Macha Selected As New Brewers Manager (reply 667ish)

[kramnoj]

HTR, have you looked at Davey's managerial record? It would be difficult to use the word failure when talking about him. Davey managed very good Mets teams in the mid-late 80s. He was fired in 1990 when he was 2 games under .500 42 games into the season. Bud Harrelson managed that team into a 91 win season, but then Bud was fired the next year as the Mets sunk below .500 and didn't come back up for 7 seasons. He takes a couple of years off and then joins the Reds in the 93 season. He manages the 94 team to a 1st place finish and then the season ends prematurely. In 95 he has another 1st place finish. He leaves the Reds, and it takes them 4 years to have a good season again. He takes over the Os in 96, a team that had a losing record the year before. He takes them to the WC in 96 and then finishes in first place in 97. He leaves the Os and they haven't had a winning record since he left. His last stop with the Dodgers was unremarkable, but Davey was a successful manager in his previous stints. He has no obvious flaws that I remember, and I much prefer him over what appear to be the final 3 candidates.

[BrewCrewForever]

Heard TH on Homer's show on 540 ESPN today. Said he thinks even though Brenly has the ring that Macha is the name he hears most as the favorite.

[Oldcity]

Anyone here could likely have managed that Arizona team to a World Series win. Brenly almost managed to screw up despite having the two best pitchers in the league.

[nate82]

A lot of you are overreacting to a part that says that he might just stop there. It doesn't mean Melvin will or won't stop at just those three names. A lot of overreaction to such a small part of the article.

[AJAY]

Not sure if this was mentioned already, but there is speculation in the media that if Bob Brenly were to get the Brewers manager job, Robin Yount and Damian Miller would be logical candidates to join the coaching staff (because of their ties to Brenly in Arizona and because of their ties and familiarity with the Brewers).

 

It makes sense to me.

[BrewCrewForever]

I suppose, Miller seems like he would be a guy that would get into coaching.

[danzig6767]

Not sure if this was mentioned already, but there is speculation in the media that if Bob Brenly were to get the Brewers manager job, Robin Yount and Damian Miller would be logical candidates to join the coaching staff (because of their ties to Brenly in Arizona and because of their ties and familiarity with the Brewers).

 

It makes sense to me.

Whether Yount would be willing to come in as a bench coach with a manager would play zero role in who i hired

[jwill535]

I suppose, Miller seems like he would be a guy that would get into coaching.

Worked out well for Jake Taylor so I say go for it.

[logan82]

Am I the only one who no has enthusiasm whatsoever in this manager hiring process? Macha looks to be the best candidate so far and he doesn't even look that enticing. What has Macha done outside of Oakland? By most accounts it sounds as if he was just following Beane's instructions on managing more than doing it himself. What do we know about his managing style except the players didn't like him on his way out of Oakland?

 

Edit: I meant NO enthusiasm whatsoever.

[brewmann04]

I am hoping that its either Macha or Brenley getting the Job. Randolph will be a disaster IMO.

Also accoring To the Journal Dale Might be back with the Crew afterall

[AJAY]

I don't understand Melvin's fascination with Ken Macha. He is not a sexy name that will boost excitement, sell tickets, or have credibility. He had terrible reviews from his former players. They were all very blunt about how terrible he was. He got fired once, got re-hired, and then got fired again. He hasn't really won anything big.

 

I don't like him at all.

[Oldcity]

So now they aren't even letting the new manager choose his staff? What's the sense in that?

[bobskube]

People-let's give the new manager a chance and then let's form opinions. There are negatives about everybody out there.

 

Who really wanted Mike McCarthy over a list of other bigger names? Who wanted Holmgren over Bill Parcells? Who wanted Mike Sherm-ok, bad example.

 

Let's just agree that every candidate is probably a better option than Yost (except maybe Randolph who likes to rest his entire starting lineup at times) and just let the chips fall as they may.

The difference is your examples were unknowns. We've got some proven faulty-brained candidates poised to land this job. Randolph and Brenley are lateral from Yost at best. At least Macha should be lateral at worst. Probably better overall.

Ok, your opinion is noted. How about Joe Torre, Bobby Cox, and Terry Francona. All failed pretty miserably before and now are known successes.

[Oldcity]

The issue is they should hire a manager based on his baseball philosophies, not whether he's managed before. I don't care that Brenly won a world series with two amazing pitchers because the Brewers won't have pitchers like that next year. Meanwhile, Brenly will be bunting in like the fifth inning and I'll want to break things every time.

[TooLiveBrew]

How about Joe Torre, Bobby Cox, and Terry Francona. All failed pretty miserably before and now are known successes.

 

You just listed arguably the two most overrated managers of all-time in Torre & Cox. Francona is (imho) MLB-Manager-Vanilla, like 80-90% or so of the guys that have MLB jobs.

[colbyjack]

He is not a sexy name that will boost excitement, sell tickets, or have credibility.

 

I can't argue against the credibility point, but what manager is going to boost excitement much less sell tickets? As for excitement, there are always going to be critics no matter who is hired, and there's only one thing that sells more tickets: Winning. Fortunately the Brewers did a lot of that this past year and should enjoy their most successful season ticket haul this offseason because of it. Who is calling the shots won't play a part of that.

 

Joe Torre is the best, recent example of a manager who went from being loathed by the team he once managed (the Cardinals) to being adored by New York, and because of that, the world.

 

As for Davey Johnson, it should be pointed out that he lost his job with the Reds and Orioles due to his inability to get along with the team's owners, Marge Schott and Peter Angelos. Plus, I really dig the fact that he's been managing the US team the past several years, managing young players, journeyman and castoffs against a variety of international talent and overall style of play.

 

I agree that Macha would seem to make the favorite. Melvin clearly is loyal to the players and overall baseball people he is tight with and has familiarity with.

[danzig6767]

How about Joe Torre, Bobby Cox, and Terry Francona. All failed pretty miserably before and now are known successes.

 

You just listed arguably the two most overrated managers of all-time in Torre & Cox. Francona is (imho) MLB-Manager-Vanilla, like 80-90% or so of the guys that have MLB jobs.

It's very hard to rate managers because far and away the biggest key to any team winning is having good players, managers with bad players aren't going to win. That said, it would be pretty hard for me to say Bobby Cox is one of the most overrated managers of all time given he presided over a team that won an unprecedented 15 straight division titles. Think about that, 15 straight, that's insane.

 

I don't care if Atlanta had plenty of talent in that crazy stretch of excellence, Cox had to be doing something right for that to happen. All kinds of teams had talented teams during those 15 years, yet many failed to win for a variety of reasons, but the Braves under Cox just won and won and won every year.

[logan82]

Off hand without looking into anything( I know this is going to come back and bite me) I would have to credit the Braves with having a pretty good farm system and strong pitching(Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine) over a long period of time moreso than anything Cox did.

[Mr QL]

I really hope it isn't Macha. The guy just sounds horrible. He's getting trashed by his own players when they're winning 90 or so games.

[PilprinBuddha]

I want Sveum http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[kramnoj]

As for Davey Johnson, it should be pointed out that he lost his job with the Reds and Orioles due to his inability to get along with the team's owners, Marge Schott and Peter Angelos.

 

This is certainly worthy of being pointed out, but I don't see this as a mark against Davey. Are you saying that he wouldn't be a good manager because of this, or that he isn't in consideration because Attanasio wouldn't hire him because of this, or something else? It's hard to find managers who have had more success than Davey, there is a reason that he is favored by fans here.

[PeaveyFury]

Are you saying that he wouldn't be a good manager because of this, or that he isn't in consideration because Attanasio wouldn't hire him because of this, or something else?

 

I think you're reading his post the wrong way. He's (IMO) saying that Johnson wasn't fired due to lack of success (making him a "retread" manager like the rest), but because he had issues with crazy owners. He meant it as a plus, not a negative.

[Chio151]

The more I read about Macha, I'm warming up to him. His records were amazing, and Billy Beane had it out for him. If it were just these three, I'd be leaning towards Macha now.

[Ennder]

I'm pulling for Macha. Sounds like he was fine the first few years there and then something happened to cause problems the year that he was released. Brenly seems like a bafoon when it comes to in game managing. I think those two are the only 'real' candidates.

[JumpinMacFlash]

Plus, I really dig the fact that he's been managing the US team the past several years, managing young players, journeyman and castoffs against a variety of international talent and overall style of play.

 

I agree. This is the thing that I really found intriguing about Johnson. One of the complaints about Johnson and Valentine, is that they haven't been in the majors in a few years, but I don't think that matters. Johnson (who would be my favorite) hasn't been that removed from the game. He's still managing young players, and with a fairly young team, I think he would mesh pretty well with the Brewers. I don't think he's as out of the loop as some people think.

 

Granted, it doesn't look like he's getting an interview...