MILWAUKEE (AP) -Bill Hall wants to play every day, he wants to work out his differences with the front office, and he wants to avoid becoming a distraction in the Milwaukee Brewers clubhouse.
That might be a tall order.
Hall wasn’t willing to address his apparent desire to be traded Tuesday, directing all questions to his agent.
“I’m not going to be a distraction for this team and what it wants to do,” Hall said.
Agent Terry Bross said Tuesday that Hall remains unhappy platooning with Russell Branyan at third base and would prefer to be traded if the situation doesn’t change.
Bross said he has discussed Hall’s situation with the Brewers’ front office but Hall hasn’t “requested or demanded anything” because he doesn’t want fans, the organization or his teammates to think he’s being disrespectful.
“It’s very, very, very difficult to sit and watch when you know you can go out and help the team win and you’re not getting the opportunity on a nightly basis,” Bross said. “That is the hard part for Bill. It’s not that he doesn’t want to be a Brewer, it’s that he wants to go out and compete on a nightly basis.”
Hall’s desire to be traded originally was reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Web site Monday night.
Hall was batting only .162 against right-handed pitchers going into Tuesday night’s game against Arizona, leading Brewers manager Ned Yost to platoon Hall with Branyan, who was batting .333 against right-handers.
Sitting against righties was the last straw for Hall, who has quietly gone along with the Brewers’ ever-changing plans for him in the field. He had a breakout season as a utility player two years ago, then struggled after switching to center field last season and to third base this season.
Hall vented his frustration last week, noting that some of his teammates were struggling but weren’t being sent to the bench along with him.
Yost said Hall needs to take advantage of the handful of opportunities he’s getting against right-handers before he gets another chance to play every day.
“I understand his frustration,” Yost said. “But then again, this is a game of production, and you have to be able to step on that field and get the job done.”
Yost reiterated that he doesn’t consider the situation with Hall and Branyan to be a strict lefty-righty platoon, and Hall very well might get the chance to start against a right-hander in the foreseeable future. But Yost said it would be “foolish” not to keep playing Branyan during a hot streak.
As for Hall’s desire to be traded, Yost said it was out of his hands and didn’t expect it to become a distraction for the Brewers, who had won seven of their last eight games going into Tuesday night after a disappointing start to the season.
“It’s nothing that I focus on or concern myself with,” Yost said. “The one thing I will say is that Billy’s been 100 percent professional through this whole ordeal.”
Add A Comment