Kremblas callup

[alwz4gbp]

I posted this on Jsonline but wanted to see what kind of feedback you guys could offer. I was just wondering if Kremblas was called up to see if he could offer any insight/tidbits to Ned about little things these guys did well when he had them in Nashville or is this just standard procedure? It sure would be nice if he could make Ned think outside the box a little bit ,maybe catch someone by surprise and maybe pull out an extra victory down the stretch. You know Kremblas has lots of "I remember this one time" stories to put in Neds ear.

 

I wonder if Ned is looking over his shoulder.

 

Looking forward to the feedback

 

 

(added tag; unambigufied thread title --1992casey)

[brewtank34]

Ned's definitely looking over his shoulder....and rightfully so. However, they won't bring Krembles up...no way. This is Yost's team right now. Hopefully he shows well this last month and we go to the playoffs.

 

http://re3.mm-a7.yimg.com/image/3970372209 PLAYOFFS????

 

 

http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/pimp.gif

[alwz4gbp]

They already brought Kremblas up. It read it in the St Paul Pioneer Press yesterday.

[bsglorydays]

Ned's not looking over his shoulder at Kremblas. This happens all the time with many, maybe all, teams. In this particular case, the Brewers are rewarding Kremblas for another good season at Nashville. The benefit is, Kremblas has managed / coached many of the current Brewers, so he is definitely an extra set of eyes. But, to think that Kremblas is with the big club to put pressure on Yost or as a tryout of some sort is a bit out there IMO.

 

I don't doubt that Kremblas will one day be a manager in the major leagues. I also don't doubt that he would be on a short list of candidates if the Brewers were ever searching for a manager. But, last I checked, the Brewers are a first place team and also about to end a long streak of non-winning seasons. Managers don't get fired for that.

[Paul77]

Ned's definitely looking over his shoulder....and rightfully so. However, they won't bring Krembles up...no way. This is Yost's team right now. Hopefully he shows well this last month and we go to the playoffs.

Krembles already joined the team. And to answer the original question, don't read anything into it. Kremblas joins the Brewers every September once his team is eliminated. I don't know if that SOP for all teams but it's nothing new to the Brewers.

[Thurston Fluff]

I think if Kremblas was brought up for the team to get a look at him it would be more for a coaching position than the managers spot. He'll probably go through the coaching ranks before he gets the manager's job much the same way Sedar is. Kremblas seems to be the sexy pick of the week to replace a manager who isn't going anywhere for some reason. The biggest reason I've seen given is he won some minor league championships. Which is nice for the team but not the main part of his job. Especially considering the teams never are at full strength when they get to the playoffs. Personally if they do decide to go in a differant direction I'd much rather have a manager with some aomount of major league experience. At this point I'd probably like to see Sedar get a chance first.

[JohnBriggs12]

Kremblas has a better resume to be a major league manager than Yost had when he was hired. Yost didn't win managing in the low minors, and though he was around Bobby Cox, that doesn't make him Bobby Cox.

 

That being said, though I'm a huge critic of Yost, I hope he's around in 08. It would mean they overcame his many goofs and got into the postseason. Talent usually trumps even bad managers in the long run.

[Thurston Fluff]

Kremblas has a better resume to be a major league manager than Yost had when he was hired. Yost didn't win managing in the low minors, and though he was around Bobby Cox, that doesn't make him Bobby Cox.

 

That being said, though I'm a huge critic of Yost, I hope he's around in 08. It would mean they overcame his many goofs and got into the postseason. Talent usually trumps even bad managers in the long run.

 

Not even close Ned had a way better resume than Kremblas. It's nothing agianst Kremblas but you have got to be kidding me that he has a better resume at this time than Ned did when he got hired. Ned worked on both the pitching and hitting side of baseball in the majors for more years than Kremblas has been in baseball. Even if I would accept the premise that he didn't learn anything from his time in Atlanta, which I certainly don't, he still had put that time in which is something that Kremblas hasn't. The fact that Ned didn't win in the low minors and still got a job in the majors, with one of the best organizations top to bottom in baseball no less, should be more an indication of how little winning in the minors counts in the eyes of GM's and managers when it comes to assessing a person's abiltiy to manage or even coach in the majors.

If you think Yost does some goofy managerial decisions you should spend some time looking at some of Kremblas' moves. There was an article in the AAA section that mentioned some of his odd moves. I'd suggest reading it if it's still there. Some of the things that worked agianst minor leaguers will get him booed out of town if he tries it at the major league level. I just think way too much is made out of winning at a level where winning is not even the main priority.

If winning was important in the minors then it could be used as a measuring stick for major league managing capabilities. It isn't so it doesn't. A team can go to the playoffs with a losing record if they started out hot because the first half winner goes. If that was the case in the majors Ned would aready have guided this team to a playoff spot.

The minor leagues have teams who use them very differantly. Some teams push young players through faster than others. Some use AA as the last spot for young high ceiling players before the majors and AAA more or less as a holding pen for veterans who may be able to help in the event of an injury. Some take a core of players and move them along more or less together. Some teams raid rosters more than others on a given year. It simply doesn't give much, if any, indication of how good someone will do in the majors. If it was that simple all teams would do is look at which minor league manager had the best record and hire him. Does anyone even know if Kremblas has the best resume in the minors? Maybe we shouldn't be looking as hard at him as some manager for Tampa that won three stright titles in A ball or something along that line.

[JohnBriggs12]

Nice try backup catchers, but you're not convincing.

 

Kremblas has fashioned winning records with both with up and coming talent and with mostly career minor leaguers. He won a AAA championship a couple years ago after virtually all of his talent was in Milwaukee. Look at the pitching staff he won with this year at Nashville. Once Gallardo left, his rotation was a bunch of guys in their 30's. He's won managaer of the year awards in several leagues.

 

Winning in the minors still requires game management. To some degree that's affected by the dual purpose of developing talent but not completely. That's a skill that Yost has trouble with.

 

Yost has a nice demeanor and good communication skills. That alone will get you jobs in any profession. But coaching 3rd base is not a great training ground for managing in the big leagues. Alex Grammas was Sparky Anderson's right hand man and a great third base coach for the Big Red Machine. But he couldn't manage his way out of a paper bag either.

[Thurston Fluff]

He won a AAA championship a couple years ago after virtually all of his talent was in Milwaukee. Look at the pitching staff he won with this year at Nashville. Once Gallardo left, his rotation was a bunch of guys in their 30's. He's won managaer of the year awards in several leagues.

 

What types of teams did he win against? You act as though no other team goes through the same thing as Kremblas does. Like every other team keeps all their talent at AAA just to win the title and poor Frank has to work with nothing but league leftovers. Or that he somehow is working with one of the worst minor leagues in baseball. Last I checked the Brewers farm system was very highly rated and has been for quite a while. It's likely Kremblas is actually working with more overall talent than most. It isn't like Kremblas is winning with a Sal Bando minor league team. He's winning with one of the deepest, best stocked system in baseball.

 

AS to the arguement that he won with 30 year old carreer minorleaguers what were his 30 year olds playing agianst? Kids or other 30 year olds. If he won with older players vs young players learning their craft it's an obvious advantage. If he won agianst other 30 somethings what does that really tell you? Manager of the year awards are nice and something he should be proud of but something that has more to do with how well the team did than how well he did with his main job of preparing minor league players to play the majors. I noticed you didn't mention anything about his curious managerial moves. Is that becuase you don't know what types of moves he makes or because you agree with things like having a catcher attempt to steal home? Agian all you seem to be interested in is winning at a level where winning isn't the main goal of most teams. That has nothing to do with how well he did his job.

For the record I believe Kremblas has done a good job and, like other successful minor league coaches before him, should be in line for a promotion. Just not a jump to the top without first going through the coaching levels at the majors. To give him the job now would be like promoting Cory Hart to the majors three years ago because he won the AA league MVP and helped all his teams win championships.

 

I respect your opinion John but I don't agree.

[1992casey]

I was just wondering if Kremblas was called up to see if he could offer any insight/tidbits to Ned about little things these guys did well when he had them in Nashville or is this just standard procedure?

Offering insight, a chance to further 'audition' for a major league position, and a reward for a job well done would certainly all be factors. And yes, it's standard procedure. Rules allow for a minor league coach or manager to join the major league club in September. (Maybe more than one?) A couple years ago, AAA pitching coach Stan Kyles was called up. And Frank's been up in the past.

 

A couple of other notes: I stuck the 'brewercoaches' tag on this thread for lack of another; we don't have room to tag each coach and minor league manager individually. Also, let's keep this from being a Yost referendum. There are plenty of Yost threads for that.

 

[Diskono]

I think they've done this every year with the AAA manager after their season ended. I definitely remember Kremblas up at the end of the last couple seasons.

[DSFastball55]

I believe Don Money was up at the end of the season a couple years ago as well.

 

And BTW, I fully agree with Backupcatchers on this one.

[dadofandrew]

They win at AAA because they have good prospects and Doug does a fine job at bringing in AAA veterans, guys like Dillon, Dickey, and so on. When they don't win at that level, it's because guys have come up early and/or the vets have not performed. We're not talking rocket science here. Ben H sucked for much of his tenure at N-ville, and he still started every 5th day, because that's what the organization told him to do.

[tigerbrew]

Kremblas did a fine managerial job for the Brewers in the minors, building good credentials and track record. At Hunstville, Kremblas was the AA Southern League manager of the year in 2003 and and was named the best managerial prospect by Baseball America in 2004. The Brewers promoted Kremblas to AAA in 2005 and he led the Sounds to the most unlikely champions of the PCL. This year he was named the PCL manager of the year.

 

Doug Melvin and JJ Hardy have high praise for Kremblas managerial ability in this article.

"When we took all of those young players from Nashville, he did a great job of motivating the guys who he had left," Melvin said of Kremblas. "I don't think he's afraid to confront a player on an issue. But at the same time, he's young enough that those guys know it was not too long ago that he was playing this game. They feel like they can go to him."

Kremblas' former players remain some of his strongest supporters. Shortstop J.J. Hardy, who played under Kremblas at Huntsville, called him "a baseball genius."

"He's a lot like Ned (Yost, the Brewers manager) in the way he backs up his players 100 percent," Hardy said. "He has a good time, but he knows that there's a time to play around and a time to be serious. Frank has something about him where his players don't want to let him down. I can't really explain it, but that's just the way it is."

"The manager's job in the Minor Leagues is to develop prospects," the Brewers' baseball boss said. "Sometimes you have to put the player in front of the team -- it's a little bit backwards down there. They don't always get evaluated on wins and losses, they get judged on the way they handle players."

The Brewers young core players are familiar with Kremblas, they seem to like him and have excelled under his management. Like Corey Hart, I think Kremblas have nothing else left to prove in the minors and should be with the major league team next year.

[Thurston Fluff]

Like Corey Hart, I think Kremblas have nothing else left to prove in the minors and should be with the major league team next year.

 

So who do we get rid of to make room for him? As you pointed out above the players believe he's a lot like Yost. So why get rid of Yost to bring in Yost? So knowing one has to fire someone to hire someone else here are the canidates to leave go.

 

Dale Svuem-Managed Double-A Altoona in the Pirates organization from 2001-2003, compiling a 213-211 (.502) record...Led Altoona to its first back-to-back winning seasons in 2002 (72-69) and 2003 (78-63), including the clubs first appearance in the Eastern League playoffs in 2003...Named Top Managerial Prospect in the Eastern League by Baseball America in 2003.

 

Ed Sedar-Begins his first season as Brewers first-base coach.....is his first position on a Major League coaching staff...Was named first-base coach on 11/20/06...Served as Minor League Outfield and Baserunning Coordinator from 1992-2006.....was also Minor League Field Coordinator from 2002-06...Was a minor-league manager in addition to his other roles while with the Brewers, managing at Rookie Ogden (1998-2001) and Rookie Helena (2003, 2005-06)...Led his teams to the playoffs in four of his seven seasons as a manager, posting a 257-224 (.534) record...Named 2003 Pioneer League Manager of the Year after leading Helena to a league-best 48-28 mark.

 

Nick Leyva-Begins his first season on the Brewers coaching staff...Was named third-base coach on 11/20/06...Prior to joining the Brewers was a part of the White Sox organization, managing at Triple-A Charlotte (2000-01, 05) and Rookie Bristol (2002, 06) and also serving as Minor League Infield Instructor (2003-04)...Named 2002 Appalachian League Manager of the Year as he guided Bristol to a league championship...Held Major League coaching positions as first-base coach and third-base coach with St. Louis (1984-88) and as third-base coach with Toronto (1993-97)...Managed in the Major Leagues with Philadelphia, where he went 148-189 (.439) from 1989-91...Held minor-league managing positions with the Cardinals organization at Rookie Johnson City (1978-79), Class-A Gastonia (1980), Rookie St. Petersburg (1981-82) and Double-A Arkansas (1982-83).....also managed in the Blue Jays organization at Triple-A Syracuse (1992-93)...Named 1983 Texas League Manager of the Year as he led Arkansas to the second-half championship.

 

Jim Skaalen-Begins his first season as Brewers batting coach.....is his first position on a Major League coaching staff...Was named batting coach on 10/27/06...Prior to being named to his current position served the Brewers as Minor League Hitting Coordinator (2000-06)...Spent three years as Director of Player Development in the Padres organization (1997-99)...Spent six years as Coordinator of Minor League Instruction in the Mariners organization (1991-96)...In 1990 was Minor League Hitting Instructor in the Rangers organization...Also in the Rangers organization served as manager at Class-A Port Charlotte (1987), Double-A Tulsa (1988) and Triple-A Oklahoma City (1989)...Named 1988 Texas League Manager of the Year as he guided Tulsa to a league championship...Began his managerial career in the Padres organization, guiding Class-A Walla Walla (1982), Class-A Reno (1983-84, 86) and Class-A Charleston (1985)...Began his coaching career in the Astros organization on the staff at Class-A Daytona Beach (1981).

 

MikeMaddux-Begins his fifth season as Brewers pitching coach...Prior to joining the Brewers was the pitching coach at Double-A Round Rock in the Astros organization from the latter half of the 2000 season through 2002...Helped lead Round Rock to the 2000 Texas League Championship as the staff ranked second in the league with a 4.11 ERA.

 

 

 

Billy Castro-Begins his 16th season as Brewers bullpen coach...Also served as interim pitching coach from mid-August through the end of the season in 2002 after Dave Stewart resigned...Was Minor League Pitching Coordinator from 1988-91...Spent the final month of the 1991 season as pitching coach at Triple-A Denver...Was a member of the Brewers scouting staff from 1985-87...Served as the pitching coach for the Dominican Republic during the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

 

Tigerbrew I'm glad you linked that article. The quote from Melvin should hold some sway towards showing minor league team success is not an indicator of how good a manager is at his job or how good he would be a tthe major league level.

[tigerbrew]

Actually, I'm thinking that if the Brewers fail to make the playoffs this year, I would like to see Kremblas replace Yost as the Brewers manager.

I think Kemblas has a better managerial track record in the minors than members of the Brewers coaching staff, some of them have no managerial experience at all. But I think the coaches you've mentioned did ok this year and hope they return next year.

Before Yost became the Brewers manager, he had no major league managerial experience and his minor league managerial resume is worse than Kremblas and some member of the Brewers coaching staff.

Tigerbrew I'm glad you linked that article. The quote from Melvin should hold some sway towards showing minor league team success is not an indicator of how good a manager is at his job or how good he would be a tthe major league level.

Where in the article does it say that?

[tigerbrew]

Just want to discuss further on Melvin, Yost and Kremblas.

"The manager's job in the Minor Leagues is to develop prospects," the Brewers' baseball boss said. "Sometimes you have to put the player in front of the team -- it's a little bit backwards down there. They don't always get evaluated on wins and losses, they get judged on the way they handle players."

In the above Melvin quote from the article, Melvin said that minor league managers' performance are appraise more on how they develop prospects and handle their players, than the wins/losses. I think Kremblas has done a great job for the Brewers in the areas Melvin mentioned.

Melvin also mentioned "it's a bit backwards down there" evaluating managers than in the majors, can I deduce from Melvin that big league managers' performance are appraise more on how well they win with the players provided and the team's wins/losses?

Also apparent about Melvin is that winning is a criteria in selecting a big league manager as evident by selection of Yost.

Prior to his selection as Brewers manager, Yost had very little managerial experience in the minors and none in the majors, he basically had no managerial track record and was very inexperienced. With the Braves, Yost was not even the bench coach, just the bullpen coach and later the 3B coach. But coming from a winning team like the Braves were, was a huge factor for Yost in getting this job, even though Yost had very little to do with the Braves' success.

Kremblas has been successful manager in the minors with the players given. Even when the Brewers took his key players, he was still able lead his team to keep winning. Kremblas' managerial track record in the minors is impressive, now he just needs an opportunity to lead the big league team to winning and the playoffs too, which I think he is capable of.

[Fatter than Joey]

Leyva also managed the Cubs

[bklynbrewcrew]

Kremblas would be a great replacement for Ned Lost.

[1992casey]

Kremblas would be a great replacement for Ned Lost.

 

This is exactly the type of message that Brian was talking about when he stated, "Please, let's just keep things orderly and post negative comments with the idea in mind that posts should be well-thought out and put together. The same goes with positive comments as well."

 

"Well-thought out and put together" would be the operative words in this case.

[Brian the Automator]

Bumping this thread to correspond with another Kremblas thread.