As you all have probably heard by now, Willie Randolph will almost certainly be the Milwaukee Brewers' bench coach for the 2009 season.  The only caveat is that Randolph reserves the right to leave Milwaukee if he gets the manager position for the Seattle Mariners.  Randolph, from what I've heard, is unlikely to land the skipper gig for the Mariners, so Brewers fans can welcome him with open arms.

Tom Haudricourt believes that Willie Randolph could be a boon for Rickie Weeks at second base.  What better man to learn the position from than the great Willie Randolph?  This "change of scenery" could be a major catalyst for Weeks, as he will begin to hear different points of view and perhaps different teaching styles than previous coaches utilized.

Rickie has been a common scapegoat for the Milwaukee Brewers in the past year, but his detriment to the team is far overblown.  Milwaukee's second baseman hit .263/.378 over the second half of the season.  That's not far behind Prince Fielder's .392 OBP over the second half and is far better than Ryan Braun and his .351 OBP.  Yes, that is a little simplistic, but the point remains that Rickie Weeks did not cost this team wins at the plate.  He may strike out too much, but the young man is beginning to drive the ball the other way more often and still gets on base at a high clip.

His defense, however, is another story.  There is no other way to characterize his defense other than horrendous, yet at times, Rickie makes unbelievable plays and makes them look rather routine.  He must develop consistency in the field before Brewers fans will get off his back.  Perhaps with Randolph on the bench and working with him daily, his defensive potential will be realized.  We can only hope.

A rumor that the Minnesota Twins are interested in J.J. Hardy has been floating around the blogosphere over the last day or so.  

First of all, I would suspect about a dozen or so teams would come calling if Doug Melvin made it clear that Hardy was available, so the fact that a team is showing interest is rather insignificant.  The real issue is debating whether or not the Brewers should trade Hardy.

It would be foolish of Doug Melvin not to listen to offers for J.J.  While he is a main cog on our team, he is not irreplaceable.  I am not suggesting that Alcides Escobar can reproduce J.J.'s numbers at short, because he cannot.  What I am saying is that the sum is more important than the whole.  It obviously depends on the bounty that J.J. can bring into Milwaukee, but a solid, young pitcher could do wonders for this team's starting rotation.  Perhaps a young, live arm can be brought in to challenge for the closer's role.  What if a young center fielder or third baseman was included in the deal?  

The point is that Doug Melvin's job is to put the best product on the field at all times.  If that means trading J.J. Hardy and taking a dip in production at the shortstop position while bolstering a couple other spots on the squad, DM may be wise to pull the trigger.  Brewers fans should not be so closed minded as to thinking the Brewers will fall into rebuilding mode if J.J. is shipped out of Milwaukee.  The players in the deal would determine whether or not the deal is prudent, but remember that the whole is bigger and more important than its parts.  While J.J. is great, he is a valuable trading chip that could greatly improve the team overall.