Peterson out as pitching coach, Kranitz in; Narron bench coach; Sedar 3B coach, Iorg 1B coach, Kyles back as bullpen coach

[And That]

Per Ken Rosenthal, Rick Peterson will not be back as Brewers pitching coach.

 

He has/had one year left on his contract.

[Invader3K]

Not surprising since a decision seemingly took so long. Now of course the question is, who will be the pitching coach next season?

[Hofbraunhaus]

I'm not surpised by this as well but as Haudricourt mentions in his blog, I think it's odd that they bought into his system and implemented it throughout the organization only to get rid of him after a year. I'll hold off judgement until I see who the new pitching coach is though.

[DHonks]

Could he be named a Roving Pitching Instructor in charge of trying to improve the mechanics of our minor leaguers?

[Invader3K]

From Haudricourt: Brewers name Rick Kranitz as pitching coach and Jerry Narron as bench coach.

More info here.

The Brewers already announced that hitting coach Dale Sveum would return under a two-year deal. Ed Sedar also returns but moves from first base to third base, and Stan Kyles also returns as the bullpen coach. Garth Iorg, who had served as the Brewers’ minor-league infield instructor, will be the new first base coach.

[joepepsi]

Kranitz? Who just got fired by the Showalter and the Orioles? It's funny because the Orioles hired Kranitz for many of the same reasons the Brewers hired Peterson.

[Invader3K]

Kranitz is an interesting choice. Not sure how his philosophies are different from Peterson's, though.

[Patrick425]

Could he be named a Roving Pitching Instructor in charge of trying to improve the mechanics of our minor leaguers?

I really think instructing in the minors is a better fit for Peterson. I understand it was for long term arm health reasons, but it seems like Peterson is the type of guy who really wants to breakdown a pitcher and have him start all over. I don't think the majors is the place to do that.

 

 

[And That]

When can I get my Iorg jersey?

[Invader3K]

Minor nitpick: I realize these coaching changes aren't momentous news, but I haven't heard a peep about them from the two Milwaukee sports talk stations yet. Too much excitement from the Packers bye week, I guess.

[TooLiveBrew]

That's two coaches poached from Houston this offseason

The Astros filled two of their vacant Minor League positions on Monday, announcing Rick Kranitz as the new Minor League pitching coordinator and Ed Sedar as the new Minor League outfield/baserunning instructor.

...

"Rick adds a wealth of knowledge and experience to our development

system," Astros director of player development Fred Nelson said. "He has

a reputation for developing young pitchers and the understanding of

what it takes to pitch in the Major Leagues. We are fortunate to have

someone of Rick's caliber join our organization."

...

Kranitz pitched five seasons in the Brewers' Minor League system

(1979-84) after being drafted in the fourth round of the 1979 Draft. The

highlight of his career was when he tossed a no-hitter with 14

strikeouts for Class A Stockton in 1981. He replaces Britt Burns, who

wasn't retained by the club.

Link

[hawing]

When can I get my Iorg jersey?

PM me your cell number and I'll check out the selection at the 2010 clubhouse sale (dates TBA) and let you know if an '08 Iorg jersey is there. I'm sure we can negotiate a finder's fee.

(Pretend that's all in like half-blue)

[Invader3K]

Not a Brewers one, but game used(!): http://cgi.ebay.com/2002-Toronto-Blue-Jays-Garth-Iorg-16-Game-Used-Jersey-/130455298339?pt=US_Baseball_Fan_Shop&hash=item1e5fbde123#ht_4857wt_924

[PrinceEatMeat]

I like this staff. Don't have any problems with it. I especially like Sedar moving to third base.

[dlk9s]

The name Kranitz sounds like a crotchety professor from a straight-to-video 80's movie.

[tomwopat]

Well at least it ain't Dave Kerwin.

[RockCoCougars]

This staff doesn't excite me much at all. You have a first time third base coach (at least in the majors, I'm assuming that he coached third while managing in the minors), and a pitching coach who was just canned in Baltimore, and the token former manager (albeit a poor one) as bench coach in Jerry Narron. I would have preferred to bring Castro back over Kyles as well, to help with the communication issues that the Latino players claimed to have last season. Iorg doesn't rub me one way or the other, because the first base coach is pretty meaningless unless they do some work with the defense.

[JohnBriggs12]

Orioles AL rank with Kranitz as pitching coach: 2008: 13th. 2009: 14th. 2010: 13th.

 

Now I realize the Oriole job has some inherent problems but those results don't exactly scream success.

[cwolf2012]

No spanish speaking coach on the staff again...

 

When you have Gomez and Escobar, two of our biggest projects and who need the most instruction, you have to hire a Spanish speaking coach, don't you?

[TooLiveBrew]

I don't know for certain that he does, but I don't think it's necessarily safe to assume Roenicke doesn't speak Spanish.

[crewcrazy]

Orioles AL rank with Kranitz as pitching coach: 2008: 13th. 2009: 14th. 2010: 13th.

 

Now I realize the Oriole job has some inherent problems but those results don't exactly scream success.

 

Until they started calling up guys like Matusz, they probably had one of the least talented rotations in baseball. Before going to Baltimore, he was Florida's pitching coach in 2006 and 2007. He seems like Peterson and any other pitching coach -- looks like an idiot with bad talent and a genius with good talent.

[TooLiveBrew]

Fwiw, Kranitz won Baseball America's Major League Coach of the Year Award in 2006.

[dlk9s]

I just looked at the O's rotations from the last three years. They aren't even worth posting here. I felt like the construction worker from Major League looking at the Indians' preseason roster: "Who are these [bleeping] guys?"

 

Cy Young couldn't have done anything with those pitchers.

[MNBrew]

No spanish speaking coach on the staff again...

 

When you have Gomez and Escobar, two of our biggest projects and who need the most instruction, you have to hire a Spanish speaking coach, don't you?

No, I don't think so. I don't think the issue w/ Gomez was the lack of a Spanish-fluent coach -- at least it was never known as an issue in MN, where there are no Hispanic/Latino coaches, either. Liriano, Casilla, etc., those guys don't complain about it. Gardy's a great manager, a good communicator, and language-based things don't come up as problems with the Twins. My hunch is that the true issue was more about the personality & characteristics of Macha.

 

I still wonder how much bringing up the language thing is a reflection on Gomez, too: As I mentioned in another thread, he's been playing baseball -- working -- in the US for at least 8 months per year for the last 7 years. That's total English language cultural immersion for 2/3 of every year for 7 years. You'd almost have to try hard not to become reasonably fluent over that long a period of time.

 

But again, I think the bigger issue was Macha's approach to his players and the way he chose to (or not to) communicate. Everything we've heard about Roenicke is that communicating isn't a weakness of his.

[patrickgpe]

wasn't impressed with iorg as a 3rd base coach but hes moving to 1st so it may be OK. Still would have liked for Randolph to come back but understand why he wouldn't want to. Overall happy with the staff.