10.01.2009

An open letter to Doug Melvin from Brewer Nation

Dear Mr. Melvin,

Can I call you Doug? Thanks, I will. First off Doug, sorry about the disappointing season, I know we all hoped for the best this season but between you and I that pitching staff never really had a chance. So let me move on to your choice of Managers (don't worry, we'll come back to the pitching staff later).

Now, I know you'll be bringing back Ken Macha to Manager next year. No GM wants to be the guy that's had four managers in less than three seasons. And that's fine... it's not really fair to judge a guy based on how he manages a bad team once they're out of it. But do us all a favor, don't give him an extension.

The team never really warmed up to him and he might have done himself a disservice by hiring Willie Randolph as a bench coach. That move just served to remind us fans exactly what we should've... sorry... could've had as our manager. Now I'm not trying to be rude here Dougie, but I think it's pretty clear to both of us that Macha over Randolph was the wrong direction. But hey, at least we didn't end up with Bob Brenly, am I right?

Now, back to the pitching staff. I know you will be tempted to exercise your side of the mutual option to bring Braden Looper back but please, resist. I know it's hard to find good Major League pitching, but let's be realistic. Looper was not a good pitcher. He had an ERA over five and gave up more home runs than any Brewer, ever. We've already got enough suck on this pitching staff between Jeff Suppan, Dave Bush and Manny Parra.

If our starting rotation is going to be a train wreck let's shoot for a 26-year-old train wreck rather than a 35 year-old one.

Speaking of Jeff Suppan... you really screwed the pooch on that one! Don't feel too bad about it though, we were all excited for that when it happened. That really couldn't have gone any worse than it has. Maybe moving him to the bullpen isn't such a bad idea? Unless you exercise the $3.75 million option on David Weathers that is. Who needs two over-the-hill, terrible right-handed pitchers in the pen right?

Seriously though, do not bring Weathers back. We've already seen too much of him.

Let's move on to the J.J. Hardy problem. Let's be honest with each other Doug, that was kind of a dick move to push back his free agency. But then he did have it coming didn't he? And he maee your job easier when he stunk it up in Triple-A. That would've been awkward if he actually did well down there and you still didn't bring him back wouldn't it?

So as we head into the off-season, we know you're going to be looking for some good pitching, even if it means taking some risks you otherwise wouldn't. So just remember, players like Carl Pavano and Jose Contreras will not excite us. I guess Joel Pineiro would be ok, but you're already 0-2 with former Cardinals pitchers, do you want to risk an 0-3?

If you want to "take a chance," make mistakes with Brandon Webb or Erik Bedard. Why weren't you interested in Jon Garland last year?

As far as Mike Cameron goes we're pretty much indifferent. If he's back that's cool, if he's not... well, that guy struckout a ton. You wonder how a guy can hit almost 25 home runs and still not drive in 80 runs, and then you see Cam consistently striking out with runners on base. We could do without that.

Jason Kendall might be a different story though. Look we sit here and listen to all the announcers and writers tell us how good he is for the pitching staff. Then we look at the rotation with four starters with ERA's over five. So how helpful is he really?

I think that about covers it all, good luck in the Hot Stove league this year. We're already looking forward to spring training.

Sincerely, Brewer Nation

2 comments:

  1. Co-signed, especially the parts about the pitchers. I have to confess I'm kind of in Kendall's corner, but you make a good point on the results (or lack thereof). I guess he's just one of those guys who I enjoy watching.

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  2. I agree with dbauhs on Kendall, no way are the Brewers coming up with a better option at catcher. Also, I'm not so sure why Randolph would have been so much of a better option. He did have one great year with the Mets (as did Macha with the A's), but then piloted his team to one of the worst collapses in Major League history. Coming off a season where you fired your manager with 13 games to go because you were in the middle of a disastrous collapse, I'm just not sure hiring the one manager who was captain of a ship that crashed worse is the answer.

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