Counsell has chance to start at shortstop

Tom Haudricourt
December 13, 2003

New Orleans - When the Milwaukee Brewers acquired Craig Counsell from Arizona in the Richie Sexson trade a couple of weeks ago, it was assumed he was insurance in the event rookie shortstop J.J. Hardy is not ready for prime time next spring.

As it turns out, Counsell is much more than an insurance policy.

Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said he intended to give the 33-year-old Counsell every opportunity to win the starting shortstop job next spring. Melvin and his staff have decided it would be best for Hardy, 21, to start the season at Class AAA Indianapolis rather than making the jump from Class AA Huntsville to the big leagues.

"That's one of the questions we have to answer and Craig will answer it with his performance," said Melvin, who arrived Friday evening for baseball's annual winter meetings.

"We're not going to ask him to play 160 games, though he'll probably want to. I would like to say he could play 120 games."

That could prove to be an ambitious goal. Counsell never has played more than 46 games at shortstop in one season. He reached that figure with Arizona in 2001, when he also played 45 games at second base and 22 at third base.

Last season, when he was limited to 89 games by a thumb injury, Counsell made 18 starts at shortstop and saw action there in eight other games. Of the 658 games he has played in the major leagues, 117 have come at shortstop, compared with 308 at second base and 212 at second base (he also played four games at first base).

One of the first questions Melvin asked Counsell after the trade was whether he'd like to play shortstop. The Milwaukee native could not contain his enthusiasm over that proposition.

"I was hoping they were looking for me to play shortstop," he said. "It's the position I like to play. I don't really consider myself a third baseman. I'm more of a middle infielder. I can't wait to play shortstop."

Counsell has battled injury problems in recent years but manager Ned Yost noted that he was working hard with a personal trainer this off-season to get in peak condition for 2004.

"He's going to be in great shape," Yost said. "We think he's the type of athlete to do this. He's a quality leader and a gamer. I think he can do it."

Before Counsell was acquired from the Diamondbacks, Melvin's plan was to give Hardy a shot at winning the starting shortstop job and use Bill Hall to back him up. Melvin knew it was a gamble even though Hardy was selected to play in the all-star Futures Game last season and later made the Team USA roster for the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Hardy batted .279 with 12 home runs and 62 RBI in 114 games with Huntsville last season and committed 15 errors. He is a mentally tough, driven player but it is no easy task making the jump from Class AA to the big leagues.

"It's in our best interests for J.J. to get exposure in big-league camp and then play in Triple-A, now that we have Craig Counsell," Melvin said. "Young players can surprise you but we're probably better served for J.J. to play in Triple-A and be ready if we need him.

"Another factor is that J.J. isn't on the (40-man) roster, so we wouldn't have to add him to the roster if he started the year in Triple-A. But, sometime during the year, there's a good chance you could see J.J."