Be careful what you wish for. Phil Garner is tanned, rested, and ready...................

Phil Garner is tanned, rested, and ready

Alas, it will likely be Ted Simmons. As long as it is not Dale Sveum. Dale's a nice guy but dumb as pus.

Heh. "Mike Hunt."

Tom Kelly's not doing anything. And Davey Johnson may be a ######### (no idea why else he wouldn't be able to hold a job) but he doesn't seem to know how to do anything but manage winning ballclubs.

I don't particularly want to SEE Davey's ugly mug on TV spitting and ballscratching more than the rest of the team put together; but winning baseball is winning baseball.

Ted Simmons great choice we all know ex-catchers make the best managers. Looking up what position Ned played whoops..

Wiki is quick:

Edgar Frederick "Ned" Yost III is a former catcher in Major League Baseball, and is about to be fired as the manager of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Good thing I live in the country. Otherwise, the smell of the burning tar might cause some issues.

I found my two-tine pitchfork. But where is the three-tine? The one I just sharpened?

(Off to the barn)

So really... who would you LIKE to see as manager of the Brewers? Realistically, of course (I guess that leaves out Hester Prynne, I mean Davey Johnson; and Tom Kelly, who really doesn't seem interested in managing any more).

I know Ted's first in line, and I don't have anything against him, but let's enjoy some wild speculation!

Bring on the Gerbil!!!

Bring on the Gerbil!!!

I'm tellin' you, if swing a deal for Ozzie Guillen, they'll be WS-bound. To sweeten the deal, I will buy an Ozzie Brewers jersey to match my Ozzie White Sox jersey if they do it.

I haven't the faintest idea how they would induce Williams to do that trade.

Frank Kremblas.

So really... who would you LIKE to see as manager of the Brewers?

Dusty Baker. Don Baylor, or Larry Bowa

Dusty Baker. Don Baylor, or Larry Bowa

BOO!

Frank Kremblas.

Well, he does have a relationship with the talent. Does he have a reputation as a smart manager? I don't really follow the minors like I should.

Frank Kremblas.

I don't know. To me, he embodies the career minor-league manager who is much better in a teaching/mentoring position than he would be as a major-league manager where that is less important - not UNimportant, just LESS important.

-- MWE

I don't know. To me, he embodies the career minor-league manager who is much better in a teaching/mentoring position than he would be as a major-league manager where that is less important - not UNimportant, just LESS important.

You mean like Yost? ;)

Why blame the manager? Everyone knew the Brewers were starting a downward spiral when Joe Garagiola Jr. was fired as general manager...

Why would the owner fire the manager? Shouldn't the general manager do that?

levski:

Doug Melvin has made it PERFECTLY CLEAR that Yost is HIS GUY.

I personally would be flabbergasted if Yost were fired BY Melvin.

Thanks, Harveys. Melvin's got a bit of a Ned Yost Infection too, it seems. :)

Frank Kremblas Managerial Record:

2001 High Desert Mavericks. 71-69. Made second round of the playoffs

2002-2004 Huntsville Stars 70-69, 75-63 lost championship game, 65-75

2005-2007 Nashville Sounds Won divison title each season, won PCL title in 2005. Manager of the Year in 2007, 240-192 record

That's a record of achievement. And trust me, the 2007 Nashville Sounds weren't all that and a bag of chips with Braun and Parra on the big club by June.

And somebody is stealing my lines!

Y'know, Harveys, it's very possible you're not wrong. You did say that very recently and it's possible Hunt has found his way onto BTF....

Dock:

I am not going to flatter myself. Do understand the local radio talk shows are DEMANDING action.

It will not be long before the booing breaks out at County Stadium when Yost pops out of the dugout. As I pointed out in the Lounge, Yost has had FIVE PLUS years to get the ship going in the right direction. That is a LONG TIME in baseball terms.

I don't need Chris Jaffe or Mike Emeigh to show me managerial histories to know that basic fact.

And the cupboard has NOT been bare. That's the othe nonsense passed off by Yost defenders. I could literally twenty-five (25) managers in my lifetime who would have the Brewers going strong. And that's taking Casey and Bobby Cox off the table.

you give Tony LaRussa this team and Bill Hall would stop getting picked off base YESTERDAY.

Alas, it will likely be Ted Simmons.

My god. Another '82 Brewer. Drop dead already!

My god. Another '82 Brewer. Drop dead already!

Pete Vuckovich, managing under the name "Klu Haywood." Brilliant.

Just curious Harvey,

If Yost makes every move correctly this year what's the Brewers record?

I agree that Yost is a frustrating manager to watch and I don't take issue with any of your criticisms. I am just of the opinion that the VAST majority of the success or failure of a baseball team should be attributed to the players and not the manager. The manager may add or detract value at the margin and maybe that's enough when divisions are won or lost by a couple of games. I guess I don't understand how Yost can be held accountable for the lion's share of their problems this year (not trying to put words in your mounth, just the sense I get in Milwaukee currently).

If Yost makes every move correctly this year what's the Brewers record?

This assumes all a manager can impact are tactical elements of a team. Here I agree a managers influence is limited. But emotional preparedness can be greatly affected by a manager and that I feel you sold short.

My biggest complaint with Yost is that he seems to be saying the same things going on 3 years now. Yost is also very slow to acknowledge the obvious and he is most interested in phony or hollow praise.

Beano,

Are you with HW on Kremblas?

But emotional preparedness can be greatly affected by a manager and that I feel you sold short.

Fair enough but I think you would agree that regardless of what you and I think about how those non-tacticle elements affect on-field performance we can't quantify it. I certainly could be wrong but I would rather point to things I can get my hands around than guess at the value of some intangible which is all anyone is doing when talking about "emotional preparedness". You and I are both applying an admittedly arbitrary value to it that lands us on diffeent sides of the argument.

This assumes all a manager can impact are tactical elements of a team. Here I agree a managers influence is limited. But emotional preparedness can be greatly affected by a manager and that I feel you sold short.

My biggest complaint with Yost is that he seems to be saying the same things going on 3 years now. Yost is also very slow to acknowledge the obvious and he is most interested in phony or hollow praise.

Given the size of pitching staffs and the lack of a bench, isn't handling a bullpen the way a manager puts his fingerprints on a team? If that's so, Yost hasn't done so well the last few years. He never lets a pitcher go over an inning, because he wants to use them again tomorrow. Then, he unfailingly uses them again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. Then he can't figure out why his horses can't get anyone out after the All-Star Break.

Clemenza:

This will read as being criticism of a legitimate question but Yost defenders use that response CONSTANTLY.

My contention is the following:

IF you a situation where you have this guy doing your calculating you give him some known X's and ask him if he can generate a Y. And if you have X and get Y and do NOT want or like THAT Y you must change X.

The Brewers have changed X (meaning personnel). And STILL get a "bad" Y. (Games lost late, poor baserunning, second half swoons)

How MANY times do you change X's before you decide, "Self, this approach, it ain't working."

The Brewers don't need to change any more X's. They need to change the guy doing the figuring.

Two questions:

1) In Major League, why did they have Vuckovitch acting as a slugger instead of as a pitcher?
2) Any chance Matt LaPorta earns a spot in the crew lineup during 2008? Southern League pitchers sure hope so.

Kyle:

Where does he play?

First base? Taken.

Right field? Taken

Left field? Taken

Barring injury Matt is expected to play Godzilla to the Southern League's Tokyo...............

1) In Major League, why did they have Vuckovitch acting as a slugger instead of as a pitcher?

I've had the same thought but didn't he just look like the meanest SoB? I think it was just some creative casting on their part.

Speaking of Major League, does anyone remember the spring training scene when Wesley Snipes slides head-first a good foot from the bag? The Giant's shortstop (second baseman?) says "Come on," before Wesley gives him the finger and is tagged out. I've always thought that guy looked remarkably like Will Clark.

In Major League, why did they have Vukovich acting as a slugger instead of as a pitcher?

Because he led the league in most offensive categories... including nose hair.

harveys is right

i don't watch the brewers as much as he does of course, but enough to know that ned is not a good manager. and that TLR would have taken this team to the WS

not sure why melvin is so stuck on yost

- and i sure was surprised to read that the columnist's name really IS michael hunt

here and i always thought it was one of those "dick harden" "rod johnson" kind of names

i keep hearing beavis and butthead

mike hunt

huhhuhhuhhuh

Harv, they knew that would be a problem when they drafted him. Surely they must have a plan (other than petitioning to re-join the AL)? The solutions I see are:
1) Move Hart to CF and put LaPorta in a corner. Sure, it's a defensive outfield of horrifying ineptitude, but those guys might hit 110 homers combined given 150+ games each.
2) Ship out Bill Hall and move Braun back to third. I think the chances of this happening or slim, but hey, it could happen, right?
3) Teach LaPorta to play third base. If Harmon Killebrew could play there, why not LaPorta? Don't answer that question.

---

Of course, I'm only a greedy fantasy owner who wants to see what LaPorta could do in the bigs. But it seems like the Brewers are going to have to answer the question by next spring - if you're not going to give LaPorta a job, why have him waste the prime of his career crushing minor league pitching when other teams would be desperate to have him?

Melvin likes Yost for the following:

--Yost was, WAS, a good a fit for a young team as he works to set a positive mood around the clubhouse

--Yost takes direction from the organization on roster decisions including who will play and where

--Yost is affable with the media

I do not KNOW, but I SUSPECT, that Doug Melvin is from the school that if you have good players and set the right mood you will win. BUT, if you have a guy who is SOOO inept at tactical decision-making the in-game stuff eventually matters.

Yost is a living contradiction to the analyst community's mantra that a manager's game decisions over the long haul don't make that much of an impact.

2) Any chance Matt LaPorta earns a spot in the crew lineup during 2008? Southern League pitchers sure hope so.

My personal opinion is that LaPorta's future is in RF with Hart taking over in CF. I think Hart has the ability to play CF for a couple of years. He may not be a great CF, but he should be a decent package there for a couple of years. LaPorta can take over 1B whenever Fielder leaves, and Hart can move back to RF when his speed starts to leave him. I wouldn't expect that to happen until next year.

I'd like a turn at "ask Harveys about the Brewers". here goes:


Braun's (relatively) slow start: is his less-than-stellar plate d catching up to him? In the only at bat I've seen this season he got himself out chasing low-and-away sliders. Of course all hitters, especially free-swingers, do that occasionally, but I was wondering if this was indicative of his problems this year.

In any case I expect him to snap out and start mashing again soon.

Yost is a living contradiction to the analyst community's mantra that a manager's game decisions over the long haul don't make that much of an impact.

Also, enough bad decisions that cost teams ame over time can kill the mood in the clubhouse, making any efforts by Yost to so seems like spin & wishcasting happy talk - and thus negating one of his apparent strengths.

I don't know if that's the case in Milwaukee. I'm guessing here, but it sounds reasonable.

Move Hart to CF and put LaPorta in a corner. Sure, it's a defensive outfield of horrifying ineptitude, but those guys might hit 110 homers combined given 150+ games each.
2) Ship out Bill Hall and move Braun back to third. I think the chances of this happening or slim, but hey, it could happen, right?
3) Teach LaPorta to play third base. If Harmon Killebrew could play there, why not LaPorta? Don't answer that question.

Those all sound like horrendous ideas where Laporta would give back most of his offensive value in the field.

enough bad decisions that cost teams ame over time can kill the mood in the clubhouse, making any efforts by Yost to so seems like spin & wishcasting happy talk

Bingo!

I don't care if you are working in a corporate office or on a oil rig if the person in charge keeps getting faced with situations that seem identical, makes decisions, and the outcomes are ALWAYS BAD aren't the employees at some point going to decide, "This guy, he ain't so good."

Time after time after time after time after time after time after time Ned Yost is confronted with a game situation that after FIVE YEARS he has seen before. And it blows up in his face. And not a little "bang". We are talking "KABOOM!!"

The only people that don't see this are Doug Melvin and Gord Ash. Everyone else I know and have read have determined that Ned Yost is in his over his head when it comes to handling in-game decisions.

Actually, that isn't completely true IF one believes the scuttlebutt that the team hired Ted Simmons to specifically hold Ned's hand on such issues. But Ned, as Hunt describes, being a stubborn bugger has chosen to ignore Ted's input. Assuming Ted's input is worth a sh*t. For all we know Ted is giving him bad advice in order to TAKE Ned's job. I can't speak to that.

But think about THIS for a moment.

Doug Melvin stripped Yost of input on roster decisions after the Wes Helms affair.

He has repeatedly re-made the bullpen to align it with his manager's approach.

He imported Ted Simmons to try and assist Ned in making game decisions.

As I have written before and reiterate in my most sneering tone, Ned Yost is like some person with a mental challenge being mainstreamed into the workforce. And the Brewers and Doug Melvin have to make continued accomodations to try and make it a success.

Why?

WHY???!!!!!!!!!

Harvey,

Well-articulated points as always. I know you've been consistant in your criticisms of him for some time now.

I agree that Ned is not a great tactician and maybe that becomes exposed when the players don't perform thus compunding a problem. I'm not arguing for or against sacking him but is he the difference between the Brewers current state and a team with say 20-22 wins right now? I rather doubt it. Maybe we agree to disagree on that point. I just don't want to see Yost tossed and have someone come in and be anointed as the savior. Ned is a problem but not the only problem with this team right now. But changing one manager is infinately easier than changing 25 players.

Lest someone think otherwise, I want to be explicit: I don't think any of the ways of getting LaPorta into the starting lineup are good ones. I'm just thinking out loud as a selfish fantasy owner.

I've watched or listened to nearly every Brewers game this year. Missed a few innings here and there when they got behind by a ton, but I've seen or heard at least some of all the games.

And in almost every game, there's been a "WTF was Ned thinking?" moment.

As has been stated, I'm not sure exactly how many losses we can say those bad decisions directly led to. But I also agree with the assertion that the players are likely getting frustrated with seeing their season crash and burn in April and May, as opposed to the September debacle they're used to. I'm sure many of them are thinking "here we go again," and while we may not be able to measure how much that hurts their on-field performance, it certainly can't help.

This may be the finest collection of talent ever assembled on one Brewers team. Hell, I'd take today's starters over the '82 Crew at every position but short, catcher, closer, and third. But they just can't close the deal. And the recent sweeps make it look like (can't prove it but it sure LOOKS like) they're giving up.

Clemenza:

Thirty odd games don't mean squat. Not within the confines of a season.

BUT, Brewer leadership has FIVE SEASONS to know what Ned Yost CAN DO and what Ned Yost CAN'T DO. One of the limitations of the media is their persistent habit to examine decisions within the constraints of right NOW. Any decision about Ned will be made using over 800 games of available information.

And ya' know, I think that's plenty.

Alas, barring a major horrifying franchise-destroying injury La Porta's only value to the Brewers is as trade bait. There's no way he can play major league quality defense except at 1B--he'd make Ryan Braun look like a Gold Glove. But I'm thinking they could get some pretty damn good pitching for La Porta.

AP: Brewers manager Ned Yost says he’s focused on team, not job

Yost, the sometimes grouchy, combative manager, spent more than 40 minutes answering questions before Milwaukee took on the St. Louis Cardinals about the team’s slumping bats and pitiful pitching performances.

Yost said he plans to stick with his lineup for the meantime and insisted he can’t worry about anything, including his job.

“When the team doesn’t hit, it’s your fault. When the team doesn’t pitch, it’s your fault,” Yost said. “That’s OK. It’s the wonder of being one of 30, you just sit back and be amused by it all, I guess.”

Yost, who was criticized for his game and bullpen management last season, has had little to do with the current slide, which included six straight losses to end a nine-game road trip as the Brewers slid two games under .500.

“Ned’s job right now is to make sure the guys don’t get too down, they stay up beat, continue to get their work in,” Melvin said. “There’s not been in these last six games a critical managerial move or two that you’d say, ‘Gee, why didn’t Ned do this?”’ I wish he could manage, I wish he at least had games he had to manage.”

This makes the 1960s Giants' McCovey-Cepeda decision seem easy, doesn't it?

Somebody will write a great piece about all-time baseball "how do we pick from studs" choices. What franchises were in the toughest spots, and who made the best and worst picks?

Heck, any sport.

I'm not arguing for or against sacking him but is he the difference between the Brewers current state and a team with say 20-22 wins right now? I rather doubt it.

Hasn't one of Harvey's constant criticisms of Yost, though, been that his inability to manage a bullpen winds up leaving them primed for disaster in August and September? It's not just that he's costing them games now, but he's setting the stage for a late-season collapse.

I think when you have 77 guys in the bullpen and half of them are on a 100 inning pace you have issues.

BUT, the team rises up and sticks it to the Cards.