Job Description: Brewers Manager

[mancl]

Someone suggested this in the manager thread but I decided to post this. Everyone has their opinion about who the manager should be. Implicit in that is an idea of what the manager should do and what is the most important. With that in mind here are the skills I see as being most important, from top to bottom

 

People skills- That is the most important part of any managerial position, the people you manage have to respect you getting all of the people to accept their roles , play hard etc

 

Public relations- How well do you handle the media, general public

 

Pitching management- Do you keep the starter in, pull him etc.

 

In game management- Do you sacrifice here or hit away for example

 

 

(edit: title --1992)

[rluzinski]

I'd say in game management and pitching management is far and away the most important. As long as the team doesn't hate the manager, it's not going to be a big deal. They are going to play hard on their own because that's how they make money.

 

Public relations? To me that's basically irrelevant. If the team wins a lot of games, I don't care which throw away comments he chooses for his next post game conference.

[logan82]

I'd say in game management and pitching management is far and away the most important. As long as the team doesn't hate the manager, it's not going to be a big deal. They are going to play hard on their own because that's how they make money.

 

Public relations? To me that's basically irrelevant. If the team wins a lot of games, I don't care which throw away comments he chooses for his next post game conference.

I pretty much agree with that. I think the respect of the players is important, unfortunately. That limits who they can hire. Limits the choices to a small circle of people instead of getting some "outside the book" thinking.

[Ennder]

I think the pitching management and the people skills are the most important parts of the job. How they handle the media is the least important of the bunch.

[JJHardy7]

I think the pitching management and the people skills are the most important parts of the job. How they handle the media is the least important of the bunch.

 

Agreed. I hope guys like Weeks and Hart play well enough (I don't want to get into if Weeks/Hart suck or should be traded just using an example) that decisions to bench them don't have to be made. I personally think that's a critical factor on this team since the core all appears to get along and some have played quite a bit with each other in the minors. A manager that's able to sit a 'popular' guy on the team and still have the respect of the team is a major piece to the puzzle.

[dayzedcrewfan]

Pitching and in-game to me are the most important. As said before as long as the players don't hate you, and you have their respect (to a certain extent), they will play hard for you. And as for public relations, personally I could care less what a manager says to the media. I'll even go as far as saying a little Lee Elia never hurt anyone!

[jhart05]

I would add: Someone who has the ability to adjust his style of play, to the players he has. Don't come in here all hard-headed and force this team to play your style of ball, when they may not be built (right now) to play that way. I.E. "Small Ball" I don't think this team is built to play small ball.

 

 

 

Public relations- How well do you handle the media, general public

 

This is one of the reasons why I think many didn't like Yost. Me, on the other hand, don't care how the manager deals with the press or the fans for that matter. I think if I had to answer the same stupid questions for 180, 200 days out of the year, I'd get a little annoyed with the press, and sound condescending at times, as well. Course I have a short fuse.

[piccione88]

Do players really play for their manager? To me as long as you are not a total jerk(i.e. Showalter, and Macha) it does not make a difference. Maybe it makes a difference in the free agent market, and the manager is probably far down the list on free agents mind.

[Ennder]

Do players really play for their manager? To me as long as you are not a total jerk(i.e. Showalter, and Macha) it does not make a difference. Maybe it makes a difference in the free agent market, and the manager is probably far down the list on free agents mind.

 

It makes at least a minor difference. Certainly as much as whether or not to bunt or whether Cameron bats 1st or 6th in my opinion. How they run the pitching is probably the #1 thing, overuse a starter and you hurt the team in future seasons, mess up the bullpen and you are almost always messing up in the highest leverage situations so it is magnified some. I have been in a workplace with bad management, mediocre management and great management and it definitely makes a difference in how I approach my job overall.

[1992casey]

Please keep this discussion focused within the scope defined in mancl's lead: a managerial job description. Discussion of specific candidates can go in the Who's the manager in 2009? thread.

[Never Outhustled]

Do players really play for their manager? To me as long as you are not a total jerk(i.e. Showalter, and Macha)

What evidence do you present that Macha was a total jerk, and that his players didn't play hard for him? He averaged 92 wins a year in his 4 years in Oakland. If that happened with the players only going 80 %, why has Oakland fell off since Macha left?

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

Public relations is why people hated Yost so much and little did they realize that it doesn't mean jack.

[PeaveyFury]

Public relations is why people hated Yost so much and little did they realize that it doesn't mean jack.

 

I don't think public relations had much to do with why Yost was so hated at all. They hated his bullpen management and often dumbfounding in-game strategy/decisions. His public relations issues just compounded the problem.

[Oldcity]

X I believe it's in the manager thread, but people were posting quotes of players who had some less-than-glowing comments on Macha, including one from Jason Kendall.

[Never Outhustled]

X I believe it's in the manager thread, but people were posting quotes of players who had some less-than-glowing comments on Macha, including one from Jason Kendall.

 

I saw those comments, and I think there funny. Zito and Kotsay try throwing Macha under the bus, even though they had the best seasons of there career playing for him. Both are crap now. They should give Macha some of their salary.

 

Macha wins, Macha gets players to perform. Obviously, thats should be what a manager is expected to do.

[Thurston Fluff]

Having the respect of the players is to me the number one thing. I don't think liking the manager is important as long as they respect him. If he says something about how they play or how they prepare they have to respect the person enough to do it. The Brewers are a team that will always have to rely on younger players to contribute. The only way that can work is if they are always learnign and working to improve. The only way they do that is to take to heart what the manager and coaches tell them they need to do.

 

Managing the pitching staff is second. A fresh pen late in the season and how serious the health of the starters are some of the most important issues a team faces every season for almost every team. They are far more prone to overuse than everyday players are thus managing them correctly is very important.

 

 

I was never much of a game management type person but have to admit it is more important than I used to think. But still not high enough to make it more than a distant third.

[Patrick425]

With today's financial picture in baseball, I would agree that that the number one job of a manager today is to manage the egos and temperments of a clubhouse full of players who all (or, at least a large majority) make more than you. Gaining the respect of players, getting them all on the same page, and making them buy into the concept of team above themselves and their individual financial futures is key.

[joepepsi]

I'd say in game management and pitching management is far and away the most important. As long as the team doesn't hate the manager, it's not going to be a big deal. They are going to play hard on their own because that's how they make money.

 

Public relations? To me that's basically irrelevant. If the team wins a lot of games, I don't care which throw away comments he chooses for his next post game conference.

This is how I feel too.

 

You can file this under game management or a new category, but I think the Brewers now need a manager who puts the team in best position to win every game. That should take priority of the Ned Years Philosophy of developing young talent. If Corey Hart can no longer hit righties, then somebody who can should be playing in those situations.

[dvoiss]

I believe the most important part of the job - particualrly with a young team like Milwaukee - is managing the players and stroking their egos when needed and kicking butt when needed. Most important here is knowing when to do which with which players. The ability to do this will affect the outcome of a lot more games then deciding whether to bunt or not after a leadoff walk or deciding whether Parra can go another inning with a 2- 0 lead.