With Macha in place, Brewers assemble coaching staff

Dennis Punzel  —  10/30/2008 9:26 pm

MILWAUKEE -- Doug Melvin checked off one of the items on his to-do list with the hiring of Ken Macha as the Milwaukee Brewers new manager. But his work has just begun.

Next up on the agenda for the Brewers executive vice president and general manager is to put together a coaching staff. That could be accomplished as early as Friday, as Melvin and Macha retreated to discuss the coaching staff soon after the press conference to announce Macha's hiring Thursday.

Dale Sveum, who finished the season as interim manager and took the Brewers the final steps into the playoffs, will return to the coaching staff, either as the bench coach or third base coach. Also returning will be first base coach Ed Sedar and bullpen coach Bill Castro.

Pitching coach Mike Maddux's status was up in the air as he was deciding between an offer to return to the Brewers and one to join the Texas Rangers. Melvin said he and Macha had each talked with Maddux to try and persuade him to stay.

"I'm pretty confident he'll be back," said Melvin. "I have a real good relationship with Mike Maddux, both as a friend and as an employer.

"Ken is very open to bringing the coaches back, and that doesn't happen very often. We do want to create some stability with this team. This isn't a team that (won) 54 games and needs a total overhaul. This is a team that won 90 games and there was a managerial change."

Sveum was part of that managerial change, as he replaced Ned Yost with 12 games remaining in the regular season and led the Brewers to their first playoff berth in 26 years. He then was informed by Melvin that he would not get the job on a full-time basis.

Since that time Sveum and Melvin had been talking and each warmed to the notion of a return. Macha was on board with that move. Sveum and Macha have a mutual baseball connection in Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona, who was Macha's bench coach with the Oakland A's before going to the Red Sox, where Sveum was one of his coaches.

Macha relates to Sveum's disappointment at not getting the managerial job, based on personal experience. In 2000, while a coach with the A's, the Red Sox had asked for permission to interview Macha for their manager's job. But Oakland general manager Billy Beane denied that permission.

"I told Dale that my dreams of managing in the major leagues was kind of shattered right then," Macha said. "But to me it was a character builder, it was a tremendous test of my professionalism. I went out there and did my job, tried to help the Oakland A's win as many games as they could that particular season, and I was interviewed at five different places the next year.

"I said to Dale, this is a great opportunity for you to come here, help the club win and you would get my recommendation and Doug's recommendation for a position elsewhere. I really feel that Dale will be a plus to this staff."

Once his coaching staff is in place, Melvin will get around to finding a successor for his scouting director, Jack Zduriencik, who was hired by the Seattle Mariners last week as general manager. He also has taken a couple of his top assistants, Tom McNamara and Tony Blengino, along with him to Seattle.

And then there's the matter of the team on the field. Melvin and his crew face a number of roster decisions in the next couple weeks, beginning with free agent pitchers CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets.

Melvin said he plans to have an offer to Sabathia before leaving Saturday for the general managers meeting. Published reports speculate on the Brewers putting together a four-year, $100 million offer.

Melvin also said he's been in touch with Sheets' agent Casey Close and plans to meet with him over the weekend. Sheets officially filed for free agency on Thursday, the first day for such filing.

Also on the list of things to do is to determine whether to exercise the $10 million option on center fielder Mike Cameron. Melvin said no decision has been made in that regard. He also has yet to decide whether to make any long-term contract offers to his team's younger core players.

"I have no idea what our roster will look like in January," Melvin admitted. "That's what's tough about talking about our team. People are asking (Macha) questions about the team ... but he doesn't know what the team is going to look like. I don't know what the team is going to look like."

Dennis Punzel  —  10/30/2008 9:26 pm