anyone else seeing big changes ahead? Latest: Mark A says Melvin is going to be here a long time, Macha will not be fired Monday

[tigerbrew]

I'd like to have Don Money as the next Brewers manager too. Don has done a great job in the minors over the years and he may the midas touch managing the Brewers too. No way I want Randolph as the next manager, he's much worse than Macha.

[Dragonbait]

After an 0-6 homestand and after going 4-14 (or something like that) at home... A change HAS to happen.

 

I really don't think Macha is that much of a problem... but the team really has taken on the personality of its manager... dull.

 

I'm almost ready to forget this season... No Ueck, the WORST home record of ANY team... it's all very dishearting.

[Invader3K]

If people really want a fiery manager, Ozzie Guillen is supposedly on the hot seat in Chicago. Maybe Doug can call Kenny Williams and they could do a manager swap?

 

In all seriousness, if you fire Macha now, it's going to be Randolph or Sveum as the interim manager. They're not going to find a "permanent" guy in the middle of the season.

 

I can't believe someone suggested Joe Torre though. I have to believe he's closer to retirement than looking to jump to another team.

[BrewCrewForever]

With Davis on the DL, I think Parra should get that spot in the rotation. Give him the ball and say "Manny, this is your last chance." He's not a bullpen guy, he is a starter, and if he cant show something this time around, it might be time to cut ties with Manny. He has as much raw talent as Gallardo, heck maybe more but he just can't seem to figure it out. Maybe this time around getting a chance to start he will. I'm pulling for him, but if he has poor results again, see ya Manny.

[Invader3K]

I'd be fine with that. May as well see if Parra can actually hack it as a starter or not, finally.

[Flood Pants]

They have to fire Macha now. I see no other choice. It may only be change for change's sake, but it would be an important PR move. The average fan needs to know that this organization won't tolerate this type of performance at home.

 

Don Money would be a good choice. I think the most likely scenario is Randolph or Sveum become manager with Money promoted to the coaching staff.

[Invader3K]

I'm not sure. I could see them waiting out this road trip to see if things turn around at all.

[TooLiveBrew]

I can't believe someone suggested Joe Torre though. I have to believe he's closer to retirement than looking to jump to another team.

 

Plus, you know the allure of those bright flashing lights in Milwaukee, WI would just have Joe Torre drooling

 

 

I think anyone hoping to see Macha fired this season is going to be disappointed. He's just really not the problem.

[Beast Light]

Is Macha a great manager? I don't think so but I don't think that he is the reason the team is playing so poorly.

 

Is it really his fault that he has a rotation full of guys who struggle to go 6 innings with virtually no one to turn to in AAA? Is it really his fault that his pitching staff has the 3rd worst ERA in the NL and only half as many quality starts as the Cardinals?

 

Is it Peterson's fault? Well, since the pitching was just as bad (if not worse) under 2 other pitching coaches last year, I'm not really sure if you can say that either. At this point, I am sure you guys are picking up on what I am alluding to.

[bklynbrewcrew]

Its time to fire both Melvin and Macha. Melvin has to go because he has put together awful pitching staffs two years in a row and I just dont see that changing. As for Macha he adds nothing of significance to this team. He is completely lifeless and doesnt trust young players. Absolutely the wrong personality traits for a young team like the Brewers; the man literally sucks the life out of this team.

 

As for Melvin I just dont trust him in handling potential Fielder trade negotiations. Doug will want to trade Prince for current major leaguers and pitchers like Capuano and Davis who have no upside. I want a GM that will trade Prince for high upside AA arms and not try to placate the fans by acquiring current major leaguers with no upside like Mench and Bush. I have a very bad feeling that we arent even gonna move Prince and will be losing him for two draft picks which is completely unacceptable as I do not see this team being in contention this year or next.

[PeaveyFury]

I have a very bad feeling that we arent even gonna move Prince and will be losing him for two draft picks which is completely unacceptable as I do not see this team being in contention this year or next.

 

If that happens, you'll have to make some "fire Attanasio" posts, as that would likely be the result of a directive from him.

 

Honestly, I feel Macha is probably a poor fit for this team and probably shouldn't have been hired in the first place (though he may have been the best of the candidates interviewed). Though Ned had probably worn out his welcome, this is a great example of 'being careful what you wish for,' as I think I'd have been much happier with Ned running the team the last two seasons.

 

Really, there can be much debate about who is to blame for this mess so far, but the team is underperforming almost all projections to this point, which has to fall on the coaching staff to a large degree. Most didn't have this close to a 90 win team, but by all accounts they should have finished .500 or a bit above, and I just don't see that happening at this point.

[sheethead]

I think anyone hoping to see Macha fired this season is going to be disappointed. He's just really not the problem.

 

He's not the solution either. What does he do well? A good question posed to listeners on WSSP this morning. What does Macha do well? He's inherently unlucky, he appears to have an ultra low energy level, he makes excuses, his players are becoming cynical and apathetic (like me). What exactly is Ken Macha doing well that would speak to him deserving to keep this job?

[brewmann04]

I hope they don't hand the reigns over to Randolph and i thought i read Don Money was happy teaching Kids. I know there a Guy in Bristol CT that free but he might be looking for a better fit.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

I have no deep love for Macha, but I fail to see how firing him is the magic bullet. We've had a fair amount of movement in manager and coaches in the last two years. I'm more a fan of consistency, especially with younger players. That we are on our fourth pitching coach over the last two calendar years and our young pitchers have either stalled or regressed is of particular concern. I don't know if the group we have is the answer, but going all Steinbrenner-esque and whipping around managers and coaches seems like a giant distraction.

[sheethead]

I don't know if the group we have is the answer, but going all Steinbrenner-esque and whipping around managers and coaches seems like a giant distraction.

I could handle a distraction right now.

[Beast Light]

I think anyone hoping to see Macha fired this season is going to be disappointed. He's just really not the problem.

 

He's not the solution either. What does he do well? A good question posed to listeners on WSSP this morning. What does Macha do well? He's inherently unlucky, he appears to have an ultra low energy level, he makes excuses, his players are becoming cynical and apathetic (like me). What exactly is Ken Macha doing well that would speak to him deserving to keep this job?

Sheethead, I agree with you in regards to Macha 100%. Macha really isn't worth keeping around. Yes he won in Oakland but how hard can that be when you have a rotation of Hudson, Zito, and Mulder, who were all in their prime.

 

That being said, I don't believe that firing him is going to be enough to turn this thing around. This team has some serious deficiencies that in my opinion, the GM has failed miserably at addressing. It is also worth noting that these are the same deficiencies that our GM failed to address in his previous job as well.

 

It is almost unbelievable to think that 6 years ago, all we did was talk about how great this team was going to be. We had arguably the best farm system in baseball and couldn't wait for the future to arrive. If we would have known at that time that a new owner would also be almost doubling the team's payroll, we would have been ecstatic. If we would have known that the end result would be one playoff victory, we would have been in disbelief.

 

I really think it is time for Melvin to go.

 

 

[bklynbrewcrew]

It really is a great point to ask what exactly does Macha add to this team? With most managers we can at least point to some positive attributes but Macha has none whatsoever. This is a young team with players that like expressing themselves and Macha has just taken the enjoyment out of the game. He didnt want them untucking after wins, he has complained about "Hells Bells" being played when Hoffman enters the game and he even apologized to San Francisco when Fielder hit that walk off HR last season followed by the bowling pins celebration. How can anyone think that this personality will ever mesh well with a young team? It was a hiring that was doomed to fail right from the start and that falls squarely on the shoulders of Doug Melvin.

 

Why exactly did Melvin only feel the need to interview Macha, randolph, and Brenly in the first place. These were three awful candidates to begin with yet Melvin felt that these were the only good candidates out there. That says an awful lot about Doug Melvin and his ability to find a good manager. The truth of the matter is firing Macha is not nearly enough to turn around this season because Doug Melvin has once again assembled a terrible pitching staff that no manager would be able to overcome and that is a far bigger issue than who is managing this team.

 

Its really time to ask what direction this organization is headed. There have been no indications that the team has even started trade discussions with other clubs regarding Fielder and the blame for that is on Melvin and maybe even more Mark Attanassio. The owner is so worried about public perception that he will probably hold onto Fielder through next season and take the draft picks which would be disastrous for this franchise. It seems that this ownership is way too concerned about today and how the average person will see this franchise than about doing what is right for the next several seasons.

[Hate those Rodents]

It seems that this ownership is way too concerned about today and how the average person will see this franchise than about doing what is right for the next several seasons.

This is stated perfectly.

[TooLiveBrew]

It really is a great point to ask what exactly does Macha add to this team? With most managers we can at least point to some positive attributes but Macha has none whatsoever.

 

I really doubt that you can point to something positive with most managers. Most of them are basically identical, and are stuck on the same groupthink approach to managing games. Right off the top of my head I can point to two things Macha has done well: he has been very patient with Alcides Escobar, sticking with him as the regular starter at SS, and he has handled the catching 'platoon' very well. He didn't panic when Zaun started off slowly, but he's also been getting Kottaras a very healthy amount of playing time.

 

 

Why exactly did Melvin only feel the need to interview Macha, randolph, and Brenly in the first place. These were three awful candidates to begin with yet Melvin felt that these were the only good candidates out there. That says an awful lot about Doug Melvin and his ability to find a good manager.

 

I think that when you look around the league, you will notice that the vast majority of managers aren't really good managers. It's the strange reality of MLB. No GM seems to hire managers well.

[Invader3K]

That is probably accurate. I can understand why Attanasio would look at it that way, though. It seems that this team's revenue is so heavily tied to ticket sales, so he doesn't want to see attendance dip too much. It's a tough spot to be in for a franchise.

[JohnBriggs12]

It's not the managers fault when the GM builds a team with little or no roster flexibility. True part of that is the absurd multi-year contracts that are common to the game. But very few managers dare "think outside the box". Macha is a conventional manager stuck with a pitching staff where nobody is capable of getting quick outs. Macha doesn't get out managed the way Yost used to. He just doesn't have the right parts to match the guy in the other dugout. Heck, as simple a thing as balancing the bench with a right handed bat was completely ignored in the off season. So Charlie Manuel and others have no problem setting up great match ups for their pen. That's one reason the Brewers haven't one a single game they've trailed in after the 6th inning.

[monty57]

There have been no indications that the team has even started trade discussions with other clubs regarding Fielder and the blame for that is on Melvin and maybe even more Mark Attanassio.

 

Maybe the blame should be on reporters for not wiretapping Melvin's phone. Really? You're laying blame because we haven't had "indications of discussions?" I think Fielder should be traded around late June/early July of this year (long before a normal trade would happen), but I really don't expect rumors to be flying around this early.

[Invader3K]

As far as we know they are still trying to negotiate an extension with Fielder. I assume once it becomes obvious it won't happen, Melvin will begin putting out feelers. It's pretty rare for a marquee player to be dealt in mid-May, or even mid-June.

[TooLiveBrew]

Macha is a conventional manager stuck with a pitching staff where nobody is capable of getting quick outs. Macha doesn't get out managed the way Yost used to. He just doesn't have the right parts to match the guy in the other dugout.

 

This very succinctly sums it up for me. The bolded part is especially what I think is getting lost in the Yost recollections.

[jeffy]

Beast Light wrote: It is almost unbelievable to think that 6 years ago, all we did was talk about how great this team was going to be. We had arguably the best farm system in baseball and couldn't wait for the future to arrive. If we would have known at that time that a new owner would also be almost doubling the team's payroll, we would have been ecstatic. If we would have known that the end result would be one playoff victory, we would have been in disbelief.

Ah, but what if you had been told in 2004 that over the next 6 years the Brewers would win more post season games than the Cubs?

But, yes, someone needs to pay for the pathetic pitching staff that has been assembled, since the departure of Sheets and CC.