RFB Offseason Roundtable - What to do with Sveum?

This week’s topic: What should the Brewers do with Dale Sveum?

Tyler

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I support whatever move Doug Melvin makes, because management has a much better handle on who has the right stuff to lead a team. There are no fantasy manager leagues and no stats beyond wins and losses to mark their decision making. So long as it’s not Ray Rhodes, I know that on Opening Day in 2009, Milwaukee will have the right guy in the dugout heading a lineup of gamers and battlers. I just don’t know who that guy is.

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In all honesty, I don’t know what I’d like to see happen with Dale Sveum. The perception is he’s a straight-shooting managerial throwback who’s well-liked in the clubhouse and interested in the position, but I just haven’t seen enough of the guy at the controls to feel fully confident he’s the man for what seems to be a highly-sought position.

Sure, 12 regular season and four playoff games is more of an audition than most will receive before being pursued, but you have to look at his being the latest interim manager in baseball history as a blackeye on his leadership. How much shaking up can one man do in 12 game, spanning like 16 days? The team Dale was leading was a lineup Doug Melvin and Mark Attanasio brought in and a lineup Ned Yost set for the 150 previous games.

I have to hand it to Sveum for trying to mess with the batting order, but his changes were small potatoes in the grand scheme of bringing a team to the playoffs. He moved Mike Cameron to the leadoff spot, which turned out to be a really bad move, but moving J.J. Hardy into a struggling Corey Hart’s spot in the order was a great move - but neither of these two small decisions had a glaring correlation to a playoff berth. Sveum was declared leader of another man’s team, and the employees of said team20 just so happened to decide and play closer to their potential with him at the end of the bench. Coincidence? Maybe. Good management? It’s possible.

I guess what I’m getting at is the last 12 games is just slightly better exposure to a manager’s skill, and vision than no game at all. Other managerial candidates have much longer track records, but little or no experience with anyone on this Brewers squad. In all, I think Dale deserves a shot to have the “interim” tag yanked from his title, and to be manager. That said, I’d rather get the right man for the job opposed to just inking the latest old Brewer to have some capability to lead a club.

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Jared

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Dale Sveum deserves credit for shaking the Brewers out of an unbelievable slump and getting them into the postseason. The players obviously like him and he seems like a smart enough guy. That said, I’m not sold on him as a long-term answer at manager yet. I just haven’t seen him manage long enough to know exactly what he brings to the table. I think that’s the dilemma Melvin faces in his decision too.

Originally, I was hoping the Brewers would make a splash with a big-name manager that would command the young players’ respect. But there really wasn’t a name that popped out at me… Bobby Valentine? Buck Showalter? Willie Randolph? Most of the names were either worn tread or just plain unappealing.

Then I started to hear Ken Macha’s name come up and I looked into his background a little more. I have to say I’m pretty intrigued by him. Macha was Doug Melvin’s first choice for manager in 2003, but took the job in Oakland instead. In four seasons as the A’s manager, Macha led the team to two division titles. His worst season there was good for 88 wins and second in the division. He managed a very young team in a small market. Sound familiar? Also, in contrast to Yost, Macha is known for being very level-headed and even tempered, qualities I’d like my manager to have.

There’s a downside to everyone and Macha’s perceived downside is that there was a “disconnect” between him and his players in Oakland. First of all, working as a manager under the meddling Billy Beane is no easy task and it sounds as though Macha and Beane’s tense relationship helped create an uneasy feeling in the clubhouse. Secondly, it might actually be good for the Brewers to get away from a “players’ manager.” Yost seemed to want to be buddies with all his players and Sveum seems to be much the same. Maybe the Brewers need somebody who isn’t going to tell them their shit doesn’t stink, to put it bluntly.

Sveum would be the easy choice as the Brewers’ manager in ‘09, but I think Macha would be the right choice.

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Joe

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I have not given this question as much attention as it deserves since the end of the Brewers season. Though it has not garnered much attention from my lowliest of brains, I find myself pulling to have Dale Sveum as the Brewers manager in 2009.

First, the players seem to love him. Personally, I think that’s incredibly important. Not only has he received rave reviews from friends Robin Yount and Terry Francona, players such as Ryan Braun seem to be pulling hard for him. Happy players = happy Brewer times(?) Me hopes yes much.

Secondly, Dale knows himself some baseball. I don’t know the guy, obviously, but it seems he has a great feel for ALL aspects of the game. Most importantly, I think he could teach some of the young players about playing some small ball and plate discipline.

Lastly, and arguably most importantly, Dale seems really into this team. He seems passionate about the team, players, and organization as a whole. As many know, I liked Yost, but I thought there were times when he was too subdued and certainly to set in his ways. I don’t think we’ll see that from Dale Sveum.

Hopefully we’ll hear a decision soon, and if I have it my way, Dale Sveum will be managing the Milwaukee Brewers on opening day ’09.

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Bryan

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I had to do a pro/con list to decide what I’d like to see happen.

Keeping Dale Sveum:
Pros - Well-liked and respected in the clubhouse, won’t need to bring his own staff so the players on the team can stay with the coaches they’ve always been with, he’s a “Brewer Guy”, he’s gotten votes of confidence from prominent figures on the team and in baseball, he doesn’t seem to have glaring favorites (ie - Yost and Weeks/Counsell/Helms)

Cons - Very little experience has head manager, Made many questionable calls as the third base coach, the big knock on Yost was that he couldn’t take the team to the next level but can Dale do it as the manager for an entire year?, spend the entire year wondering if Garth Iorg has learned the signals, will Robin be back?

Finding someone else:

Pros - Brings a brand new outlook on a team that has finally made it to the playoffs but now can’t win at the end of the year, probably has more managerial experience than Sveum, might have postseason experience, might be able to make this team more well rounded

Cons - Might not care as much about the city as Sveum, might want to completely revamp the staff (please stay, Mike Maddux), might make things worse (not get into the playoffs, lack of respect in the clubhouse)

Ok, that wasn’t a complete list, but it helped. Here’s my answer:

People say that Sveum deserves the manager position next year. I believe that he deserves a SHOT at the position next year. He did nothing to hurt himself from being considered the head manager for next year, but if there’s someone better who has more experience with winning down the stretch (this eliminates you, Willie Randolph), I’ll probably want that person. I want the Brewers to take their time with their coaching search; find the right man for the job. It might be Sveum, but it might be someone completely new. I think that even though Sveum has gotten a vote of confidence from the players (which he probably would have gotten regardless of the outcome), the team will be professionals and fully get behind a new coach and/or system. Personally, I’m with Jared on the Ken Macha love as long as he’d be excited to be in MKE. I’d like to see it between Macha, Davey Johnson, and Sveum and let the Brewers think it through and make a decision in November. The bigger question in my mind is what kind of weapons is the coach, whoever it may be, going to have?

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Your turn, be heard! What would you like to see happen?