with JJ

 

Also, I find it hard to belive JJ would want to do anything to his trade value that would be considered negative. He wants a big deal from a winning team if he gets traded!

[Diskono]

It certainly sounds like he will be a September callup. More than likely before the 20 day minimum.

Lame. So, what was the point of this exactly?

To help him fix his golf game, duh.

[brewizard]

What justification was there, at the time, for taking SS away from Hall?

 

Geez. I'm positively surprised that there are those of you who seem to wish Hall had just remained at SS.

 

And, if the point to sending JJ down was to extend another year of control over him, then Doug Melvin really is a mustache-twirling villain in the eyes of the player's union. The whole point of sending Hardy down was to give him at-bats in non-crucial game situations. Of course, with the pitching this team has right now, every game is a non-crucial game situation.

 

As for the mismanagement of Hardy, I've long been saying that Melvin should have either locked him up or traded him during the last off-season. Instead, they kept both and didn't fully embrace either.

 

Holding on to both Escobar AND Hardy this year proved to be a lousy decision.

[endaround]

Hardy doesn't have value at 3B, never really has. Why does this keep coming up? Now Hall should never have been moved out of the infield but that was because neither Braun nor Weeks deserved those spots over Hall at the time.

[Invader3K]

And, if the point to sending JJ down was to extend another year of control over him, then Doug Melvin really is a mustache-twirling villain in the eyes of the player's union. The whole point of sending Hardy down was to give him at-bats in non-crucial game situations. Of course, with the pitching this team has right now, every game is a non-crucial game situation.

 

If the player's union is going to hate a GM for sending down an under performing player, I really couldn't care less what they think. It's not like they generally have the best interests of small market teams like Milwaukee in mind, anyway. If he can't even hit AAA pitching, it's not like he's showing he belongs a call back up at this point. If Doug Melvin doesn't keep him down long enough to get the extra year of service time, I am going to be severely disappointed and question his ability to continue being a quality GM for the Milwaukee Brewers.

[bjkrautk]

Hardy doesn't have value at 3B, never really has. Why does this keep coming up?

Probably because a player capable of a .821 does have value at 3b. Hardy's 2008 OPS would have ranked 12th in MLB among 3rd basemen this season had he been able to duplicate it. Among qualified 3Bs in 2008, he would have ranked 9th.

 

Obviously, those numbers have greater value at shortstop than at third base, since the position is more defense-oriented. To say that he doesn't have any value at another position doesn't actually make it true.

[dadofandrew]

3B is very weak, take a look at team's production at 3B, the Crew is 8th, despite Hall playing there early and Counsell, with little pop picking up pt there all year. Many teams have a 650 OPS or less at 3B.

[Invader3K]

This is all pretty moot due to the fact that some players will need to be traded if any kind of decent pitchers will be acquired for the next couple seasons. Since Escobar is a stud prospect that JJ is blocking, he is a prime candidate to be traded. Trying to shoehorn him into a new position won't fix the starting rotation, which is this team's biggest problem right now. It's not like we're going to sign some big free agent pitchers, so trading players like Hardy is the only way this team can hope to contend next year.

[endaround]

Hardy doesn't have value at 3B, never really has. Why does this keep coming up?

Probably because a player capable of a .821 does have value at 3b. Hardy's 2008 OPS would have ranked 12th in MLB among 3rd basemen this season had he been able to duplicate it. Among qualified 3Bs in 2008, he would have ranked 9th.

 

Obviously, those numbers have greater value at shortstop than at third base, since the position is more defense-oriented. To say that he doesn't have any value at another position doesn't actually make it true.

 

And that's all distinctly mediocre even ignoring that Hardy's OPS is SLG dominated.

[SeriesFinale]

Am I wrong for believing that JJ is dogging it in the minors?

What would make you think this happy camper isn't enjoying himself down there?

 

http://www.nashvillesounds.com/images/players/hardy.jpg

[Buckylovesbeer]

Thats funny......kind of has that "I got picked last for kickball" look to him, doesent he?

[jjkoestler]

\ If the player's union is going to hate a GM for sending down an under performing player, I really couldn't care less what they think. It's not like they generally have the best interests of small market teams like Milwaukee in mind, anyway. If he can't even hit AAA pitching, it's not like he's showing he belongs a call back up at this point. If Doug Melvin doesn't keep him down long enough to get the extra year of service time, I am going to be severely disappointed and question his ability to continue being a quality GM for the Milwaukee Brewers.

 

I couldn't agree more. As a smaller market club, the Brewers need to do everything possible to maximize player value. If that means keeping JJ down, so be it. It's not like he's raking in AAA.

[wallus]

It's too bad JJ picked the worst time to stink it up.

[jimmyjeromehardy7]

Will it increase his trade value to delay FA by a year. I think it's a given he will be traded this offseason for pitching. With Escobar ready to replace him and the need for pitching its a no brainer. A former all-star that is still fairly young. Some team will want to take a chance his batting will come back around. So having him for 2 years vs just a year has to increase his value. You don't want to upset a player like that but knowing you are going to trade him anyway, does Melvin care? Guess we will find out early next week.