Yost In. Is Macha Out?

By Troy A. Sparks

On Friday, at Miller Park, they played 70's music.   Both the Brewers and the Philadelphia Phillies wore retro uniforms.

I must admit that the Phillies' blue suits looked good.

Now it's time to send manager Ken Macha back to the time machine.  He's yesterday's news.

If Macha doesn't see the writing on the wall already, maybe he should lean forward and watch the disappointing play of his ballclub.

Why do you think bench coach Willie Randolph is in the dugout?  The same reason Ned Yost was brought in by Kansas City as a special advisor to the baseball operations department. 

Translation:  Yost was on deck to clean up the mess that Trey Hillman left behind, and that's why the Royals fired him Thursday.  Randolph, a former manager, can pick up the pieces of another shattered Brewer season.

Okay, so the Royals sucked for a long time.  But hey, whatever.  Yost is back in the game, baby.

That's a nice consolation prize for him, since he was let go two years ago by the Brewers with 12 games left in the regular season with the playoffs on the line.

And you already know what happened.  The Crew made the postseason and lost to the Phillies.

Last year was supposed to be the year Macha lead the Brewers to the postseason again.  It didn't happen.

It's a good thing that Milwaukee gave Macha a two-year deal, which ends after this season.  I hope general manager Doug Melvin is smart enough not to extend Macha.

I think it's obvious that some of the players, heck, almost all of the young players, can't really relate to Macha.  He is so yesterday.  The players are so today.

In layman's terms, it means that the Brewers need a younger field general, about 10 years older, to lead the young troops of the future. 

Unfortunately, Prince Fielder may not be part of the future here in Milwaukee.

If I'm principal owner Mark Attanasio and Melvin, I'd cut my losses and fire the guy right now.

Managing a big-league club is difficult.  In a results-driven business, unless you're Joe Torre or Bobby Cox, you won't last very long if you're losing.

Melvin said he was happy for Yost.  He probably was in his office kicking himself in the behind.  Everybody eats crow every now and then.

Since Brewer fans have no hope for the playoffs, the time is now to throw out the retro manager and never let another old manager run the ballclub.