Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun vs. Doug Melvin: Who's Right?

After the Brewers suffered their third defeat of a four-game series to the rival Cubs, All-Star left fielder Ryan Braun had seen enough.

In his post-game interview, he expressed his concerns with the starting pitching, the lack of changes made, and the overall direction of the team.

"We need to find a way to throw the ball a little better to have success,” Braun said Sunday. “When you’re constantly behind in games, it’s not easy. It’s not fun. [The Cubs'] starting pitching was clearly a lot better than ours this series…We’re at the point right now where it would be important for us to go out there and acquire somebody.”

My original thoughts after hearing the comments by Braun were fully positive. It’s no secret that the Brewers’ starting pitching, and team for that matter, are starting to struggle mightily, and if nothing changes it is going to stay that way. 

Unfortunately, Mike Burns and Seth McClung are not going to carry any ball club through October and outside of Yovani Gallardo, the Brewers have very little talent on the hill every night.

After all, the Brewers made the biggest move at the trade deadline acquiring C.C. Sabathia from the Yankees and it brought them to the postseason for the first time in 26 years. 

While there is no starting pitcher that could match what Sabathia did last year, the Brewers’ bullpen is 180 degrees different and the offense is a year more mature.

Apparently general manager Doug Melvin did not agree with myself or Ryan Braun. The day after Braun’s comments, Melvin fired back with a response to Braun’s requests.

“It was inappropriate for him to say what he said, and I’m not happy about it,” Melvin told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday. “To make the statements he made and also get on his teammates like that, it was irresponsible on his part. It just ticked me off.”

After hearing Melvin’s comments and thinking more about the situation and how Braun said things, I switched my stance into the general manager’s corner on the issue.

First and foremost, issues regarding the team’s progress and future should be kept out of the media and behind closed doors.

Braun probably meant no harm by the comments and was looking to jump-start his team, but calling out any player in the media is not the right way to go.

Anyone who heard Braun’s comments already knew that Milwaukee’s starting pitching was struggling and that Melvin should be trying to acquire someone for the stretch run. 

Did Braun need to play Captain Obvious and let everyone know this was the case?

If Braun means what he said, that he meant no harm by the quote, then he should have kept his mouth shut instead of giving his two cents on an issue everyone already knew about.

I also don’t believe we heard Jeff Suppan complaining about the lack of offense in the Cubs’ 2-1 victory over the Brewers or Yovani Gallardo asking for one simple run against the Mets. Granted, Braun has a little more power to say what he wants, but it’s still not enough.

However, Braun DID go to the media and so that stance needs to be addressed as well.  The first thing that Braun did wrong was try to one-up the general manager and start calling the shots. 

Fans in Milwaukee and Wisconsin know how ugly that can turn (Green Bay, anyone?) When a player starts getting comfortable with the thinking that they are bigger than the team and franchise, things go bad real quick and the general manager is left out to dry.

Melvin did the right thing by taking a stand against Braun and making sure he knew that Braun can hit in the three-spot and play left field, and Melvin will take care of who suits up around him. 

Calling Braun out also saved Melvin’s rear from having to make a move. To the average Brewers fan who doesn’t understand the ins and outs of managing a team from the front office, when Ryan Braun speaks, everyone listens.

Those fans that heard Braun send out a verbal SOS for starting pitching would have started calling for Melvin’s head had he not put down Braun’s talk.

Think about it: you can just picture the guy behind you in the stands at Miller Park going absolutely bonkers when Jeff Suppan is pulled in the sixth inning after allowing four runs. “Come on Melvin, you heard what Braun wants! Get it done!”

Speaking of trying to get a deal done, Melvin is not playing MLB Baseball 2009 for the XBox 360. 

He isn’t plugging in Jarrod Washburn into a deal and re-arranging players until the