Managers: Who's in?/Who's out?

[Bellsprout]

Re: Managers: Who's in?/Who's out?

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/rumors/post/Valentine-a-finalist-in-Milwaukee-?urn=mlb-280210

Bobby Valentine rumors flying in Milwaukee. Rumor earlier today was that a contract with him had been reached, but Valentine himself has since denied that by saying this to Brewers beat reporter Tom Haudricourt:

"There has been no conversation about a contract with your team. Not one word has been mentioned to me and I have not mentioned to anyone there about a contract."

[SPTO]

Re: Managers: Who's in?/Who's out?

Sounds like the classic "denial but he ends up there" type of deal. He probably has to deny it until his contract runs out with ESPN which presumably would be after the World Series.

If he's the Brewers next manager I fear it would be a disastrous hire.

[Kobalt]

Re: Managers: Who's in?/Who's out?

Brewers have hired Ron Roenicke as their new manager

[rsox]

Re: Managers: Who's in?/Who's out?

Brewers have hired Ron Roenicke as their new manager

And the Marlins are expected to announce Edwin Rodriguez will remain as manager leaving only the Mets and Pirates jobs open.

I kind of thought that the Brewers would have gone with Willie Randolph for their job though.

[roadman]

Re: Managers: Who's in?/Who's out?

I kind of thought that the Brewers would have gone with Willie Randolph for their job though.

He just wasn't considered for the opportunity. Macha admitted that Braun and Fielder didn't communicate well with him and they were looking for a better communicator. Also, doesn't hurt that Joe Madden and Bud Black came from the same school of coaching. Also, it appears Roenicke will bring a running philosophy with him where Macha would rather have the big inning with HR's.

[SPTO]

Re: Managers: Who's in?/Who's out?

He just wasn't considered for the opportunity. Macha admitted that Braun and Fielder didn't communicate well with him and they were looking for a better communicator. Also, doesn't hurt that Joe Madden and Bud Black came from the same school of coaching. Also, it appears Roenicke will bring a running philosophy with him where Macha would rather have the big inning with HR's.

The Brewers as currently built can't be a running team unless they plan to make a lot of offseason moves and acquire guys who can run the basepaths well. At least that's the impression I get. Am I out to lunch on that?

[Bellsprout]

Re: Managers: Who's in?/Who's out?

The Brewers as currently built can't be a running team unless they plan to make a lot of offseason moves and acquire guys who can run the basepaths well. At least that's the impression I get. Am I out to lunch on that?

Weeks, Hart, Escobar, Gomez, Cain, and even Braun are capable runners.

I don't hate this philosophy, and given the boom-or-bust nature of our offense last year, I don't think standing around waiting for a home run like Macha had us doing was a particularly great strategy.

[SPTO]

Re: Managers: Who's in?/Who's out?

Weeks, Hart, Escobar, Gomez, Cain, and even Braun are capable runners.

I don't hate this philosophy, and given the boom-or-bust nature of our offense last year, I don't think standing around waiting for a home run like Macha had us doing was a particularly great strategy.

Thanks, I just always think of the Brewers being a slow team on the bases. Maybe that was the function of their offense and the lack of running.

I'm also interested in what will happen with the Blue Jays that way as well, both franchises fell in love with the long ball for the last few years which has led to inconsistent overall offense.

[Chrisksaint]

Re: Managers: Who's in?/Who's out?

Marlins announced that they will be keeping Edwin for this next season, the first person to call him was Hanley so I guess it's a win/win if Hanley likes him and it works for the organization lol.

The biggest hire imo is Perry Hill our new Infield/1st base coach, we had our best defensive seasons when he was here in '01-'06 I believe and everywhere he's gone the team has had great defense

[rsox]

Re: Managers: Who's in?/Who's out?

Weeks, Hart, Escobar, Gomez, Cain, and even Braun are capable runners.

I don't hate this philosophy, and given the boom-or-bust nature of our offense last year, I don't think standing around waiting for a home run like Macha had us doing was a particularly great strategy.

Gomez and Escobar are going to have to work on getting on base as both had terrible OBP's (.298 and .288 respectively) and Gomez needs to learn how to draw a walk (17 in 291 AB's). The core of the Brewers offense is solid with Braun/Fielder/McGehee/Hart, pitching and bench depth should be big needs to address this winter.

[Bellsprout]

Re: Managers: Who's in?/Who's out?

The core of the Brewers offense is solid with Braun/Fielder/McGehee/Hart, pitching and bench depth should be big needs to address this winter.

And that's been the story for the last 4 or 5 years, which to me is frustrating as a fan. We have a really good nucleus on offense. This team, when it's on, can hit with anybody in the league. But every offseason the issue is pitching and every offseason we're led to believe some middle aged vet will fix that issue. Suppan, Randy Wolf, guys like that.

Frankly, I think we'd have enough offense without Fielder, and if you can somehow get a promising young pitcher and some prospects, Melvin would be dumb not to pull the trigger.

[rsox]

Re: Managers: Who's in?/Who's out?

And that's been the story for the last 4 or 5 years, which to me is frustrating as a fan. We have a really good nucleus on offense. This team, when it's on, can hit with anybody in the league. But every offseason the issue is pitching and every offseason we're led to believe some middle aged vet will fix that issue. Suppan, Randy Wolf, guys like that.

Frankly, I think we'd have enough offense without Fielder, and if you can somehow get a promising young pitcher and some prospects, Melvin would be dumb not to pull the trigger.

If Melvin is going to move Fielder it has to be this winter as he has said in the past you get more in the offseason than at the trade deadline. The problem is if Fielder is willing to sign a contract extension wherever he is traded to then you can ask for 2-3 top prospects, if not you are not going to get anything for him.

The other issue is how many teams are going to be willing to trade a top tier pitching prospect for an overweight 1B who saw his batting average drop 38 points last season, his OPS plummett 142 points, his SLG also plummetted 131 points, his HR's down by 14, and his RBI's down by 58. That is a huge dropoff in a lot of offensive catagories in one season.

[roadman]

Re: Managers: Who's in?/Who's out?

The other issue is how many teams are going to be willing to trade a top tier pitching prospect for an overweight 1B who saw his batting average drop 38 points last season, his OPS plummett 142 points, his SLG also plummetted 131 points, his HR's down by 14, and his RBI's down by 58. That is a huge dropoff in a lot of offensive catagories in one season.

Agreed. Fielder will be the first to admit that he had a lousy year. He was swinging at balls that were out of the strike zone, which is very uncharacteristic of him. Still, he was pretty high producer before this year on a consistent basis, and overall, he has HOF worthy stats at this stage in his career.

If he was in his early 30's, then there would be cause for more concern.

[rsox]

Re: Managers: Who's in?/Who's out?

Agreed. Fielder will be the first to admit that he had a lousy year. He was swinging at balls that were out of the strike zone, which is very uncharacteristic of him. Still, he was pretty high producer before this year on a consistent basis, and overall, he has HOF worthy stats at this stage in his career.

If he was in his early 30's, then there would be cause for more concern.

Agreed. But with the big dropoff i think some teams would probably like to see how he rebounds from that before wanting to pull of a major trade.

[roadman]

Re: Managers: Who's in?/Who's out?

Agreed. But with the big dropoff i think some teams would probably like to see how he rebounds from that before wanting to pull of a major trade.

It might be a risk that some teams take, though. I would think the odds are with Fielder to keep producing at a high level and that is what teams should take into consideration as well as taking into consideration of a drop off year.

Some teams will feel that 4 yrs of highly consistent production vs 1 year of a drop off is a risk worth taking.

He should be at the prime of his career right now.