PHOENIX -- When batting practice concluded Wednesday morning at Maryvale Baseball Park, Brewers centerfielder Bill Hall returned to the clubhouse and found a copy of Sports Illustrated magazine waiting on the chair in front of his locker.

"I guess someone wants me to look at this," Hall said.

A yellow Post-it note directed Hall to the page containing the Brewers season preview, which contained a picture of Hall swinging at a pitch last season in Florida. His arms are extended and his bat is about to punish the ball.

"I hit two home runs there last year," Hall said. "Maybe that's one of them."

As he glances at the story, Hall sees a quote from manager Ned Yost that had camp buzzing a few weeks back. "He's the total package and he's still growing," Yost told reporters earlier this spring. "One day Billy will contend for MVP in the National League."

A year ago, Hall wasn't certain where -- or how much -- he was going to play for the Brewers. He turned down the team's offer of a multiyear contract, preferring to roll the dice on a one-year, $418,000. In essence, he was betting on his own ability.

Plenty has changed since then. For starters, Hall's gamble unquestionably paid off; handsomely.

Hall started 143 games at four different positions (116 at shortstop). He hit .270 and led the team in homers (35), RBI (85), runs (101), doubles (39), triples (4), extra-base hits (78), total bases (297) and walks (63).

He was named team MVP by the Milwaukee Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America and was named to the major-league all-star team that toured Japan after the regular season. At the Brewers' request, Hall started playing outfield while overseas. As the winter progressed, the club confirmed that he would be the centerfielder. A week before spring training, Hall signed a four-year, $24 million contract extension. He got word from his agent while waiting to eat lunch with teammate Geoff Jenkins and Florida third baseman Aaron Boone.

"We had just gotten done hitting," said Jenkins, one of Hall's closest friends. "We were standing in line and Billy was really nonchalant about it. He said ‘I just got it.' We said ‘What?' and he said ‘I got ‘it.'' We started yelling and hollering. People looked at us like we were crazy, but we said ‘You'd be yelling, too, if you just got $24 million.'"

After a recent workout, Hall was about to head to the shower when general manager Doug Melvin showed up to hand him his signing bonus -- a check for $500,000.

"He was just getting ready to get in the shower and he put his shorts back on to take his signing bonus from me," Melvin said.

That kind of money, Jenkins knows and millions would love to find out, can change your life. Fans and media expect more. Teammates look at you in a different light, listening to what you say and studying the way you handle the daily grind. National magazines run your picture amid flattering quotations. When Hall returns to Milwaukee less than two weeks from now, he'll see his own face on billboards, bus signs and TV commercials promoting Time Warner Cable.

What's it like to be the center of attention?

"It's no big deal," Hall says, smiling. "It's fun to be recognized. I just try to stay humble with it. I still have to go get the job done on the field. I've got great guys around me that are going to keep me humble."

Few things in baseball can humble a player more quickly than changing positions. Hall, a 27-year-old Mississippi native who showed versatility while playing shortstop, second base and third in the past, is adjusting to a new position and a new income bracket.

"One thing about Billy playing center field is that he wants to play center field," Melvin said. "Sometimes, there are players who go out there and feel they have to do it for the club. He wants it. He wants to be one of the top centerfielders in the game."

Ed Sedar, a longtime Brewers minor-league instructor who is in his first season as the big league first base coach and outfield instructor, is the man charged with helping Hall reach that point.

"We're probably in the last of the phases. We're working on little things. In the infield, he used to flip the ball from his glove to his throwing hand. Now, he's going in there and grabbing it out. That's something we're working on."

If you look down at the dugout during a big-league game, you'll often see coaches signaling outfielders to shift a few steps based on the hitter, the count and the game situation. Sedar hasn't had to do that much with Hall.

"He was already doing it," Sedar said. "It probably has something to do with the time he spent playing shortstop. But, I look out there and he's moving already and he's bringing the other guys (outfielders) with him."

If shortstops are considered the quarterback of the infield, Hall wants to be the signal-caller in the outfield.

"Everybody listens to me," Hall said. "You can't hang a guy out to dry. If you move over a bit and they don't go with you, a guy can hit the ball in the gap and it won't be caught."

In addition to fighting the blinding Arizona sun and tough backdrops, Hall has spent time in the field this year experimenting with where to play. He spent some time playing deep, like his good friend, Minnesota Torii Hunter. He spent some time playing at medium depth, like his other friend, Atlanta's Andruw Jones. And, he spent some time playing extremely shallow, which led to some misadventures.

"I'm getting more comfortable out there," said Hall, who has numbers for Hunter, Jones, Ken Griffey, Jr. and former Brewers coach / Hall of Famer Robin Yount in his cellphone if he needs to call for advice.

"I think you have to go through all game situations until you feel totally at ease."

From his office overlooking the practice field, Melvin has watched Hall put in extra work on his defense. And, he's watched other outfielders take extra flyballs, too.

"I like the way Bill has worked," Melvin said. "He made a good throw the other day. He didn't have a chance to get the guy on a sac fly, but he wanted to make the throw to practice, which I thought was very good. He could have just put it in his pocket and not thrown. But, he wanted to get set up and make the throw to the plate. I think he's going to be very good out there. It might take a year or so. But, I think he's going to be a very good centerfielder."

That might not be good enough for Hall. He wants to be a good centerfielder and a team leader. Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks J.J. Hardy are looking to Hall for guidance this year and he's ready to share things he learned while watching teammates like Eric Young, Royce Clayton, Jeffrey Hammonds, Jeff Cirillo and Jenkins.

"I was very fortunate to learn the game in the big leagues," Hall said. "A lot of guys spend a few more seasons in the minor leagues before they get their shot. Even I wasn't playing a lot, I was still able to learn. I don't know if the young guys here need me to teach them a lot. They're growing up fast. But, I'll do what I can."

Said Yost: "Billy wants to be a leader. He wants to produce. And, he goes about in a manner where he stays within himself. He doesn't have to force it. That's a really nice knack to have."