Macha Selected As New Brewers Manager (reply 667ish)

[bklynbrewcrew]

I guess I'm having a hard time believing it's Macha if Jason Kendall said those comments about him. Most GMs aren't typically going to go against their veteran players by bringing in someone they dont' care for.

I would agree with this if Melvin hadnt made the comment that the players dont have to like the manager. That sounds to me as if he is laying the groundwork to hire an unlikeable guy like Macha.

[sweepscc]

They don't have to like him but they need to respect him. Sounds like there wasn't a lot of respect for Macha in Oakland.

[Invader3K]

They don't have to like him but they need to respect him. Sounds like there wasn't a lot of respect for Macha in Oakland.

Right, that's the thing. I'm sure Melvin realizes that.

 

Ultimately, though, we have to remember that this isn't a group of green youngsters on this Brewers team anymore. Going forward in 2009 and beyond, the players are going to be more responsible than ever for their own performance on the field. I think all of us realize this, but it's going to be important to remember in the future.

[AJAY]

JS Online is reporting that Willie Randolph was officially scheduled to be interviewed today.

 

http://blogs.jsonline.com...s-interview-randolph.aspx

[razzzorsharp]

Randolph is the last guy from the supposed list that I would want. As sad as it sounds, I hope it was just the mandatory minority interview in his case and they are not serious. Though in that case I wish they would have skipped Willie and went and talked to Listach instead.

[berniebrewer4life]

JS Online is reporting that Willie Randolph was officially scheduled to be interviewed today.

 

http://blogs.jsonline.com...s-interview-randolph.aspx

I'm gonna have to agree with one of the posts below the blog on this one.

 

I'd rather have Harvey Kuenn's dead corpse propped up in the dugout.

[dadofandrew]

Can someone please tell me where the Kendall statements are that spoke poorly of Macha? I cannot find them.

[crewcrazy]

Al, here's the article from the San Francisco Chronicle the day Macha was fired: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi...2006/10/17/AS.TMP&type=as

 

I posted the quote from Kendall earlier in this thread, but it's probably buried by now, so here it is again:

 

"I know that the one thing any player wants from his manager is to be protected,'' catcher Jason Kendall said. "If there's a bang-bang play at first, even if you're out, if you're arguing you want someone there behind you. If you argue a pitch, even if you're wrong, you want someone joining in. And I'm not sure Macha did that.''

 

There's also a second quote from Kendall in the story that I missed before:

 

"I don't want Billy to take heat for this because this is what needed to happen,'' Kendall said. "If Billy is comfortable with it, we're behind Billy. Maybe Billy saw the same thing the players saw. If Billy gets blasted in the media, it's ridiculous. Billy's going to get a lashing, and he shouldn't.''

[dadofandrew]

Those are rather weak "criticisms" to say the least. If anything, I'd say it proves my point players should shut up and play.

[TooLiveBrew]

How is saying, "Maybe Billy saw the same thing the players saw," about your former manager being fired not a harsh criticism? And what does that prove about or have to do with any point you've tried to make? Perhaps Kendall has changed his opinion since then, but it's pretty safe to say that you couldn't find a bigger supporter of Macha's firing at the time than Kendall.

[Jarjohm]

There is another side to the whole Macha story that isn't really represented in what has been posted here so far. The issue appears to have been as much a problem surrounding the relationship between Macha and Billy Beane as it was between Macha and his players. I covered it in great detail in a post on Right Field Bleachers. You can check it out here if you're interested: Mark Me Down for Macha. Obviously, I'm sold on the guy so you can take that into account when reading the post, but I think there is a lot of valuable information in there no matter what you think of Macha.

 

I also thought I'd share a quote Macha made in a 2007 interview concerning his possible future as a manager. It's especially interesting now:

I'm hoping that if I do manage again that I'm going to be able to have a relationship with the GM that is going to be a real good, positive relationship.

 

I was watching the Sunday night game the other day. The Cardinals were playing the Brewers and Doug Melvin came on. He was talking about his relationship with Ned, how much respect he has for the job that Ned does and how much trust he has in him. Really, to build your relationship with your manager on trust and respect is something I'd be looking for if I do get another job.

 

Doug said, "I back this guy 100 percent. I only had one manager when I was with the Texas Rangers as the GM. I had Johnny Oates there and we built a tremendous relationship and it wound up being a terrific, terrific experience down there in Texas."

 

So, just listening to his words, they kind of resonate with me. Hopefully, as I said, if I do get another job, I'll be able to have a relationship with the GM similar to that.

[Team Canada]

Those are rather weak "criticisms" to say the least. If anything, I'd say it proves my point players should shut up and play.

"Maybe Billy saw the same things the players saw" isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of management, and I fail to see how it proves anything about "shutting up and playing".

[RU Rah Rah]

I understand that you would want to take Kendall's comments into consideration, but I'm not sure you can have 25 players individually exercising veto power over managerial candidates.

[brewmann04]

I just hope we don't take Willie ,He not a bad guy but his time here in NY was not good especially when heis team seemed to quit on him during critical periods. Please NO Willie

[patrickgpe]

well the problem is that the team quit without willie too. I'm warming up to Brenley only because the other "known candidates" don't inspire me. I could live with Randolph or Brenley, provided that they learned something from their previous mistakes. Hopefully, like Yost showed this year, Brenley can improve how he handles his pitching staff. I think Macha would be a poor choice for a young team like ours. I'm happy to read that there has been no known contact between melvin and showalter. I still really don't have an opinion on Tracy. I do hope there is a mystery candidate that noone is talking about.

[Greg Vaughn]

Brenley is horrible.....makes bad baseball decisions continually. I actually do remember him as manager and thinking "this guy is straight bonehead".

 

Seems like everyone is getting glossed over by his "World Series" ring. Oh yeah, by the way, he had probably the two most dominant pitchers of the generation on the mound during that series.

 

If we hire him, you guys will be wishing we had Ned Yost back.

[Ennder]

I haven't seen many positive posts about Brenly. Seems like the majority thinks he is a very poor in game manager.

[bklynbrewcrew]

I would say Macha seems the only one who isnt strategically inept out of the guys rumored. If he can change his personality I could live with him. Brenly and Randolph on the other hand are clueless.

[endaround]

Why Brenly sucks: http://www.slate.com/id/2057731/entry/2057738/

 

Keep reading. Its been brought up before, but the guy just is not very good.

[joepepsi]

I would say Macha seems the only one who isnt strategically inept out of the guys rumored. If he can change his personality I could live with him. Brenly and Randolph on the other hand are clueless.

Checking out his bio at wikipedia; he's been successful at every level as a manager. Where is the documentation that he has a personality issue? I know after he was fired some players, including Kendall, threw him under the bus, but this is a team that also included Milton Bradley, Jay Payton, and Frank Thomas; 3 guys who haven't always carried the best reputation as teammates.

 

Macha's A's won 93 games in 2006. In 2007 Bob Geren's team, essentially the same roster minus Zito, won only 76 games. Frankly, I don't give a crap if the players don't like their manager. This is the real world, not middle school. You either perform or you don't stick around the league very long.

[Ennder]

I read that link endaround and gotta say I hope Brenly isn't the guy. This paragraph in particular bothers me.

 

Three times the Diamondbacks got their leadoff hitter on base. Three times Bob Brenly willingly gave up an out to move Womack up a base. In those three innings, the Diamondbacks got a double, a single, three walks, and a hit-by-pitch. Hernandez retired only five batters on his own-in other words, in those three innings, six of the 11 Diamondbacks who actually tried to reach base were successful. But three Diamondbacks didn't try to reach base, and because of that the team didn't score a single run.

[bklynbrewcrew]

I am pretty sure Dale didnt get the job because of his love of small ball and that is why I would be surprised if Melvin hires Brenly. At this point I am pro Macha because Brenly sounds worse than Yost. The last thing this team needs is to bunt every inning like Sveum was doing and I think Melvin knows this well.

[rluzinski]

Well, Hunt thinks Brenly is the best choice, since he gives the best interview. He also knows the Brewers, since he talked about them on TV. So....there you go.

 

Brenly likes to bunt, bunt, bunt. I'm sure he's fond of managing with his gut as well. No thanks.

[Fatter than Joey]

I am pretty sure Dale didnt get the job because of his love of small ball and that is why I would be surprised if Melvin hires Brenly.

 

I suspect Dale's lack of experience did him in.

[MessiahRp]

I'd prefer Davey Johnson out of the guys mentioned. I always liked him and I always liked the attitude his teams (especially the Mets) had, which was kind of a "we're going to do what we want and we don't care whether you like it or not" type of thing. I think that would fit well with guys like Braun and Prince.

 

Macha sounds like he knows what he is doing, but I'd be worried about hiring anyone who inspired such unvarnished hatred. I'm not saying players have to be coddled, but generally, if everyone hates you, you're the problem, not everyone else. Showalter has the same problem, though to a slightly lesser extent. I mean, even the hard-ass of all hard-asses, Vince Lombardi, inspired love more than hate among his players. Same with guys like Parcells and Gregg Popovich. It's one thing to have players not always like you or agree with you. It's another to have them not respect you and hate you.

I agree with this although I haven't seen Davey's name legitimately floated by anyone reporting on this. Johnson's teams had a toughness and a swagger to them that the Brewers could use. I think he would bring a different attitude to the team and frankly he has a track record of winning everywhere he's been.

 

I really don't like anyone on the list. Macha has issues with respect in his clubhouse, Brenly makes some boneheaded in game decisions, Narron has never won anywhere, Showalter's teams always seem to get better once he is gone, Randolph's team quit on him and I've read that he was a poor communicator in the dugout (wish I could remember the source).

 

Davey Johnson is preferable to any of those guys and is better than a high percentage of current MLB managers.

 

Rp