Mench - Team Player

Kevin Mench has a strange way of endearing himself to Brewers fans, with his second published hissy fit of spring training. Some of Mench's gems:

"If I'm only going to play against lefties, what is that, 20 starts a year, 150 at-bats a year? I have proven I can play every day so I don't know why I should sit for a year, get 150 at-bats, and have them take away from my livelihood. I couldn't care less about the money, I just want to play."

and...

"I still don't know what is going on here," Mench said. "Early on, they said 'it might be like this,' but nobody has said one word to me since, so I'm basically still in the dark. I can read between the lines, I guess. But this is my sixth year in the big leagues and I think I have done enough to be told what is going on either way."

and...

"I don't know how Geoff has handled it so well," Mench continued. "He's been in the same organization for nine years and they don't tell him about what they are going to do. Leaving him in the dark is just not right. That should not be how business is done."

In summary, Kevin thinks that the Brewers are taking away his livelihood (but he doesn't care about money), and have not been straight with him regarding whether he is going to be in a platoon. (Hint: you're going to be in a platoon). Reading between the lines, Kevin is trying to be a pain in the ass so the Brewers trade him. Thanks for being a team player, Kevin.

This guy sure creates some drama for somebody who hit .230 last year for the Brewers, and has never really been able to nail down an every day job.

And what about Jenkins?

"It is what is and you just have to go and do your job when you are asked to," he said. "That's it. We just have to move forward."

So there's a right way to handle this situation publicly (Jenks) and a wrong way to handle it (Mench).