As was well speculated Brewers GM Doug Melvin was given a 3 year contract extension. He had 1 year left on his previous deal so that means 4 more years of Doug in charge (although some think Mark Attanasio calls the shots) through 2012. I'm quite please with this, getting Melvin extended was the first thing that had to get done this offseason. For the most part Doug has been a great GM for the Brewers, sure he has made some bad signing (Gagne, Suppan) and bad extensions (Hall, Turnbow) but no GM is perfect.
And to go along with the news of Melvin's extension was the news that Dale Sveum will NOT be considered for the Manager's job. Although Sveum is a good guy and did win 7 of the final 12 games to get the Crew into the playoffs, in the end I believe Melvin as well as Attanasio moving forward want to get a proven veteran Manager to manage this club to bigger and better things. The three names getting the most mention seem to be Ken Macha, Bob Brenly, Willie Randolph and Buck Showalter. I would be fine with either Macha (who was Melvin's original choice over Ned Yost in 2003 but Macha signed on the the A's) or Showalter. Not a big fan of Brenly or Randolph at all. Some others getting some mentions in the media and blog world are Bobby Valentine, Davey Johnson and Buck Martinez. But those three all seem more like long shots at this point compared to the first four I mentioned.
I would venture to guess that Melvin will have a decision and will name the next Manager of the Brewers within the next 2 weeks. It's exciting and hopefully whoever is chosen can step in motivate this young club and get the most out of the players. With or without Sabathia and Sheets this team can contend again in 09' and this is the first step.
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