For a team well out of playoff contention, there has been a lot of off-the-field Brewers news this week. The latest being Randy Wolf's dismissal this morning, but that wasn't the biggest news to hit Brewers Nation, at least to this citizen. That news came in the form of Corey Hart advising his agent to inform the Brewers he was up to a permanent move to first base to help with contract negotiations.
As Adam McCalvy wrote on Brewers.com Tuesday night, the move for Hart is both for him on the field and for his family, who like it in town. As for Hart at first base, manager Ron Roenicke has already gone on record saying he wants Hart to stay at first beyond this season. With his contract running through the 2013 season, an extension could be in the talks and that is what Hart is hoping for.
The question then becomes would an extension make sense for the Brewers? Beyond being Ryan Braun's best friend on the team (that may play a part, as keeping the cornerstone of the franchise happy is important), Hart has excelled moving back to the position he was drafted at out of high school in 2000. He has played 71 games at first base this season and 51 in right field, but the numbers aren't much different beyond that. Moving positions hasn't hurt his batting average (he's actually hitting 10 points higher when he plays first), in fact since settling in it has gone up as he's hitting .297 since the All-Star Break and he has taken the time to focus on the defense which has shown as he has been stellar in that regard.
The move to first would also free up a regular spot for Norchika Aoki to start in right field and open the door for Carlos Gomez to cement his spot as the every day starter in center, or at least keep a platoon roll going. Despite Mat Gamel doing everything right up until he got injured in that freak accident in San Diego, Hart has played well enough to bump him from the spot at first meaning Gamel is left in a utility infielder role. With the injuries piling up early in the season, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a backup plan on standby.
Maybe the biggest question of the whole discussion would be whether Hart deserves Andre Ethier money. According to Baseball Reference, Ethier is signed through 2017 after signing a 6-year $95.95 million deal with a $17.5 million vesting option for 2018. The numbers are similar for both in terms of first basemen. Now, Hart is not in line to get Prince Fielder numbers, but it wouldn't be out of the question to see Hart get a similar deal to Ethier. What Hart is behind in 10 points in batting average, he makes up for in RBIs and home runs when comparing the two. As a guy hitting in the No. 5 spot in the Brewers lineup, those are numbers you'd like him to continue to hold where he has over the last couple years. Whether or not the Brewers could afford that price is another thing. With Braun's salary continuing to rise and Yovani Gallardo's climbing salary as part of his extension might make it tough.
If anyone is going to stand on top of a mountain and welcome Hart to Milwaukee for the long term it is going to be me. At the end of the day, it comes down to how much Mark Attanasio wants to open up the check book and pay the home grown core General Manager Doug Melvin has built with this team.
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Great article. It's going to be very interesting to see how the Brewers management treats this offseason considering they're shedding payroll at the same time guys like Hart need to be paid. Hope we can find some arms and not have to enter a rebuilding period.
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