Well, Doug Melvin is on notice. During his season-ending address on Thursday, Brewers owner Mark Attanasio gave a vote of confidence (or as I like to call it, the Kiss of Death) to general manager Doug Melvin.
You might recall that in September of 2007, amid a late-season collapse, Attanasio gave then-manager Ned Yost a vote of confidence. Questions about Yost’s job security then came up every time the team scuffled in 2008, before he was ultimately canned in the seasons’ closing weeks. I’m wondering if we could see something similar happen with Melvin next season.
Excuse me now, as I likely read into Attanasio’s quotes far too much.
(Read More)
From Adam McCalvy’s report:
“He’s the guy next year,” Attanasio said. “He’s still got two years under his contract.”
…
Attanasio expects the Brewers to be competitive again in 2011. He will leave the decisions about the team’s coaching staff, including manager Ken Macha, to Melvin.
Next year. As in there’s a good chance whether or not he gets to serve that second remaining year depends on how the team fares in 2011. It’s clear that expectations for this team will be high again next season, even if those expectations are unrealistic considering how far away the Brewers are from having a competitive starting rotation.
The only thing in my mind that would cause Attanasio to give Melvin a longer leash? Hiring a new manager.
Tom Haudricourt continues to report that it’s unlikely the team will pick up Ken Macha’s option for 2011. That means a new manager is coming, and if Melvin is going to be allowed to pick that manager himself, it stands to reason that Melvin would be given more than one season to see how the new manager fares.
Basically, it’d be incredibly stupid to let Melvin hire a new manager, only to end up firing Melvin at the end of next year and bringing in a new GM that would likely want to hire his own manager. Of course, those that want to see Melvin gone ASAP would probably say that’s a good reason to fire him now and let the new boss pick Macha’s replacement.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
