Macha and his players not on same page? (Latest: Macha to return with 2011 club option)

[ilovebeer]

I am not happy about this. Macha was the wrong choice.

[PeaveyFury]

Getting to 80 wins considering the unbelievable seasons that Fielder and Braun produced is not exactly an accomplishment.

 

Considering how horrible the rotation was, I disagree.

[TheCrew07]

Why are just Braun and Fielder getting pimped here? McGehee, Counsell, Lopez, Escobar, Cameron, and Weeks all played well. Hardy, Hart, Hall, and Kendell stunk, but I think most every team will have a couple of players that are offensive liabilities. And really in the grand scheme we all knew Kendell and Hall stunk prior to opening day... I think Hardy and Hart were more than off set by the contributions of the other players.

 

The Brewers pythagorean expected wins was 78 according to mlb.com, i have trouble believing Macha to be the root cause of an extra 2 wins over raw stats, 2 wins is well within the expected variance.

[TooLiveBrew]

I think it's a bit harsh to say that Hart stunk. He dealt with some fluky injuries/ailments this season, and imo looked more patient at the plate.

[pretendastronaut]

Offensively the Brewers had a great season, even though it may not always feel that way.

 

The were 3rd in the NL for; runs scored, home runs, total bases, RBIs, OPS. Tied for 4th in BA and 5th in hits.

 

Really the only teams that outpaced us offensively were the Phillies and Rockies.

 

However, only 2 NL teams gave up more than 800 total runs this year; Nationals and Brewers. Seven teams gave up more than 700 earned runs; Nationals (791), Brewers (770), Pirates (723), Astros (722), Diamondbacks (711), Mets (705), Padres (704).

 

So yes, I think it's very good that we got to 80 wins with that pitching performance.

 

I'm not in love with Macha, but I'll give him another shot over plenty of alternatives, he didn't make or break this season. I don't like how he handled certain aspects, but I didn't feel he was constantly costing us games like Yost.

[Invader3K]

Yeah, like I kind of alluded to earlier, I'm not excited to see him back, but I don't think you can throw him under the bus after being handed such a horrible starting rotation. The offense performed well, even though I often questioned some of his lineups. I also give him credit that he seemed to handle the pitching staff better than Yost did...it's just that he had less to work with.

[bklynbrewcrew]

The biggest problem with Macha and its something thats major is that he doesnt like young players. As an organization that relies heavily on young talent a guy like Macha is just the wrong person to manage the team.

[pretendastronaut]

The biggest problem with Macha and its something thats major is that he doesnt like young players. As an organization that relies heavily on young talent a guy like Macha is just the wrong person to manage the team.

 

It certainly feels that way, because the handling of Gamel was beyond frustrating, however, technically McGehee was a rookie and got plenty of playing time.

He gave Escobar a fair shake, and I think Escobar played his way into a starting role next season. I don't think Melvin hands over a team that leaves much room to put Escobar on the bench next season. Gamel on the other hand, who knows. It's clear Macha isn't going to play Gamel over alternatives, so that ends up in Melvin's hands.

If we're in the race, we don't need to worry that Macha isn't putting in the farm kids to see how they perform.

[greeg35]

The biggest problem with Macha and its something thats major is that he doesnt like young players.

In my view, Macha doesn't like immature players (McClung/Gamel for example). For my part, I don't either.

[bklynbrewcrew]

What exactly has Gamel done to be called immature?

[greeg35]

Don Money specifically mentioned Gamel's struggles in dealing with adversity in a recent article (that I can't find now). He has run afoul of team officials in the past over reporting to spring training and unreported injuries. I personally witnessed a temper tantrum he had a couple of years back when he found out that he was being assigned to a lower level than he thought he should be. Granted that was a couple of years ago, and I'm sure its disapointing news; but his reaction was extreme and left a bad taste in my mouth about him. I haven't particularly like how he has been handled by the club; but part of being a major leaguer is dealing with adversity and my guess is this is why he hasn't played as much as we would have liked as fans.

[bklynbrewcrew]

I dont believe attitude has anything to do with how little Gamel played. Macha has shown all season his discontent with young players. This situation goes far beyong Mat Gamel; this organization will always have young players as a major part of its core and having a manager that fears playing them is not a good thing. Melvin will probably force Macha to start Escobar next year but you can bet if Macha had it his way Counsell would start more than Alcides.

[greeg35]

Who else? Gallardo is pretty young and according to some has been overused. As noted earlier, Escobar has been treated pretty fairly. Prince and Braun are not old. Macha has shown discontent with non-performing youngish players such as Hardy, Hart, McClung, Villanueva, etc... I'm OK with that. Now he DOES go out of his way to reward Kendall for some reason (non-performing veteran). That I can't explain.

[MJLiverock]

Remember all the way back to opening day when Macha wanted to and did use Suppan vs. Gallardo because he felt starting opening day put too much pressure on Gallardo or somesuch nonsense.

[greeg35]

Given how little it matters who the opening day starter is and Gallardo's use since then, it hardly seems like a mark in the "Macha hates young players" column

[Thurston Fluff]

I don't recall Oakland having a veteran laden team. He hardly played Gerut at all until injuries set in. Given how poorly Hart was playing it seems reasonable that if Macha was more inclined to go veteran that would have been a likely place to have done so. He used several young players quite a bit including McGehee and I don't recall Oakland having a veteran laden team. He hardly played Gerut at all until injuries set in. Given how poorly Hart was playing it seems reasonable that if Macha was more inclined to go veteran that would have been a likely place to have done so. He used McGehee, YoGa and Stetter quite a bit this season. So if he is willing to use some quite a bit and others not so much there must be some other reason than age going into it.

[TooLiveBrew]

From McCalvy's latest blog post:

Macha told reporters that he's working to improve his personal relationships with players this spring. He's always had an open door policy, but realizes that sometimes it's best to invite a player to walk through that door.

 

"Am I going to change? Well, we're working on it," Macha said.

 

One player took advantage of the open door on Thursday. After checking out his locker in the clubhouse, Fielder went straight for the manager's office.

 

"He had a big smile on his face," Macha said. "He's ready."

[RobDeer 45]

Good to hear. Reminds me of Tom Coughlin.

 

I think coaches that aren't as open to players (joking around and stuff) take awhile to get a long with. But after you buy in to their system and are around them you start to see the other side of them. I imagine guys will like him more this year.

[Tbadder]

I can't help but think that maybe re-upping Sveum might have been the better choice.

[Ennder]

I doubt it would have made much of a difference. If we don't have 4 of 5 starters injured and the 5th wearing out from his first full season in the majors we make a run at the playoffs. Instead we end up with 80 wins. Doubt Macha is to blame for much of it. Sure maybe Gamel full time and less of Kendall might give us another win but it wouldn't have been enough to make us a playoff team.

[TooLiveBrew]

You often criticize others for being results-oriented... isn't that what you're being here? If Tbadder thinks Sveum is the better manager (not saying I agree or disagree), why should last seasons' results change his mind?

[mletto157]

You often criticize others for being results-oriented... isn't that what you're being here? If Tbadder thinks Sveum is the better manager (not saying I agree or disagree), why should last seasons' results change his mind?

If he had said Sveum is a better manager, sure. Or even if he said he thought that Sveum would be the better manager going forward. But the way he worded it, I also thought he was talking in past tense as thought Sveum would have gotten better results last year because the players would have liked him better.

[Tbadder]

I doubt it would have made much of a difference. If we don't have 4 of 5 starters injured and the 5th wearing out from his first full season in the majors we make a run at the playoffs. Instead we end up with 80 wins. Doubt Macha is to blame for much of it. Sure maybe Gamel full time and less of Kendall might give us another win but it wouldn't have been enough to make us a playoff team.

 

 

I think you are right. Sveum wouldn't have made a difference. But I do believe he's a better fit for Milwaukee manager-wise.

[logan82]

I don't like Macha as the manager, but Svuem would absolutely drive me nuts. His strategy is straight out of the 80's. Small ball, small ball, and more small ball.

[Thurston Fluff]

I'm glad to see Macha wants to improve on his weakness. Many don't even acknowledge they have weaknesses let alone try to work on them. I have not been a huge fan of Macha but am willing to give him a fair shot to prove himself. His realization that he needs to take steps in being more approachable is a step in the right direction.