Every time J.J. Hardy dissects his situation, he comes up with one question.
Whenever he is sitting in his minor-league hotel room and dwelling on how it all went down, the same inquiry pops into his head.
Why?
"It's been simmering. There are questions in my mind," Hardy said. "The more and more I think about it, the more I think, 'Why would they do this to me?'
Since he seems so confused, I figured I'd help him out:
.229/.300/.367 75 OPS+
Of course, Hardy understood that, until his agent got in his ear:
"
At first I felt OK. It would give me a chance to relax," said Hardy, who avoided arbitration this season by signing a one-year, $4.65 million deal in the winter. "But that's when my agent told me about the 20 days.
"That's when I was like, 'Now I understand.' The more I replay the conversation with Doug, the more I realize there was never a chance for me to be called up before (the 20 days)."
Now, lets assume this is correct. Is that the reason Hardy has been abysmal in AAA? He has made zero case for being called up before now, his OBP has dropped to .280 and his lack of power remains. Melvin makes the point that the Brewers stuck with Hardy when he was utter shit his rookie season but apparently Hardy's agent doesn't want Hardy to think about that.
Hardy quit on the team the moment he was sent down and his attitude has not changed since being in AAA. Even if this was just a shrewd business move (getting an extra year of control) Hardy has done absolutely nothing to show his performance deserved a premature recall.
Last year David Price had reason to be pissed at Tampa. Hardy has no where near the talent and apparently also lacks the mental fortitude of the Devil Rays young pitcher. It's a shame, Hardy could have been an above average pitcher. My sense now is that he'll never be more than a .780ish OPS guy the rest of his career, which we should all hope lies elsewhere.
Hardy has pissed away the last bit of respect I had for him. Get an arm for the guy in the offseason and lets move on.
4 comments:
Agreed. Hardy has only himself to blame for his situation. All he had to do was to be as good as the guy that now has his job. This is true of pretty much everyone.
I'd be pretty thrilled if the new guy ever became a .780ish OPS guy, but I don't see it happening.
Personally I'd be happy if he can get on-base at a .350-.360 clip like he has been doing the past two years. Put him in the two hole and sign Lopez. Boom, instant increased run production from Braun and Fielder.
Also Tracker, just got a pop-up in my calendar. You predicted 88 wins. How you feeling?
Awesome.
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