Brewers GM Doug Melvin told 620 WTMJ that the Brewers aren't about to replace manager Ken Macha, despite the team's nine game losing streak and 15-25 record.
"I don't see any reason," Melvin said. "I see reasons to work together and try to get some wins."
Melvin, who said he feels "fine" about his own job security, explained that the Brewers don't want Macha to take full responsibility for the team's disappointing start. Melvin and Brewers owner Mark Attanasio talk every day about turning the team around.
Melvin's vote of confidence doesn't mean much, though. Last week, Royals GM Dayton Moore said then-manager Trey Hillman was doing a "terrific job" just days before Hillman was fired. It would not be a surprise to see Macha fired soon if the Brewers don't start winning. As Jon Heyman of SI.com noted yesterday, bench coach Willie Randolph could take over as Brewers manager.
Macha is an interesting case. On one hand, he makes the best baseball decisions of any Brewer’s manager in recent memory. I like his strategy, his handling of the pitching staff, and the way he plays the hot hand whenever possible. On the other hand, no one on the team seems to like him. He has done away with the “swagger” that seems to go hand in hand with the Brewer’s winning. Some of it, like Braun no longer admiring every home run and doing his “airplane arms” while he rounds the bases, are good things to go. But he also got rid of the untucking of the jerseys after a win. That swagger was part of the reason the Brewer’s were so much fun to watch.
It’s hard to say. I don’t think Macha can be blamed for the implosion of the bullpen all season long, nor the fact that his starters are averaging something like 5.5 innings per game – but something needs to change, and in cases where an entire team is under performing, it’s usually the manager.
Ken Macha needs to go. None of the players like him. They have lost all their swagger they had and worst of all, none of them seem like their having fun out. This is all Macha’s fault. He came in and overnight changed the entire attitude of this team. It has not worked for 1 1/2 years so why should we believe that it will all of a sudden change. He took over a team that was coming off their 1st post season appearance in 25 years. If he didn’t think that this team had what it needed to go to the next level then he shouldn’t have taken the job. Not to mention that it was his choice to bring in pitching coach, Rick Peterson. I don’t know if he has tryed to change the mechanics of his pitchers or what he has done. But I do know that the pitching staff is a mess. Bottom line is this: The Ken Macha experiment has NOT worked out. Prince Fielder is going to be lost in free agency before you know and then who knows what happens to this team. Join the “Fire Ken Macha” Facebook page and share it with your friends. Maybe then can this season not be a total wash.
I don’t get why Yost got fired for a better record on May 20th, 2009, and Macha won’t be fired. But, I give him another month or two before he is fired, if they don’t start winning.
uhmmm… Yost was fired in September of ’08.
wow, you mean there is one team in baseball thats not going to blame something on a scapegoat!? amazing!
Seriously though, you cant blame a manager every time your team plays bad
If the blame game is going to happen for Macha, why not place it on Melvin. He assembled that pitching staff that everyone in baseball knew was going to get hit. They have to slug and bop to win. Maybe ownership has tied up Melvin in the offseason, I don’t know. The little bit of Brewers ball I have seen points more to the GM than the manager.
Give the Brewers a better pitching staff and they’d be winning and Macha would look like a genius. Macha doesn’t pitch, he’s not the pitching coach, he’s not the one who signed the pitchers. As far as the Brewers swagger goes, should a team with that poor of a record and that long of a losing streak really be displaying swagger? You earn swagger by winning, you win with good pitching. Macha may not be well liked but he’s certainly not the problem here.
It’s not Macha’s fault that the pitching staff sucks (that lies on Doug Melvin). The lack of long starts by the starters have caused the bullpen to get gassed. Now it seems like whenever Macha makes a call to the bullpen he’s playing Russian Roulette, but all the chambers are loaded.
It seems inevitable that there’s no way Macha is the skipper in 2011. Therefore, it might just be best to sever ties with Macha and give Randolph or Sveum the chance to audition for next season. I’m not excited by either of those options, but it’s not like the team can get much worse at this point anyway.