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

[TooLiveBrew]

Maybe this seems like a dumb observation, but most of the interactions we see players having w/ Sedar are at 1B when they've somehow gotten on base. That's usually going to foster a positive interchange anyway, along with noticeable words of encouragement from Eddie Sedar as the 1B coach to those players.

 

Not at all, that's a good point.

[Invader3K]

Thought it was interesting that over on the JSOnline blog today, a supposedly well connected poster there is convinced that Ozzie Guillen is going to be the next Brewers manager.

 

I would love to see it, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

[trwi7]

Thought it was interesting that over on the JSOnline blog today, a supposedly well connected poster there is convinced that Ozzie Guillen is going to be the next Brewers manager.

 

I would love to see it, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I think I would be a fan of another team. I can't stand him and he's a terrible manager.

 

[Gobias Industries]

Escobar would probably bat leadoff and Gomez/Cain would probably bat 2nd.

 

He's very funny (unintentionally, of course), but as twirl said, he's a bad manager who routinely throws his guys under the bus. PASS.

[GAME05]

Since Sweet Lou retired...

 

How about they hire Lou and keep Mach, too. Macha can actually run things, maybe from the club house...or even better from a suite on the club level. Lou can be in the dugout and do all the things fans think are important, like yelling, kicking dirt on umpires, and ordering bean ball wars.

cool, a puppet government. if that's the case instead of Lou i'll take Ulyce Payne since he has experience at that already.

[Never Outhustled]

I'm not basing this off anything aside from the fact that, to this outsider, it appears the entire team has an awesome relationship with him. What about Ed Sedar for manager?

 

Ed Sedar is in charge of our OF defense. Braun sure doesn't show Mr. Sedar much respect with his effortless, uncaring approach to defense. With Braun and Hart's continual defensive regression, I'm guessing Sedar is the 1st person fired/re-assigned this offseason.

[dlk9s]

I really think people are being unfair to Ryan Braun. There's a difference between not hustling and simply not being good at defense. I've noticed that people have the same complaints about Hart sometimes, too. Here are some examples of times where not running at an all-out sprint or not diving can be seen as lack of effort, but they usually aren't:

 

1) Balls hit into the corner. It often looks like an outfielder is not running at top speed to field the ball when it makes it to wall in the corner. Typically, this is the smart thing to do because the player is going to want to be in position to field the carom cleanly. There's no sense in sprinting to the corner only to have the ball bounce past you or have to slam on the brakes when you get there. Additionally, in left field, the outfielder understands that the runner is getting to 2nd no matter what and almost certainly is not going to make it to 3rd, so he can play the ball conservatively.

 

2) Low line drives/soft, shallow fly balls. Braun tends to pull up short on these. I really think this is just him not having confidence in his ability to catch the ball. He's gotten burned on trying to make plays on those in the past only to have the ball skip past him, so he'd rather play it safe. Maybe he shouldn't, I don't know, but he's not very good in the field and is still having a bit of trouble judging some balls.

 

3) Deep fly balls to the wall. These are the kind similar to the Cain catch illustrated earlier, as well as hard hit, deep line drives. I'd have to watch the play again, but I'd be willing to bet that Braun honestly didn't think he had a chance to catch the ball, so he was getting into position to play it off the wall or backup Cain, who he obviously knows is a much better fielder. Of course, maybe he was dogging it, I don't know, but most of the time in situations like that, guys know whether they'll have a chance to get there, and if they don't, they'll try to play it the best they can off the wall.

 

Again, maybe Braun isn't trying, who knows. But I honestly think he's just not very good at the outfield.

[Sage]

Thought it was interesting that over on the JSOnline blog today, a supposedly well connected poster there is convinced that Ozzie Guillen is going to be the next Brewers manager.

 

I would love to see it, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I would LOVE to have Ozzie as our manager. I could actually see it happening, too, to be honest.

About Ozzie throwing his players under the bus... Well, let's be honest here. Most of the time, if he calls out a player, the player needs to be called out. They likely did something stupid that cost the team the win, didn't put enough effort in, etc. I also don't really think he's a bad manager. He seems to get the most out of what he's given to work with, and his record shows that. Escobar batting leadoff was probably the Brewers' goal all along, anyway. (Cain would be a better leadoff hitter right now, though).

X ellence, can you really blame Braun's lack of hustle and Hart's incompetence on defense on Ed Sedar? If a player sucks on he defense, the coaching staff can't do anything about it. He's gonna suck no matter what you do (Adam Dunn, anyone?). I really can't see Melvin firing Sedar, especially not as the first person gone. Personally, the only way I think that Eddie is gone is if the next manager wants to bring in a staff entirely his own.

[young guns]

I'm not sure if Torre's name has come up in this thread, but he isn't going to be returning to the Dodgers after this season. Any chance he would want to come here? Anybody think he would be a good fit? I think I would be happy with him as the new manager, because I would imagine he could teach the young guys a thing or two.

[RockCoCougars]

I think that Torre may retire. If not, I get the impression that he's going to be kind of like Phil Jackson- meaning that he will carefully choose an opportunity where a large payroll and talented roster will give him the best chance to win. About 15 years ago, if there was an entry for 'retread' manager, you would have seen a picture of Torre. It's amazing what a nice run will do for you.

 

I would be on board for Guillen in a big way. He would be the polar opposite of Macha, that's for sure. I don't think the White Sox will dump him though.

[MNBrew]

I think any appeal of Guillen is that he's the anti-Macha. The guy makes headlines way too often for the wrong reasons. And this strong White Sox team under his leadership is fading quickly.

 

Gee, a tense manager? Late season fade? Easily visible emotions? Sounds like another version of Ned Yost, only on a team with large-market payroll & resources. No thanks.

 

I want quality, substance, character, & class in all facets, along with a way of doing things that engenders a simple but deep respect from players, media, & fans alike. Style that generates intrigue often does so at the expense of those other, more valuable qualities. I'll take someone along the lines of a Joe Torre, Ron Gardenhire, or Bobby Cox because they embody those qualities. Any number of managers could. I think Willie Randolph just might fit that bill if given a chance. I think Ozzie Guillen doesn't. Macha isn't totally lacking in those qualities, but it's just plain obvious that he doesn't have nearly enough of that whole package.

 

(Side note: Ozzie Guillen didn't exactly become a fan favorite when he beat out our own Earnest Riles for the AL Rookie of the Year. Riles had at least as good a year if not a better year. But Guillen played for the Sox and had the big market media helping draw lots more attention. So Guillen won in that tight race in part because of the "popularity contest" factor due to sheer visibility. I've had a hard time liking him since, and his turbulent managerial style has done nothing to improve my opinion of him.)

[ELCABALLO45]

Escobar would probably bat leadoff and Gomez/Cain would probably bat 2nd.

 

He's very funny (unintentionally, of course), but as twirl said, he's a bad manager who routinely throws his guys under the bus. PASS.

Why do you say that?

[Gobias Industries]

Why do you say that?

As for the lineup?

 

Ozzie seems to have an affinity for sticking fast, slap hitters in the top two spots. Weeks is fast, but I can almost guarantee you Ozzie would have him batting fifth or sixth. I'd hate that for many reasons. Mainly because I think it's important to have guys at the top who are actually good at getting on and personally, I think Weeks would be a trainwreck in a RBI spot.

[ELCABALLO45]

Why do you say that?

As for the lineup?

 

Ozzie seems to have an affinity for sticking fast, slap hitters in the top two spots. Weeks is fast, but I can almost guarantee you Ozzie would have him batting fifth or sixth. I'd hate that for many reasons. Mainly because I think it's important to have guys at the top who are actually good at getting on and personally, I think Weeks would be a trainwreck in a RBI spot.

Are you referring to Juan Pierre? Because he currently is 3rd on his team in OBP. And Omar Vizquel who hits 2nd for them is 2nd on the team. He actually moved Pierre out of the spot when he was struggling to get on base, so its not like he stuck him there and said that was that.

 

The year they won the world series, as you know Scott Podsednik was leading off for them. He was 2nd on the team in OBP.

 

I actually think he does value OBP at the top of the line up.

[BREWCREW5]

Seriously, Ozzie Guillen? Joe Torre?

 

The Brewers are not going to get anyone like that to come here. It is not going to happen. We cannot get mid level free agents to come here let alone top notch, highly sought after, World Series winning managers.

[RockCoCougars]

Seriously, Ozzie Guillen? Joe Torre?

 

The Brewers are not going to get anyone like that to come here. It is not going to happen. We cannot get mid level free agents to come here let alone top notch, highly sought after, World Series winning managers.

I think it would be easier to lure a big name manager, simply because even the highest paid manager only makes a fraction of what the coveted free agents get. Going further, if I'm a manager, I'd probably prefer managing in a small market- especially one with a reasonable payroll like the Brewers. I would think there would be much less pressure in Milwaukee than there would be in New York, for example (I'd bet anything that the Post would have a nickname for Macha if he was managing the Yankees, for example). I would also guess that the whole 'nothing to do' and/or 'lack of nightlife' that is seen as a negative towards Milwaukee from today's athlete probably wouldn't be as big of a dealbreaker for a 50/60 something year old manager.

[TooLiveBrew]

Thank goodness vastly overrated managers like Torre & Guillen are too "high-profile" for Milwaukee. Neither one is a good manager.

 

It doesn't really matter who the Brewers hire. All managers are essentially equal in terms of skill & impact. I almost want to hold out hope that the Brewers won't just hire another Baseball Guy™, but then I remind myself that Doug Melvin will be the one making the hire. I wish I could get more optimistic and/or excited about this topic.

[miggs721]

My wishful choices: Joe Torre, Ozzie Guillen

 

likely top candidates

 

Bob Melvin

Willie Randolph

Pat Listach

Tim Wallach,

[logan82]

I have yet to see a name I like. I don't have any name in mind but I don' think we should be hiring somebody else's failed manager.

[Sage]

My wishful choices: Joe Torre, Ozzie Guillen

 

likely top candidates

 

Bob Melvin

Willie Randolph

Pat Listach

Tim Wallach,

Wallach would be a great candidate. Now that Don Mattingly has the Dodgers job locked up for next year, Wallach has actually come out and said he would rather be on a major league coaching staff than managing in the minors again. So, I think he would jump at the chance to manage in the majors, something that the Brewers will of course offer him.

Bob Melvin is an intriguing candidate. I'm not sure what he's been up to lately, but I've heard rumors about him managing the Mets. I wonder if DM would hire Bob Melvin just because they have the same last name? xD

I'm not sure if I brought him up earlier in the thread or not, but what about Ozzie Guillen's bench coach, Joey Cora?

[reillymcshane]

I love valentine, but sanberg would be fascinating if the cubs pass on him. I love how he has been willing to do the dirty work and work his way up the system. I honestly do not know how he's perceived as a manager - but it would be fun to take him from under the cubbies nose.

[PilprinBuddha]

I like Melvin, but I am still confused on why Sveum is not a candidate. I don't care for Randolph. This team needs to have fun again....Randolph seems tight and stiff. I might be totally wrong with that, but it is my perception.

Sandberg???Nah.

Melvin, Money, or Sveum are my personal favorites right now

[Nottso]

PilprinBuddha,

I was about to say that I'd like to see Randolph get the nod because whenever I've seen him working with the infielders, they all seem to be really loose and having fun. Of course I might be the one that is totally wrong with that, but that has been my perception.

 

I definitely agree that they need to have fun again. I don't think it's a coincidence that at the beginning of this year (a year that began with fairly high expectations), Macha pretty much said "no more shenanigans" (untucking, choreographed celebrations, etc.), and we didn't come anywhere close to meeting those expectations. These are young kids for the most part. They oughta have fun.

[davego]

Whom ever it is, I'd allow the more veteran players to have feedback. Then, if things get stupid at some point DM has the trump card in that the players had options.

 

I'd like Dale, but more so want it to be someone that will use and talk about data.

[dlk9s]

Braun was sure dogging it Sunday when he robbed that home run. I can't believe how little tries in the field and how he obviously doesn't care. I blame Duffy Dyer.