It took a 13-6 thrashing by the bottom feeding San Diego Padres to push Brewers general manager Doug Melvin over the edge. Who could blame him for finally cutting Bill Hall loose, demoting J.J.Hardy to the minors and putting pitching coach Billy Castro out of his misery after watching that debacle? The worst offense in baseball had 22 hits and by the end of the game, the crowd resembled the masses that used to gather to watch these games at Miller Park in 2003.

You would think these moves would have come sooner. Hall's hitting stroke was left somewhere in August of 2006. Hardy was taking one step forward and two steps back way too many times. Let's face it, Billy Castro was not cracked out to be a pitching coach no matter how much service time he logged as a Brewers employee.

Melvin is a patient guy so he was going to wait until the last possible moment to do Mark Attanasio's bidding, I mean pull the trigger on the obvious. So patient that a 17-4 drubbing in L.A. last week did not cause him to go over the edge. Blowing a 7-1 lead in San Diego did not even make him lose his cool. Heck, watching Josh Willingham hit two grand slams in a game as he led the lowly Nationals to a 14-6 rout of the Crew back in late July did not even cause Melvin to have such an extreme reaction.

No, it takes the worse offense pounding out 13 runs on 22 hits to finally force Melvin into action he should have taken weeks ago. Talk about patience. I want Doug Melvin to stand in line for me the next time I go to the DMV.

I do not think you will find too many unhappy Brewers fans about this most recent Mark Attanasio, err, Doug Melvin out of nowhere, rash shake up. The timing is just way off. Giving Hall his walking papers should have happened the moment he initially refused to go the minors. Hardy should have been sent down to the minors about the second time his average kept fluctuating between .235 and .226. Bill Castro should have been taken out back and put out to pasture in late June.

A little harsh on the Old Yeller reference there considering Castro should not have been given this mess of pitching staff to work with in the first place. In fact, Melvin probably did Castro a favor by letting him walk. Why did it finally take until 50 games left in the season to make this move?

Some conspiracy theorists would say owner Mark Attanasio had enough and ordered the execution in hopes of history repeating itself. The theory does make a little sense when a general manager coming off a playoff season says that even his future is never fully secure. You still got to believe that Ned Yost's late season firing last year had Attanasio's hands all over it. So the theory is not out of the question.

Whether you believe that theory or that the move was made in the best interest of the club, do not believe these moves were made in one last desperate hope for the playoffs. Let's face it, this team has to go 35-15 during the final 50 games to win 90 games which might give them a slim shot at winning the division. Alcides Escobar might bring some consistency to the lineup and Chris Bosio did a heck of a job turning Manny Parra around but those guys are no 35-win miracle workers.

That is why this is not a jolt to the system towards playoff glory. It would have been a jolt a couple weeks ago when the Brewers were say three games back instead of six and a half. They have a steep hill to climb and cutting the rope on Bill Hall to save the rest of the team from falling is not going to mean the Crew reaches the top. At best, this move means it is time to see what this Alcides Escobar kid can do and if Chris Bosio can pull off a few miracles at the Major League level.