The Battle at Third and Center?

A few days ago one my loyalest readers made an interesting suggestion for a post. He asked if I could go over the Tony Gwynn Jr. situation. Initially I kind of found it uninteresting because I've already discussed this very early in the season, prior to the signing of Cameron. At the time, I said that if the Brewers sign Cameron, they should sign Kenny Lofton to platoon because the splits with those two players are absolutely terrific. I also suggested that the Brewers leave Braun at third and just deal with the growing pains. Nevertheless, I would have been more than okay to let Gwynn do his thing this year in center.

As you can see, I made a lot of suggestions, but the reason I'm intrigued now is because of what just happened at third base. The Brewers weren't willing to wait any longer to give Bill Hall a shot to improve his numbers. Instead they called up a guy who was absolutely raking in AAA. That, my friends, is Russel Branyan. So today, I'm going to look at each position and ask a few questions. I really don't have anything particular to say, but perhaps as I write this, something will fall out.

Third Base:
On May 25th of this year Bill Hall was hitting .220/.292/.418 with nine homeruns and 22 RBIs. For those not in the know, that's not particularly good. Furthermore, his strikeout to walk ratio was 31/16 and he was tied for the league lead in errors. This is quite a long time to wait for a guy to come around, especially when a guy in AAA is hitting .359/.453/.693.

Since his promotion to the Bigs, Branyan is hitting .300/.400/.800 with seven homeruns in 10 RBIs in 50 ABs. Even better, he's walked nine times while striking out. Interestingly, he's hit almost the same number of HRs and half the RBIs as Hall did in over 170 ABs. Even better, he's on pace to walk double what Hall did in his time at third base, yet Hall feels he's deserving of his job.

Things have changed a little since then. Both JJ Hardy and Rickie Weeks are hurt and Bill Hall has been able to get every day work over at 2B, no matter how bad he's been. But this bears some questions. How long do you wait for a guy before you give away his job? What are you willing to sacrifice to make that move? Is making the move going to be worth it?

Center Field:
I bring this up because of what Mike Cameron has brought, or perhaps hasn't brought to this team. Cameron is currently batting .216/.289/.446 in 148 ABs with nine homeruns and 22 RBIs. Those look oddly like Bill Hall's numbers, don't they? But the stark difference is the 52/16 K to BB number. Perhaps Cameron is being even less productive? I would say no. Cameron's defense is still Gold Glove caliber and has made up for much of his blunderings at the plate. Nevertheless, the similarities are striking.

Tony Gwynn Jr. struggled while in the bigs to start the year. Whether or not you can blame this on injuries or just plain lack of talent is beyond me. In 35 ABs Gwynn was batting .200/.293/.302 with only one extra base hit. Not exactly what you want to hear when you think about replacing a Gold Glover. However, since returning to .346/.441/.372 with six stolen bases. As you can see the slugging is a bit off, but 14 BBs and 10 Ks makes a big difference, especially since if you combine his numbers, Gwynn has more walks in 2/3 of the ABs.

So why doesn't Gwynn get the call? Hall is actually making more money than Cameron this year, which is interesting in itself, so it can't be the money. Right now circumstances are a little off. With Hardy and Weeks hurt, the Brewers badly need all the infield help they can get. Right now there is no way the Brewers can afford to move Joe Dillon down. He's been too vital off the bench and is far too versatile, since he can play the infield and outfield. When Weeks comes back, Iribarren will return to the minors, leaving Gabe Kapler as the only back up outfielder. Kapler doesn't have any options left and he's been almost unstoppable when he gets the nod.

Other options may be sending a pitcher down and dealing with just 11, but the fact of the matter is Ned Yost can't not over work 12 with this starting rotation, so how is going to handle 11? Furthermore, what are you really gaining with Gwynn? You lose pop. You gain on-base. You keep the defense pretty much the same. It's a disappointing situation for Gwynn. He's still projected as a fourth outfielder because he has so little pop, but at the same time, his on-base and speed could really project him as a lead off hitter similar to Kenny Lofton.

But the fact remains, Tony Gwynn has no place on this Brewers squad with Mike Cameron here. He's done more than enough to deserve a shot, but Melvin, Yost and Attanasio believe too much in Cameron's ability, and almost not at all in Gwynn's. But it's quite ridiculous considering the Hall and Branyan situation. Melvin had no problem pulling the trigger then. Perhaps Cameron needs 40 more PAs so the situation can be identical.

Until then, here's hoping Gwynn continues to do well in AAA-Nashville and either adds helium to his trade value or gets his shot some time soon. He deserves to be somewhere in the bigs. I just wish it was here. I'd love to watch him play, especially if the Brewers continue to play so poorly they have no shot at the playoffs.