J.J. Hardy feature in the Star-Tribune

[Mass Haas]

We've read the quote before, which still reads awkwardly to me:

 

Hardy knew he could have used a couple of days off to clear his mind, but he had too much pride to ask Brewers manager Ken Macha for a rest.

"I never got the days off," Hardy said. "I felt like the day just sped up on me. I felt like the day was going 100 miles an hour for me."

 

Full article details much of J.J.'s past, some of which you may have forgotten.

 

 

[logan82]

"We can say what we want to say and people will still believe what they

want," Melvin said. "We had no intentions of sending him down for

[service time] reasons."

Sorry Doug, that is impossible to believe when you leave a player down just long enough to get an extra year of service time. Yes JJ should have been sent down but he didn't exactly earn his way back.

[TooLiveBrew]

That 'I couldn't ask for a day off' nonsense is still so obnoxious. If you're too arrogant to ask for time off, you don't get to use it as an excuse.

[sheethead]

At least we know that JJ has not run out of excuses.

[JohnBriggs12]

Boo hoo! Waaaah! Sniff sniff...

 

Bill Hall never gave excuses like that. He's not even truthful. Craig Counsell made 13 starts at SS prior to the time Hardy was sent down. What premier SS sits that much?

 

If he's that weak mentally, then good riddance.

[milwaukeesportsfan]

Grow up, dude. You play a game for a living, and you're whining about not getting days off? It must be nice living in never-never land, JJ. Maybe I'll come visit you sometime when I need a break from reality.

[Thurston Fluff]

Sadly JJ always has an excuse. It really gets old seeing him play the I had a tough go of it card when he really isn't even close to having a tough time in baseball terms let alone overall life terms. He was given his major league job before he earned it and got to keep it longer than his play warranted. All that article did was make me respect Bill Hall more. He had a reason to complain about how the Brewers handled him but didn't.

[kramnoj]

Sorry Doug, that is impossible to believe when you leave a player down just long enough to get an extra year of service time.

 

It depends on how you read it. When Hardy was sent down, Melvin may not have intended to keep him down long enough to lose the year of service time. But as you said, Hardy clearly didn't hit well enough to earn his way back quickly.

 

Hardy clearly didn't bring a return that we expected and having two years of ST didn't bring back that much extra value over one year, but I don't know that the Twins would have given up Gomez for just one year of Hardy.

[CportBadger]

There's a good chance JJ gets more in 2011 because he's arb eligible than he would make on the open market. He could actually end up coming out ahead from being sent down.

[logan82]

Bill Hall never gave excuses like that.

 

You mean the guy who had his agent ask for a trade when he got platooned?

 

It depends on how you read it. When Hardy was sent down, Melvin may not have intended to keep him down long enough to lose the year of service time. But as you said, Hardy clearly didn't hit well enough to earn his way back quickly.

 

I agree their original intention may not have been to gain a year of service time, but that is what the obviously decided to do at some point.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

Wasn't JJ brought up as soon as the rosters expanded to 40 men? If so, it wasn't the timing of the Brewers calling him back up. It was the timing of when they sent him down which was after 2 awful months of offensive production.

[logan82]

Wasn't JJ brought up as soon as the rosters expanded to 40 men? If so, it wasn't the timing of the Brewers calling him back up. It was the timing of when they sent him down which was after 2 awful months of offensive production.

If true that makes the original "sending him down because of production" even less believable. At the very least they had it in the back of their mind that they might try to gain an extra year of service time.

[BREWERPRIDE]

Isnt it sad how many babies there are in professional sports, making millions and millions of dollars a year. I would hate to see these guys have to go back into real life.

[Invader3K]

Also, why was he hitting so poorly at the beginning of the season? Was he already worn out from spring training or something?

[BREWERPRIDE]

Oh wait, I think some of that partying wore him out too. I dont think he considers that as something that "wears him out"

[berniebrewer4life]

Boo hoo! Waaaah! Sniff sniff...

 

Bill Hall never gave excuses like that. He's not even truthful. Craig Counsell made 13 starts at SS prior to the time Hardy was sent down. What premier SS sits that much?

 

If he's that weak mentally, then good riddance.

x2. You are complaining about not getting days off? Then ask for one. Tell em you need a day off for crying out loud.

[sheethead]

Bill Hall never gave excuses like that.

 

You mean the guy who had his agent ask for a trade when he got platooned?

There's a small difference between wanting out and making excuses for poor play, but Bill Hall was at least smart enough to go through his agent. JJ is crying to any media member with a handkerchief.

[RobertR]

May JJ never face real hardship in his life. It's clear he doesn't have the maturity to handle it or to take responsibility for his actions.

 

Stories like that are why I think that the Brewers won't regret trading Hardy too much. Baseball is a game of setbacks and adjustments for hitters and he really hasn't shown much resiliency. Undoubtedly, he'll be better than he showed in 2009, but I don't think he'll be a perennial all star any time soon either.

 

Robert

[snyttri]

It doesn't sound to me like Hardy is fabricating his problems and I hope and suspect he'll bounce back this year.

 

Hardy and the Twins may benefit from the death of Carl Pohlad as well as the new stadium. Pohlad was the richest and one of the cheapest owners in baseball. His sons didn't start out by foreclosing on farms in the Great Depression and might spend some of the money to put them over the top.

[logan82]

I get the feeling that people expected JJ to say "I sucked and should have been sent down months ago" and when he didn't anything other than that is just an excuse. He was asked a question and he answered with what he thought was the problem. He even said he didn't ask for more time off which I see as accepting some of the responsibility.

 

He started out the year being a little unlucky and at some point things got to him and he didn't recover. He said it himself, 2 for 4 just wasn't good enough.

[brewizard]

People seem to be suffering from severe Hardy burn. He was the best shortstop we'd had in a generation. Hopefully, Escobar will outperform him now. Hopefully, Gomez isn't a dead end, though he's been given up on by two teams now.

[Invader3K]

People seem to be suffering from severe Hardy burn. He was the best shortstop we'd had in a generation. Hopefully, Escobar will outperform him now. Hopefully, Gomez isn't a dead end, though he's been given up on by two teams now.

Yes, being traded for Johan Santana is being "given up on." Right.

[RockCoCougars]

"We can say what we want to say and people will still believe what they

want," Melvin said. "We had no intentions of sending him down for

[service time] reasons."

Sorry Doug, that is impossible to believe when you leave a player down just long enough to get an extra year of service time. Yes JJ should have been sent down but he didn't exactly earn his way back.

Melvin is so full of it. No way Hardy played poorly enough to be sent to Nashville when a guy like Jason Bourgeois was called up to waste a roster spot. This was a ploy to mess with Hardy's service time, pure and simple. If Hardy deserved a demotion due to performance, surely Suppan deserved a DFA. Why didn't that happen (The 'we didn't have anybody to replace him with' argument doesn't fly with me either.)?

 

At any rate, I'll withhold judgment on this trade. I think Hardy is going to do well in Minnesota, but I'm willing to see what Gomez can offer because I like his skill set- especially at about $6 million less than Cameron.

[Invader3K]

I don't care. Players rarely give teams a break when it comes to contract negotiations, etc. Melvin put the team in the best position for future success by sending Hardy to AAA (which his poor play warranted). It gave Escobar a chance to start at SS, and he proved himself. It was the best move for the team. If Hardy didn't like it, then so be it. His attitude he showed when he got sent down ("Oh, I'll take my three day vacation and then report") spoke volumes.

[sheethead]

I think Hardy is going to do well in Minnesota

 

As long as he gets more than a dozen days off he will be just fine it appears.