Ron Roenicke Fired by Brewers: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

The Milwaukee Brewers' front office determined that somebody had to pay for the team's 7-18 start, and that somebody was manager Ron Roenicke.

The Brewers announced Sunday that the club had relieved Roenicke of his duties:

Roenicke commented on the news, per Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The news comes as a major surprise. Although the Brewers are struggling mightily, few lay the blame at Roenicke's feet. The team has been hammered by injuries, with Jonathan Lucroy and Scooter Gennett on the 15-day disabled list, while Jean Segura is out of action as well. Carlos Gomez has also been limited to just nine games in 2015.

Sports Illustrated's Joe Sheehan feels Roenicke is being unfairly punished for his best players getting hurt:

ESPN.com's Keith Law and Dan Szymborski both found the timing rather odd, with Law noting that Milwaukee picked up Roenicke's 2016 option in March:

Dave Cameron of FanGraphs also alluded to what he felt has been poor roster management from the top of the Brewers' organizational ladder:

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal played devil's advocate a bit and wondered how much the Brewers' disastrous second half of last year played into this decision:

Although the Brewers' poor record is somewhat of a surprise, few expected Milwaukee to seriously contend in the National League Central this season.

Baseball Prospectus' Matthew Trueblood wrote a great analysis of the organization in April. He argued that general manager Doug Melvin's continual pursuit of success in the present severely hindered Milwaukee in the long term. In addition, Trueblood argued that Melvin failed to foresee how the Brewers might be in a downward trend and thus the team is not prepared to begin a rebuild.

It will be interesting to see who Milwaukee has in mind to replace Roenicke. While a new manager might result in a slight bump, it seems unlikely he could turn the Brewers around to the point where they're fighting for the division or a wild-card spot.

Until the Brewers address their larger issues, they'll continue to be on the outside looking in regarding the playoff picture.