Milwaukee Brewers

Good news (although some will probably not agree)

Mark Kotsay signed up with the San Diego Padres for $1.25 million. That is almost a half million more than the $800,000 the Brewers were paying him last year. I’m not sure the Padres got a good deal here. Kotsay had a number of errors, and while he did have a few big hits for the Crew he was relatively mediocre for the most part.

ANNNND…. I know this bit of news will not be good news to the inordinate amount of fans this guy has, but the Brewers will not offer a contract to Craig Counsell. Too bad it was one year too late. 

Grades round 2b - non-Prince Fielder edition

Jerry Hairston Jr.

The Brewers picked up Hairston after the all-star break when Rickie Weeks went down with an ankle injury. He was one of three moves that the Brewers made concerning the Weeks injury. They called up Eric Ferris from the minors, purchased the contract of Felipe Lopez from Tampa Bay, and acquired Jerry Hairston Jr. from Washington for OF EriK Komatsu. Hairston was by far the most successful of the moves. His numbers weren’t great in the regular season, but he is ultra-versatile; he filled in for both Weeks and Carlos Gomez. He can play just about any position on the field. And of course, he was named the starter at 3B for the postseason in place of Casey McGehee and was one of the more consistent hitters in the playoffs, hitting .385 with 6 doubles. Gotta give it up for a guy that comes through in the clutch.

Signing Hairston to another year with the team is definitely an option for the Brewers. He will come at a reasonable price, he has the ability to play 5 different positions, they know what they are getting, and by all accounts he is a good clubhouse guy with a quality attitude. You can’t ask for much more than that.

Final Grade: B+ (Uptick for versatility and a solid performance in the playoffs.)

Yuniesky Betancourt

Yuni B was much maligned on message boards, on tumblr, by the ESPN experts, and especially by anyone that puts any stock in advanced defensive metrics. I don’t know why, but I have a bit of a soft spot for Betancourt. He was truly brutal at the plate in the first half of the season. He was much better at the plate in the second half and even better in the playoffs. He is a free-swinger who doesn’t take many walks. He also hit much worse with runners on base than with the bases empty. Defensive metrics say he is a horrible shortstop. He has limited range and a tendency to boot routine balls. He did start one of the best double plays in the majors and had a handful of other outstanding plays. And he is pretty good at starting and finishing double plays. One statistical oddity (at least to me), is that his batting average was much better in the second half of 2011, but he also struck out a good deal more in less at bats. A small part of his struggles in 2011 could be due to bad luck. His BAbip (batting avg. on balls in play) was .259 for the season (league average is usually around .300). 

The Brewers declined a $6 million option on Betancourt, allowing Yuni to become a free agent. If the Brewers would be able to get a discount on Betancourt’s $4 million 2010 salary, I wouldn’t be against bringing him back. The way I see it, however, is that the Brewers will look to upgrade, especially if they don’t resign Prince Fielder and have money to spend.

Final Grade: D+ (Slight uptick for his improved play in the postseason.)

 Mark Kotsay

Kotsay couldn’t hit a damn thing in the very beginning of the season. When Ryan Braun went down with an injury he played pretty well, even though his sieve of a glove cost the Brewers a game or two. And it isn’t his fault that Ron Roenicke put him in CF in the playoffs, possibly costing them another game. Truth is, he wasn’t a key component for the Crew this season, but did what was asked of him. It wasn’t lack of effort that was the issue. He has just lost a step or four in the outfield and struggled a bit at the plate at times.

He is no spring chicken. He will be 36 by next season. The thing is, he comes cheap and seems to be a decent clubhouse guy. Bringing him back is not a priority, but it may happen anyway. I doubt teams will be beating down his door. 

Final Grade: C-

Craig Counsell

Craig Counsell had a terrible year at the plate. He tied an almost century old record of futility (which was later broken by the Dodgers Eugenio Velez), hit well below .200, and struck out at a higher rate than has been his norm. Defensively, he was an improvement at 3B over Casey McGehee (a cardboard cutout may have been an improvement), at SS over Betancourt, and late in the season, at 2B for a hobbled Rickie Weeks. All of those are not saying much, because Counsell has lost a step or two in the field as well. The guy is 41 years old, what do you expect?

Craig Counsell is probably going to retire. If he doesn’t, I would prefer the Brewers not re-sign him, but I know others feel differently. I guess one thing I’ve never understood is the undying love many Brewer fans feel for him. He is a career .256 hitter who had a few HUGE moments for teams other than the Brewers. I suppose he is a hometown guy, but so were Damian Miller (LaCrosse) and Bob Wickman (Abrams/Oconto Falls HS) and they didn’t garner the same kind of love that Counsell gets. I don’t hate the guy, but he has always been mediocre and has never really done anything of note for the franchise.

Final Grade: D (small uptick for the slide into home depicted below, that was pretty sweet.)

How did this go unnoticed?

Eugenio Valez of the Los Angeles Dodgers broke a record that was being discussed frequently earlier this season. That record was Bill Bergen’s hitless at-bats by a non-pitcher! The same record that the Brewers’ Craig Counsell tied earlier this year. (It was also tied by Dave Campbell in 1973) 

Valez has not had a hit since May of 2010(!!) and also holds the records for biggest 0-fer the season (37). Maybe the coverage is more of a regional thing or there were way more interesting things to report on (wildcard races, award races), but I remember Counsell’s chase of this dubious record to be more of a story. 

Replay on FSN

I’m watching the replay of the Brewer game on FSN just to see the reaction to Craig Counsell’s hit again. A nice genuine moment. I’m glad the Brewers are a team that seems to get along. I know there are other teams that have similar camaraderie and that is nice to see too. Baseball is supposed to be fun and it always looks like the Brewers are having fun. There are certain teams that seem joyless, the Cardinals, Cubs, the Yankees. I understand that baseball is a business and for the Cards and Yankees their workmanlike approach seems to work for them (the Cubs, not so much). There have been successful teams that like to have fun, the Red Sox used to be one of those teams (not sure anymore) and even the Giants last year (even if Giants fans suck the fun out of everything). Philadelphia seems to be a team that mixes fun and seriousness as well.

Edit: Also, what the hell was that high-pitched squealing noise during the broadcast near the end of the game?  It sounded as if there were a shit-ton of kids just screaming at the top of their lungs.