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

[thumperden]

I am completely satisfied with your response RockCo, and I appreciate the time you took to explain your informed view. I am not in the know and thought that on the surface, he'd make a good candidate. Based on what you, obsessedwithbrewcrew, and TooLiveBrew have said, it seems to me that a guy like Hurdle is better served as a coach...the good cop, if you will in the clubhouse. There is always a role for a guy like that though, but not necessarily as the manager.

 

Thank you all for your input.

 

That being said, whom, out of the alleged candidates, is the better leader in your opinion?

[patrickgpe]

this search is very private while the other 2 have not been. In 02 each candidate had a press conference after their interview and in 08 we knew the list of 3 candidates early in the process. I have to wonder if there is a surprise candidate that is a front runner. I'm sure ownership wants to make a splash after a disappointing 2 seasons. Bringing in a big name that has not been on anyone's radar would do that. just saying...

[miggs721]

I feel that the 2 final candidates will be Melvin and Wallach, hopefully with Tim Wallach gettin the gig

[WestSideWillie]

in round 2 of the interviews so with the owner and melvin interviewing

look for the LA guy to get the job. So that means Roenicke and Wallach

will be in the running because of the Dodgers and Angels connection.

If Melvin doesn't hire his choice Melvin or 2nd choice Listach, and Roenicke

or Wallach get the job, you can tell who made the decision. No doubt about it.

On why he bought the Atlanta Braves, Ted Turner responsed, "So I could get

an autographed baseball without begging for it and to get front row seats by the

dugout."

[Invader3K]

in round 2 of the interviews so with the owner and melvin interviewing

look for the LA guy to get the job. So that means Roenicke and Wallach

will be in the running because of the Dodgers and Angels connection.

If Melvin doesn't hire his choice Melvin or 2nd choice Listach, and Roenicke

or Wallach get the job, you can tell who made the decision. No doubt about it.

This just seems kind of silly to me. Attanasio is involving himself, so that automatically means an "LA guy" is going to get the job? You seem paranoid in quite a few of your posts.

[TooLiveBrew]

If Melvin doesn't hire his choice Melvin or 2nd choice Listach, and Roenicke

or Wallach get the job, you can tell who made the decision. No doubt about it.

 

But Bob Melvin was born in Palo Alto. If Melvin hires him, it proves he's been in on the conspiracy all along!

[RockCoCougars]

I am completely satisfied with your response RockCo, and I appreciate the time you took to explain your informed view. I am not in the know and thought that on the surface, he'd make a good candidate. Based on what you, obsessedwithbrewcrew, and TooLiveBrew have said, it seems to me that a guy like Hurdle is better served as a coach...the good cop, if you will in the clubhouse. There is always a role for a guy like that though, but not necessarily as the manager.

 

Thank you all for your input.

 

That being said, whom, out of the alleged candidates, is the better leader in your opinion?

Hence the dilemma. Do you want a 'good cop' a la Hurdle, or do you want a hard 'butt'..... The 'company man' type in Macha with his detached style (though he didn't seem necessarily to be a 'bad cop') and unwillingness to protect his players went over like a lead balloon, so I don't think a gung ho hard core style would work. As I said in my other post, if you want a player's guy, why not give Sveum or Randolph a chance and if it doesn't work out go another way in a year? Both of those guys have worked pretty well with the current squad (I give Sveum a lot of credit for Hart and Randolph a lot of credit for Weeks). That just doesn't make sense to me. It seemed to me that Yost had a pretty good personality for this club as he seemed to be able to switch between good cop and bad cop....but he made too many boneheaded decisions during games..... and with Yost, there were rumors that he wasn't too popular with the clubhouse.

 

As for the named candidates, I prefer Cora. I admittedly don't know very much about him, but he's managed in the minors, and is not just a bench coach in name only (meaning he has responsibilities) and he was known as a heady, scrappy (yes I know) ballplayer. I would still prefer a guy like Valentine for the long term or Sveum/Randolph in the near term, but that's not going to happen.

[sbrylski]

Hence the dilemma. Do you want a 'good cop' a la Hurdle, or do you want a hard 'butt'..... The 'company man' type in Macha with his detached style (though he didn't seem necessarily to be a 'bad cop') and unwillingness to protect his players went over like a lead balloon, so I don't think a gung ho hard core style would work.

 

I don't want a good cop, bad cop, yes man, players manager, media clown, quiet type, loud mouth, or emotional manager. If you can be described by just one of those terms, you're not going to last long as a manager, because a team needs a little bit of all of that, and certain things at certain times.

 

I want a guy that can play all the parts, and knows when to play them. As for the candidates we know of, I can tell you the known guys are not what I'm looking for. I don't know enough about the guys who haven't managed yet, but that already makes them better candidates. From what I do know about those guys, I would like Listach or Cora, with Wallach being acceptable too.

[RockCoCougars]

I don't want a good cop, bad cop, yes man, players manager, media clown, quiet type, loud mouth, or emotional manager. If you can be described by just one of those terms, you're not going to last long as a manager, because a team needs a little bit of all of that, and certain things at certain times.

 

I want a guy that can play all the parts, and knows when to play them.

I think Yost was actually pretty good at that. He always protected his players in the media, and seemed to handle young guys fairly well. And though he stood up for his guys and had faith in their abilities, I don't think that he was a pushover by any means. The problem with him was that he was a bad in-game strategist. In my view, Macha just had the wrong personality for the team. That said, I found myself cursing at the television much less with him at the helm because he made better in-game decisions that Yost. I think that if you took all the good parts from Yost and Macha and made them into one person, that's your guy.

[GAME05]

in round 2 of the interviews so with the owner and melvin interviewing

look for the LA guy to get the job.

MA hasn't made millions of dollars in his lifetime by making irrational decisions like that would be.

[MNBrew]

I'm not crazy about Roenicke, but as a friend of mine pointed out, he's been a coach under Mike Scioscia for nearly a decade, and there's much to like about Scioscia and the ways his Angels teams play the game. It's not unlike Yost being on Bobby Cox's staff for 12 years. Yost proved to be able to do many good things with the team, but getting them "over the top" once they became pretty solid proved to be where his managerial skills hit the wall (those "crash and burn" 2nd halves didn't help, either).

 

Maybe it's just guilt by association, but I'm not keen on Ozzie Guillen's turbulent personality or the definite AL-style ball of his White Sox, and therefore I'm not so keen on Joey Cora.

 

I liked Tim Wallach as a player and the Dodgers organization seems to do certain things right (developing pitching being one of them), so I wouldn't be totally against him.

 

For reasons this friend of mine -- a 5-year AZ resident and 40-year Brewers addict -- pointed out, I think Bob Melvin could do a pretty solid job and I see why he's seen as being a strong candidate.

 

I'm intrigued by Pat Listach, less because of his Brewers background as a player and more because of his being a speed-game player and because of his successes and reputation managing in the Cubs' minors.

 

I also still wish Willie Randolph were being given a real chance at this.

 

I'm not sure what verbalizing all this adds to the conversations going on here. Just dumping out the thoughts in my head. However it works out, I'm glad we only seem to have another week or so before the mystery ends.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I'd prefer Listach or Wallach personally. I think Listach would allow this team to run, and that could be a huge boost for the offense. On a side not though, has Randolph even interviewed anywhere?

[Sage]

I'd prefer Listach or Wallach personally. I think Listach would allow this team to run, and that could be a huge boost for the offense. On a side not though, has Randolph even interviewed anywhere?

Listach is my pick, with Roenicke coming in a close 2nd. I really like both of those guys.

As for Randolph, it's just kind of interesting. If he was really such a great managerial candidate as everyone is making him out to be, why has he not interviewed anywhere? There's a plethora of managerial openings out there, and he hasn't even been mentioned. Heck, even Sveum has been interviewed, but not Randolph. The only thing I can think is that he has in some way been guaranteed an interview with either Sandy Alderson or Josh Byrnes once the Mets hire one of those two guys. Otherwise, he's been a non-factor, which is pretty interesting.

[PrinceEatMeat]

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/105601613.html

 

So much for Listach. He's not a finalist. Crap!

[RockCoCougars]

I'm not broken hearted about Listach being out. Like I said, I kind of have a bad taste in my mouth from his playing career. He had the nice rookie season, got a contract extension and disappeared. I know that he was playing way over his head in '92, but still. He never struck me as an overly 'heady' player anyway. Back in that era, the one guy that struck me as a future manager was Surhoff (there's an outside the box candidate for you).

[Sage]

Alright, looks like my vote is now going to Roenicke. Wallach would be nice, also, as well as Cora. I would not mind Bob Melvin, either, but I'd rather get one of the first-time managers.

 

There's also the fact that a few candidates have obviously not been disclosed, and we could all be completely bowled over with the possibility of Doug Melvin hiring a candidate that nobody knew about. (Reminds me of a mystery book - the person who did it is always the secondary character; introduced and then forgotten. We haven't heard about Juan Samuel in a while...)

[molitor fan]

I am still hoping that John Farrell, the Red Sox pitching coach that stopped Molitor's hitting streak at 39, will be the under the radar guy. The guy is widely known as beloved by his pitchers, and he has done a very solid job with some young Sox pitchers. One caveat is that i am unsure Peterson would be retained under that scenario

[MJLiverock]

Didn't the Blue Jays hire Farrel?

[DannoMac21]

Didn't the Blue Jays hire Farrel?

Latest from RealGM...

The Blue Jays want Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell to replace Cito Gaston as their manager, according to multiple reports.

Farrell just needs to come to terms on a contract with Toronto.

[MJLiverock]

I thought I saw something about it last, thanks for the details

[ELCABALLO45]

According to Foxsports.com the two candidates are, Joey Cora and Bob Melvin.

 

http://mlbbuzz.yardbarker.com/

[PrinceEatMeat]

According to Foxsports.com the final two candidates are, Joey Cora and Bob Melvin.

 

http://mlbbuzz.yardbarker.com/

It doesn't say they are the final two. It says they are among the final 4. Not too surprising. I bet the other 2 are Roenicke and Wallach.

[ELCABALLO45]

According to Foxsports.com the final two candidates are, Joey Cora and Bob Melvin.

 

http://mlbbuzz.yardbarker.com/

It doesn't say they are the final two. It says they are among the final 4. Not too surprising. I bet the other 2 are Roenicke and Wallach.

Yeah I read the tweet wrong. My bad.

[hurricanecrush]

Sveum just signed a 2 year contract to stay on as hitting coach and we already have a pitching coach under contract for one more year. I would think that the new manager would want to bring in their own guys, or at least have input in the decision. I have a hard time believing a "big time" manager or even a manager with experience would be "okay" with this.

 

Is this how ML teams typically do this? Does this mean that we will end up with a first time manager; someone just happy to get a managerial job? Am I reading too much into this?

[jerichoholicninja]

Keeping the old staff around makes me think that the new manager will be an internal hire. I know Doug said it wouldn't but it doesn't make sense to hire the staff before you hire the manager. I gotta say it will most likely be Randolph, maybe Money.