The Brewers announced late last night that they’ve relieved manager Rob Roenicke of his duties, and shortly after, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported that longtime Major League infielder Craig Counsell, who has been serving as a special assistant to GM Doug Melvin, would be tabbed as the new skipper in Milwaukee. The club took home a tough-fought win tonight in Counsell’s first game at the helm.
Here are some notes arising out of the switch…
- Roenicke himself expressed surprise and disappointment at the decision, writes MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. “I told Doug I wished it would have happened a week ago,” Roenicke said, referring to the club’s back-to-back weekend victories over the division-rival Cubs. “I would have understood it better then.” Melvin said that he feels he gave Roenicke every opportunity that he could to right the ship, but ultimately making a change felt like the right thing to do.
- In a second piece from McCalvy, Roenicke says that he would like to manage again and is open to coaching roles as well. He says his one regret is that the Brewers didn’t win more games to open the season, but he knew when he took the job that this type of situation was possible. “When you go to manage, you know that’s a real good possibility,” said Roenicke. “It’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of when. You know you have a couple of years, three years, to prove that you can do the job, and if you don’t and the team’s not winning, you’re going to be fired.”
- Roenicke’s early departure is somewhat unusual, but not without precedent, as MLB.com’s Tracy Ringolsby writes. Only 19 managers have been fired within a season’s first 25 games, says Ringolsby, who notes that the earliest-ever hooks were made by the 1988 Orioles (Cal Ripken, Sr.) and 2002 Tigers (Phil Garner).
- Milwaukee felt comfortable giving Counsell a three-year contract due in part to his knowledge of the organization’s minor league system, McCalvy tweets. A potential “reset” at the big league level would be easier to accomplish given that familiarity, according to GM Doug Melvin.
- In an appearance on MLB Network this morning (video link), Counsell discussed the opportunity to manage his hometown team means to him. He said that attention to detail and dedication to understanding the game are the kinds of lessons he hopes to impart upon his club on a day-to-day basis. Counsell stressed that he does not foresee instituting wholesale change, but rather will focus on the “little things.”
- Counsell has been advised that he can add to the club’s coaching staff, tweets McCalvy. Understandably, given the timing, Counsell is still weighing that decision.
“I told Doug I wished it would have happened a week ago,” Roenicke said, referring to the club’s back-to-back weekend victories over the division-rival Cubs. “I would have understood it better then.”
I’m pretty sure Roenicke is referring to being fired a week ago, not winning back to back games. Why would having won back to back games last weekend instead of this weekend had made the situation any more logical? He’s saying it would’ve made sense to fire him a week ago because the Brewers have at least played serviceable baseball over the past week.
Obviously he is talking about the firing here. He was feeling the heat from angry fans at the beginning of the season. A lot of people don’t realize these guys are normal people as well living a normal life. They know when you’re bashing them on social media, and on the radio and I think all of the negative support from the fans had a negative impact on Ron. Besides the way the Brewers decided to handle their business I am on Ron side here saying the Brewers picked the wrong time to fire him as a manager.
I totally agree with everything Ron Roenicke had to say. Why would you wait to fire coach after a bad start when they finally when two games in a row on the road? To me this just doesn’t make much sense. I think the reason this occurred was the Brewers were trying to find a well equipped manager who would agree to a long term deal before firing the manager. This front office of the Brewers isn’t making much sense to me especially when players are also surprised by this move. I like Craig but as a long time Brewer fan I am unhappy with the way the Brewers chose to handle this situation. Best of luck to you Ron and youre family!
Tyler…..now the real work begins, revitalizing the farm system..several players will be moved before the trade deadline including C. Gomez,Garza,Lohse,W.Smith,Thornburg,K-Rod, and maybe others….Carlos should bring in at least 2 high end prospects.
I’m don’t see how the players could be surprised at the firing particularly after last year’s collapse .
I have a sickening feeling it’s back to the dregs of the cellar dwellers, particularly within the solid Central Division.
They probably wanted to make sure they had someone to take over immediately that they liked and spent a week searching or figuring out who they wanted.
The brewers are real bad, roenecke or larussa, this team will be lucky to win 65 games, and the thing is, there is no help in the foreseeable future for them. At least 5 years of garbage time for them
I’m guessing Papelbon is feeling pretty relieved he didn’t wind up on the Brewers. At least the Phillies are still showcasing him as a closer finishing games.
The Brewers would be showcasing him too!
While he is living out of a suitcase in Milwaukee, trying to sell a house in Philly, and waiting for the bell to ring again.
Yep, while being paid millions. Such is the life of a MLB ballplayer.
Now that the GM has replaced the manager, the MGR can no longer be blamed if the club does not perform. The next move is to replace the GM. ✔️
Roenicke wasn’t the biggest problem, Doug Melvin has made some awful trades over the years and has not drafted well. Giving up Escobar Cain and Odorizzi for 3 months of Greinke then traded him for Segura and two pitchers who haven’t amounted to much of anything.
Correction they had greinke for a full season and change but still they didn’t get much for him
What they got for basically two months of Greinke from the Angels was plenty… The starting SS on their team? And the deal to get Greinke was not a bad deal either. I don’t think they win 96 games without him.
I don’t have a strong opinion about the firing, but the NL Central is going to be a tough division for a long time. The Brewers clearly don’t have the talent to compete. Counsell will get a chance to be the “rebuild manager” and prove himself.
Any other team would be lambasted for hiring without following MLB’s protocol requiring the interviewing of minority candidates. I guess if you have ties to the former Commissioner, anything is allowed.