In a move that has been anticipated since even before the 2006 season began, the Brewers finally decided that they had seen enough from backup catcher Chad Moeller and designated the 31-year old for assignment following Wednesday’s game. Taking his place on the 25-man roster and taking over as Damian Miller’s caddy is Mike Rivera, a 29-year old journeyman whose contract was purchased from Nashville in a corresponding move.

Acquired from the Diamondbacks as part of the Richie Sexson trade, Moeller seemed to immediately lose his stroke upon joining the Crew. After posting solid seasons for Arizona in 2002 (.286/.385/.467) and 2003 (.267/.335/.435), the USC alum batted .208 with a 568 OPS in his first season in Milwaukee and .206/624 in 2005. Offered a one-year contract worth $700,000, the same salary he received last season, Moeller returned for the 2006 campaign hoping to build on a solid September that saw him hit .240/.296/.640 with two doubles and two home runs in 25 at-bats. More importantly, it was a final chance for the Upland, California-native to reward his organization’s patience with a return to the form he displayed in Arizona.

Unfortunately, Moeller got off to a slow start and quickly found his name absent from the lineup card, starting only the occasional day-game-after-a-night-game to give Miller a break. Compounding the problem for Chad, the first-stringer had worked hard during the off-season and arrived at Spring Training in great shape with the goal of starting 120 games behind the dish. With the season’s half-way point come and gone, Moeller had racked up just 25 starts and was hitting a career-worst .184/.231/.276 with 26 strikeouts in 98 at-bats. Miller, meanwhile, has started 61 games and has posted a career-best .276/.343/.448 line with 21 doubles and five home runs.

Despite giving the bulk of the team’s playing time to Miller, however, the backup’s struggles have given the Brewers replacement level hitting from the signal caller’s position. Moeller’s -8.5 Value Over Replacement Player ranks him 75th out of the 77 catchers who have seen time in the big leagues this season, ahead of only Washington’s Brian Schneider and St. Louis’s Yadier Molina. Those two have racked up in the neighborhood of two-and-a-half times more plate appearances than the Brewers’ backup, however, with only Colorado’s Danny Ardoin (-8.2 VORP in 102 plate appearances) challenging Moeller for the dishonor of being baseball’s worst “regular” backup. Combined, the Brewers’ catching duo ranks just eleventh in the NL in VORP.

Boasting a reputation as a solid defensive backstop, Moeller struggled at times with blocking balls in the dirt during his tenure in Milwaukee but was most troubled by opposing base-stealers. After throwing out 17-of-69 (24.6%) would-be-thieves in 2004 and 10-of-44 (22.7) in 2005, Moeller managed to gun down just 6-of-28 (21.4) in 2006. When added to his anemic offense, Moeller’s struggles were finally enough to force the organization’s hand and demote one of their most likeable players.

“It’s tough,” manager Ned Yost told Adam McCalvy of MLB.com about the move. “I think it’s going to be really good for [Moeller] to get some consistent playing time. He hasn’t played consistently in the last two years, and you get a little rusty when that happens.”

Moeller took the demotion in stride, acknowledging his shortcomings.

“Disappointing, but understood,” he said. “They’ve given me a lot of opportunities here, and I respect [the] management a great deal. They gave me an unbelievable opportunity, and, hopefully, I’ll be back.”

If, as expected, he clears waivers, Moeller will be assigned to Triple-A Nashville where he will take over for Rivera as the Sounds’ regular catcher.

“I always hit until I came here,” he explained. “It’s just going down [to the Pacific Coast League] and rebuilding some confidence and getting some consistent ABs.”

Rivera, meanwhile, was hitting .297/.340/.491 with eleven doubles and ten home runs for Nashville. A powerful right-handed hitter with little plate discipline, Rivera hit 16 homers and slugged .575 for the Sounds in 60 games in 2005 after the Brewers plucked him from the independent Atlantic City Surf. A one-time Tigers prospect, the Puerto Rican-native who played collegiately at Troy State University has spent parts of three seasons in the big leagues with Detroit and San Diego and has a .218/.255/.315 line in 62 career games.

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In an unrelated move, the Brewers optioned right-hander Carlos Villanueva to Triple-A and recalled left-hander Dana Eveland for their upcoming series against the Cubs. Not needing a fifth starter for almost two weeks because of the All-Star break, the club opted to add another southpaw to the bullpen. Sandwiched around his ill-fated stint in Milwaukee, Eveland has gone 3-3 with a 1.78 ERA and 74-to-23 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 65 and two-thirds innings in the PCL.

About the Author:

Bill Batterman is a writer for brewerfan.net. He welcomes comments and suggestions via email at batman@brewerfan.net.