Both of these moves are surprising, for a couple different reasons.
Alex Periard used to be considered one of the better pitching prospects in the Brewers’ system. That’s not saying much, of course, but he did look to have pretty good stuff. For whatever reason, though, that stuff never really translated into results — in 6 professional seasons, Periard’s K/9 was just 5.2 while he also allowed 10.2 H/9. A native of Quebec, he made the provisional roster for Team Canada in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, but didn’t make the final cut for the tournament team. The highest he rose in the Brewers’ system was Double A Hunstville, playing for the Stars in 2008 and 2010, and putting up a 5.08 ERA in 101.0 total innings.
Demetrius McKelvie‘s release is even more surprising, considering he’s just 20 years and was considered one of those great raw athletes with five-tool potential in the unlikely event he ever put it together. He slipped to the 25th round in the 2009 draft because of signability concerns, not because of a lack of potential — he had what was considered a strong commitment to Marshall to play both baseball and football. He had the tools to be picked in the first 10 rounds of the draft, and there were rumors that teams were looking at him as high as the second round.
In a lot of ways, McKelvie resembles Brent Brewer, who was released by the Brewers early last season. Like McKelvie, Brewer was a two-sport star with one eye on baseball and one eye on a football career. Brewer played 28 games in the organization last year before getting his release, and by fall he was starting at safety for the University of Tennessee. This is just speculation, but perhaps McKelvie is hoping for something similar. It’s hard to imagine the Brewers just giving up on him after only 65 poor Rookie League games.
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