Macha Selected As New Brewers Manager (reply 667ish)

[bklynbrewcrew]

Macha, Brenly, and Showalter would all be awful choices. Those comments from players about Macha is all I need to know about him. As far as Brenly is concerned he is strategically inept and only won because the D'Backs had Johnson and Schiiling but his in game moves were puzzling to say the least. As far as Showalter is concerned he is a micromanager that rides his players way too hard and the players revolt against him everywhere he has been. Im very disappointed in Melvin if these are the clowns he is looking at. As much as I think Sveum would be a bad choice I would prefer him over the other three. Melvin needs to see if Davey Johnson or Bobby Valentine are interested and if they say no I would just give Dale the job over the other three guys.

[Legacy25GT]

Beane was always forcing his guys to play the game his way, the Moneyball way (high on base, three run home runs, low-risk baseball).

 

Hire Beane for our manager. I really don't have much faith in a big name guy with experience. All we can expect from most of those guys are managery decisions.

 

I think you're being sarcastic here, but I'll bite anyway. Beane would be a horrible manager (if he'd even take the job) since he's too emotional and intense. According to Moneyball he'd be so much of a wreck during games, that he couldn't stand to watch them live, so during the games he would either pace around the clubhouse or he'd be in the weight room working out. And his only link to the game would be his cell phone or PDA or something that would give him updates on the box score.

[Invader3K]

None of the names mentioned really interest me, other than Valentine, and it doesn't sound like he's a real possibility. I'd rather they just stick with Sveum if those are really our options, since at least the players like and respect him.

[NeedMoreFans]

I'm looking up info on Davey Johnson, and I honestly can't find material I really don't like. The only negatives I see are 1) He hasn't been a MLB manager since the 2000 season, 2) He's not the youngest person in the world (he'll be 66 in January)...but there have been managers a lot older than him. That's about it. In 14 years as a manager, he has had 2 losing seasons (his first year in Cincy, and his first year in LA), won a World Series, and made the playoffs on several occasions. He was fired after his second year in LA because of differences with the ownership/GM. Sounds like at the time, the owner and GM expected a lot from the team that wasn't possible. They had gone through 4 managers in 5 years, and had a broken club, all the way through the farm system...so it was them more than Davey. I haven't looked at his managerial style or how players respond to him, though. I'm thinking if he will leave Team USA, and will want to manage in the majors again, sign him up.

[joepepsi]

Davey left Baltimore because he couldn't get along with Angelos. That makes him a hero in my book. I think he fought with management wherever he went, so that makes the bosses reluctant to hire him. I think he was respected by his players but not necessarily liked. To me he is the best available manager.

 

Here's a good interview with him from last April. He says he doesn't think he wants to manage in the majors anymore: http://www.nydailynews.co...html?print=1&page=all

He was really sick with an appendix condition for a few years but is healthy now. His daughter died of septic shock in 2005.

 

He is my first choice for any managing job. I was intrigued by Macha but now am hesitant given the player comments. The rest of the retreads make me ill. They would be worse than Ned.

 

Davey has a career .564 winning pct. In many ways he's the Earl Weaver of his generation.

[bklynbrewcrew]

Davey Johnson and Bobby Valentine are the only two names mentioned that make any sense. I wasnt for or against Macha but after reading his ex player comments I want no part of him. Showalter is another guy that players tune out in short order so that should eliminate him. Brenly as I remember wasnt a good in game manager either so as far as Im concerned if we dont or cant get Johnson or Valentine we should just hire Sveum who is the lesser of all evils in comparison with the other supposed candidates. Sveum is no genius strategically and clearly wants to bunt too much but at least the players like and respect him.

[Ennder]

I haven't read moneyball myself but I'm pretty sure it is about taking advantage of the market, not about 3 run HRs. OBP was undervalued when it was written which is why they keyed in on it.

[dhoffman19]

I haven't read moneyball myself but I'm pretty sure it is about taking advantage of the market, not about 3 run HRs. OBP was undervalued when it was written which is why they keyed in on it.

You're basically right, although there is a long discussion of how Beane & Co. felt that OBP is the most important offensive stat. They keyed on it for that reason, and also because it was undervalued by other teams. The main point of the book is the "undervalued" angle. OBP is still just as important, it's just not as affordable for the A's anymore since other teams have caught on.

[dhoffman19]

Ken Macha is a studio commentator for NESN, the Red Sox network. He has all the personality of a dirt sandwich. Maybe he's nervous in front of a camera, but I wouldn't think that would bode well for his leadership skills.

[Madtown Bomber]

Try not to throw up in your mouth. Rosenthal said that Larry Bowa has been in contact with Doug Melvin. If you are into hard nosed, old school baseball you have your man. He is a older version of Ned Yost in my opinion. Rosenthal really didn't have much more insite then Haudicourt had in the paper this morning.

[Team Canada]

To echo others above, if we're not getting Johnson or Valentine, I can't see anyone being a huge upgrade over Dale.

[sweepscc]

Anybody have an opinion on Jim Tracy from his time with the Dodgers and the Pirates(they lost, but how much of it was on him?)?

[RockCoCougars]

If the players didn't like Yost, my guess is that they would absolutely revolt with hard "butts" like Macha, Bowa or Showalter. Those guys have already gotten at least one chance, and all been judged as failures to the point of getting fired. As I've said on other posts, I think the only "retread" that I would like would be Tom Kelly. He'd be perfect for this team, but the odds of bringing him in are probably zero. Somebody needs to remind him that there is a dog track in Kenosha.

 

All told, I think Sveum is the choice here. He knows the game, the players seem to respect him, and if need be, he can be let go without too much trouble.

,

[Hate those Rodents]

Do we know for sure if the players didn't like Yost? I know most of us here thought we could do better with another manager, but do we know the players felt the same way?

[And That]

It's not Sveum.

 

Melvin extended 3 years, Sveum and Skaalen out. No new news on the new manager.

[rm121978]

Not really a surprise. Once Melvin admitted that he'd be talking to other candidates, you had a feeling Sveum wasn't the guy.

[AJAY]

I am shocked. I really thought Dale Sveum would get the job. He had really great reviews as a minor league manager and the Brewers players all supported him. I don't want ken Macha or Jim Tracy. They don't excite me one bit.

 

The guy I really want is Bobby Valentine. He is still the best in-game strategist I have seen.

[BCZF]

Why does Bob Brenley send shivers down my spine?

[And That]

Why does Bob Brenley send shivers down my spine?

His mustache.

 

I also hope it's Bobby Valentine or Davey Johnson. Maybe Mike Hargrove. Anyone else I'm ambivalent about at best, and I'd be pissed if it were Brenly or Macha.

 

Maddux should be canned also, IMO.

[phxMILWfan]

Why does Bob Brenley send shivers down my spine?

His mustache.

 

I also hope it's Bobby Valentine or Davey Johnson. Maybe Mike Hargrove. Anyone else I'm ambivalent about at best, and I'd be pissed if it were Brenly or Macha.

 

Maddux should be canned also, IMO.

What do you have against Maddux? I've never heard anyone say anything bad about him before. Seems to get a lot out of a little...

[And That]

[Maddux] Seems to get a lot out of a little...

I'd like to see this comment backed up. People keep harping on it, but I can't figure out why. Has he been terrible? No, but to me he's not the miracle worker people make him out to be. He's taught the cutter to a few people?

 

The Brewers didn't have a low-paid pitching staff this year. The Brewers have had guys with a good year or two, but who has really turned their career around under his watch?

[TooLiveBrew]

I think Turnbow's explosion onto the scene, paired with the successes of Capuano & maybe Bush are where the legend of Mike Maddux came from. I agree with Toby that it's become a sort of 'foregone conclusion' statement that Maddux is a good pitching coach, but a pitching coach is probably of comparable impact to a hitting coach.

[And That]

but a pitching coach is probably of comparable impact to a hitting coach.

Yes... and Skaalen is gone. I think that if you're running a high-risk, high-reward business like baseball and you have a pretty influential guy (say, a pitching coach) maybe maintaining the status quo for awhile, that's alright, but don't you want to try to get better? Assuming you make a good hire, you're going to stay the same at worst.

 

Maddux is adequate, but he's not done anything to keep his job here under a new manager.

[logan82]

I would say that we could put the pitching on Melvin. He brought in guys off of waivers and undervalued in other organizations. Guys that had a good season or two when they never had one previously. We kind of had to bring in those types of guys since we were not going to be competitive anyway and it didn't pay to spend the money on them at that time.

[clancyphile]

It's not Sveum.

 

Melvin extended 3 years, Sveum and Skaalen out. No new news on the new manager.

Oh, boy... I hope this doesn't mean Maddux and Castro are on their way out.