The Brewers' Next Manager; Latest -- Valentine may have inside track to the job; Cora, Melvin, Roenicke also finalists

[patrickgpe]

id like to see valentine be the managerm but my guess is his pricetag would be too high. if that is the case i'm hoping for wallach which has been consistent which my previous posts.

[BrewCrewForever]

Seattle is a much much better job than Milwaukee. They actually have a good amount of money they can spend along with a good amount of young talent.

While we probably can't spend quite as much as Seattle, it's not like we are Pittsburgh, Tampa or Florida. Mark is not afraid to spend a little money. As for young talent I would say ours is as good and probably better than the Mariners.

[jerichoholicninja]

Seattle has to compete against the Angels who have money to spend and are loaded with talent. The Rangers will be pretty good for a few more years and the Athletics should be competitive. Milwaukee has is competing against non-threats like Pittsburgh and Houston. St. Louis could very well be on the downswing and Chicago is a mess. Cincinnati is the only long term threat I see in the division. If Seattle and Milwaukee have equal talent, Milwaukee has the much better outlook as they have much more inferior competition.

[trwi7]

Milwaukee has is competing against non-threats like Pittsburgh and Houston.

Milwaukee finished one game ahead of non-threat Houston, so wouldn't that make the Brewers a non-threat as well?

[logan82]

Milwaukee competes against the Cardinals and Cubs who will spend money. The Reds also have more young talent than we do. Houston may be a mess now but that may change in a couple years. The only bad team we are clearly better than is the Pirates and that may also change quick as they seem to be moving in the right direction.

[jerichoholicninja]

Milwaukee competes against the Cardinals and Cubs who will spend money. The Reds also have more young talent than we do. Houston may be a mess now but that may change in a couple years. The only bad team we are clearly better than is the Pirates and that may also change quick as they seem to be moving in the right direction.

True. There are a lot of "might be's" in our division but in the AL West there are two serious competitors (one with lots of cash and one with lots of good young players) and Seattle is not anywhere close to those two right now. When you take into consideration that the Wild Card is almost guaranteed to come out of the east every year and the Twins, White Sox and Tigers are going to be contenders Seattle is in an even worse spot. They are middle of the pack in the AL at best. Once the starting pitching got sorted out did the Brewers not have one of, if not, the best record in the Central? This current team has the offense (with a down year from Braun and Prince) and the relief pitching to compete. Yes the starting pitching is suspect but the Brewers are in a much better position to contend next year than the Mariners are.

[AJAY]

I am pretty sure most managerial openings are with teams who are facing an uphill battle. It's rare that a team replaces their manager when things are going good . . . unless you have a Bobby Cox kind of situation where someone is retiring and leaving a good situation for the next guy. But I think those are very rare.

[And That]

Update on Tim Wallach from ESPNLosAngeles.com.

 

"That means if Wallach isn't hired by the Brewers, who reportedly are

interviewing about 10 candidates to replace Ken Macha, he will be part

of the Dodgers' staff in 2010, probably as third-base coach."

Haudricourt says Listach and Cora will interview Tuesday.

[Eddiehitsthefoulpole]

I almost wish that we had a separate thread on each managerial candidate. So many of these guys are familiar to me as players but I know little about their coaching careers. Wallach and Roenicke are two guys who I know little about their backgrounds other than what their last assignment. I know a little bit more about Cora and Listach. What I like about this search is that Doug has been curious. My criticism about the last search was that Doug only interviewed guys he already knew. I have a feeling that he has been told that his fate as GM may rest on this managerial decision. Valentine intrigues me. I think he gets instant respect when he walks into the clubhouse. I am sure that he won't come cheap and we may feel that his $$$ may be better suited in other uses. I don't know much about Cora's personality but I like his background. I also like what I know about Listach but I am having a hard time with the idea of hiring another ex-Brewer. He does have the pedigree though. Right now I would say the Bob Melvin is maybe the guy on the list that I like the least. I don't know if he has a strong enough personality to the ship afloat when things go bad.

[greeg35]

Right now I would say the Bob Melvin is maybe the guy on the list that I like the least.

I agree. I'm excited about most of these candidates other than Melvin, and Valentine doesn't do too much for me either. Maybe I'm just too hungry for new blood. Here's my current top guys:

4. Roenicke

3. Listach

2. Cora

1. Wallach

[patrickgpe]

regarding Listach, my issues in the past were naming past 82 brewers. i have less of a problem naming a 92 brewer. id be fine with any of the 4 greeg35 listed.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I'd have to say that I'd also be good with one of those 4. I'd prefer giving someone new a shot, rather than go with someone like Bob Melvin. That is a move that wouldn't excite me at all. One of those guys would at least spark some excitement. I'm just glad that guys like Bob Brenly aren't candidates. At least Doug is giving these guys a shot.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I know that Wallach has been managing in AAA, Roenicke and Cora have been bench coaches, and Listach has managed in the minors for the Cubs. I know all of them have managerial experience, but does anyone have any knowledge on the managerial styles of these guys?

[greeg35]

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=11334

 

 

Not a subscriber so I can't see the whole thing. Cora is the only Brewers candidate in the "free" section.

[dlk9s]

Quade to the Cubs, so Sandberg is out there if anyone wants a spite (and maybe good) hire.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com...lb/news/story?id=5703131

[RockCoCougars]

regarding Listach, my issues in the past were naming past 82 brewers. i have less of a problem naming a 92 brewer. id be fine with any of the 4 greeg35 listed.

Cool. Molitor, Yount, and Gantner still qualify.

[thebruce44]

patrickgpe[/b]]regarding Listach, my issues in the past were naming past 82 brewers. i have less of a problem naming a 92 brewer. id be fine with any of the 4 greeg35 listed.

Exactly. While I loved watching his rookie year as a kid (its one of the first years I can really remember following a specific player), I don't think of him as a nastolgic choice. If Listach is selected I think it would be on his own qualifications, whereas a guy like Yount might generate some excitement, but I would question if it was for the right reasons.

 

[And That]

Depending on the 2 still as-yet-unnamed guys that were interviewed in Arizona last week, I'm beginning to wonder if the Brewers are leaning in the direction of hiring a younger manager and putting a seasoned manager in the bench coach role. Depending on Bob Melvin's amenability to the situation, I could see Wallach being the manager with Melvin as bench coach. They convinced Randolph to do the job, so there's some precedent.

 

I could live with Wallach/Melvin, plus Sandy Guerrero as hitting coach.

[RockCoCougars]

Wallach and Roenicke aren't exactly 'young'. Both have been around since I was young. Wallach is 53 and Roenicke is 54. Even Cora is 45. Listach is the youngest at 43. To put that in perspective, Trebelhorn was 38 when he got the Brewers job and Garner was 42. Man, I feel old now.

[JohnBriggs12]

Judging from the quantity of names being interviewed, I have to question whether Melvin has a clue of what exactly he wants. Macha's fate was sealed pretty much by the 8th of July after they were steamrolled at home by the Giants to fall 11.5 back. You would think that over 3+ months he would have been able to narrow the field down a little more than he has.

[Invader3K]

I'm not going to complain about them interviewing so many people. I'd rather see them take a couple extra weeks and interview 10-12 guys than just interview 3-4 and quickly make a decision. There's really no rush at this point, as none of the candidates hired by other teams seem like they would have fit the Brewers' needs.

[And That]

I didn't realize Wallach was 53... for some reason I had him pegged as about 10 years younger in my head.

 

I'd guess 43-45 is on the younger end of the age scale of current major league managers.

[RockCoCougars]

I didn't realize Wallach was 53... for some reason I had him pegged as about 10 years younger in my head.

 

I'd guess 43-45 is on the younger end of the age scale of current major league managers.

Time moves fast doesn't it? Tough to believe that Wallach is 53. It seems like just yesterday he was the hot shot prospect at third for the Expos. In fact, he's older than Harvey Kuenn was when he was hired in 1982.

[craigharmann]

I'd love to see Sandberg be interviewed, and hopefully get the job. A) it would tick off Cub fans, B) he is a hall of famer who has put in his dues and C) it would tick off Cub fans

[BrewCrewForever]

I didn't realize Wallach was 53... for some reason I had him pegged as about 10 years younger in my head.

 

I'd guess 43-45 is on the younger end of the age scale of current major league managers.

Time moves fast doesn't it? Tough to believe that Wallach is 53. It seems like just yesterday he was the hot shot prospect at third for the Expos. In fact, he's older than Harvey Kuenn was when he was hired in 1982.

Holy cow that is crazy. I can't believe that Wallach is older now than Kuenn was back in 82'. Nuts.