Brewers Hire Ken Macha as New Manager
Thursday, October 30th, 2008 | MLB, Sports
The Milwaukee Brewers announced the hiring of Ken Macha as the new Manager of the major league baseball club. Macha is 58-years old and a former Manager of the Oakland A’s where he led the A’s to a 368-260 in 4 years as the Manager. He also led the A’s to 2 AL West division titles during his tenure. Macha signed a 2-year contract with the Brewers.
The Milwaukee Brewers made their first playoff appearance in over 25 years following the 2008 season. In the middle of September, as the Brewers were chasing the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies for the wild card playoff position, the Brewers fired Manager Ned Yost and replaced him with interim manager Dale Sveum. Sveum coaxed the team into the playoffs on the last day of the season with a win over the NL Division Central champion Chicago Cubs. A New York Mets loss that same day catapulted the Brewers into the playoffs. By that point, however, CC Sabbathia and the rest of the Brewers were playing on fumes, and the eventual World Series Champion Phillies ousted the Brewers from the NLDS in only 4 games. Despite Sveum’s late season success, Brewers brass chose to go with a more-seasoned manager to work with the young, talented Brewers lineup. The key question mark is its pitching staff. Starters Sabbathia and Sheets are both free agents and many believe the Brewers do not have the cash to compete with the rest of the big spenders in the big leagues. The bullpen was one of the worst in the league, and unless they can sign some dependable arms, that will also be a major weakness during the 2009 campaign.
