With Jack Zduriencik coming over from Milwaukee to become the Mariners’ GM, just about every current and former Brewer is going to be connected to Seattle by someone.  It can get ridiculous at times, but there is obviously a reason for it. 

All GMs bring in their “own guys” when changing organizations.  Obviously it occurs in the front office as we’ve seen with the exits of Bob Fontaine and Benny Looper in favor of some people Zduriencik is familiar with, but it also happens with players.   When Bill Bavasi became Seattle’s GM he picked up players he knew whenever he could, with guys like Scott Speizio, Jake Woods, Jarrod Washburn and others coming to mind.  Same can be said with Pat Gillick when he started bringing in an army of former Mariners into Philadelphia, including Jaime Moyer, Greg Dobbs, Julio Mateo and Michael Garciaparra.

It’s part of the game, so we have to expect Zduriencik to do the same.  Now, most of these types of deals revolve around role players and not necessarily stars, but Zduriencik could have his eyes on a bigger prize.

J.J. Hardy, Milwaukee’s All-Star shortstop, is expected to be dealt this offseason.  He’s been in and out of trade rumors and is personally aware that Brewers’ top prospect Alcides Escobar is about to take his job.  Would Hardy be a good fit for Seattle?

The obvious answer is ‘yes’ simply because almost anyone would be an upgrade over Yuni Betancourt, but Hardy would be more than a slight upgrade.  (For the record, even weak hitting free agent Cesar Izturiz would be an improvement over Betancourt.) 

Offensively, Hardy is one of the top producing shortstops in baseball and can be compared favorably to Jimmy Rollins, Jose Reyes, Derek Jeter or any other big-name shortstop when it comes to overall production or most individual stats (except for Hanley Ramirez, who blows everyone away).  Meanwhile, Yuni is dead last among MLB shortstops in WPA with a -2.76.  (Yes, that is a negative win probability added.)  Hardy is among the best in the business offensively, so there’s no need to throw a bunch of stats up here.  To keep it simple, Hardy can hit for a decent average, drive the ball into the gaps and over the wall, and draw his fair share of walks.  What more could you ask for?

Hardy is also a big upgrade defensively.  Betancourt was right at the bottom of the league defensively among regular starting shortstops this season.  He had the worst range in the AL and second worst in all of baseball, posting an awful .799 RZR.  In the +/- system he scored a very horrible -19, mostly because of his inability to get to anything up the middle and his inconsistency with routine plays.  Betancourt was -21 on balls hit to his left, which is even worse when you realize that Jose Lopez is awful getting to balls up the middle as well (-8).  That hole up the middle is massive!

Hardy was a +19 shorstop this season and a wizard going up the middle (+18) while being close to average on balls hit at him and to his right.  When considering Lopez’s struggles up the middle and that Adrian Beltre covers more ground to his left than any third baseman in baseball (+21), Hardy becomes a very snug fit in Seattle’s defense as he cuts off more balls up the middle while keeping out of Beltre’s way. 

Of course he’s a good fit.  He’d be a good fit for just about anyone.  And for those of you that want to use the “Yuni is still young and had time to develop” argument: Hardy is younger than Betancourt making him even more attractive, though he’d only be under team control through 2010.

Now, what would it take to get him?  It is widely reported that Hardy, like Prince Fielder, is being shopped for good starting pitching.  The Brewers are expected to lose both Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia, so a top of the line starter to pair with Yovani Gallardo has become a priority for them.

Hardy alone isn’t going to bring back an ace, however.  In trades for the likes of Jake Peavy or Matt Cain, Hardy would be a small piece of the puzzle.  I would guess that Hardy could command a #2-3 starter and change. 

The two pitchers Seattle would be willing to give up and that could be attractive to Milwaukee are Erik Bedard and Jarrod Washburn.  Some other major league Mariner players that could be attractive to the Brewers are J.J. Putz, Jose Lopez and Adrian Beltre, making the possibilities pretty endless. 

Here’s one proposition: Washburn and Lopez for Hardy and Brad Nelson.  Betancourt can then bump over to second base where his defense is improved and battle it out with Luis Valbuena for the starting job.  Nelson is a slight upgrade over Bryan LaHair at first base. 

Basically, Seattle would upgrade two positions offensively and stay even at one, while improving defensively at two premium positions while getting slightly worse at first (maybe).  Milwaukee gets some much needed pitching help and someone that could either be seen as an upgrade or a challenger to Rickie Weeks while making room for Escobar.  I’m not sure that would be enough for Milwaukee, but it could be close.  Maybe you throw Putz into that deal to even it out if need be, or tweak it some other way.

Instead of speculating on other random combinations I’ll leave that up to you guys.  I certainly like the idea of bringing Hardy into town and hope Zduriencik has him on his radar.  It certainly appears that the two teams have the resources to make a win-win trade.