Astros managerial search littered with random Brewers
October 15th, 2009 | by adamburnett |The Astros are looking to replace departed manager Cecil Cooper and some guys with Brewers ties are candidates for the job. Former Brewers manager Ned Yost is one of ten candidates for the Houston Astros job. The Astros coaching staff in recent years has been littered with former Brewers. Phil Garner and Cecil Cooper have served as mangers. Scrap Iron will actually interview on Saturday for his old job. That seems extremely weird to me, but he must have left on good terms.
Back to Yost, his career record is 457-502 with the Brewers. The record isn’t the main criteria for my judgment of a manager. I think Ned Yost is a terrible manager because there’s no continuity with his decision making and I don’t think he’s got the gut instincts needed to succeed at the position. His decision making was by the numbers like Bobby Cox, but the future hall of fame skipper also had gut instincts. Often Yost failed to maintain the platoon advantage throughout the game. It seemed like there was a different set of rules for certain players. He had a long leash for some (Wes Helms) and a quick hook for others (Jorge De La Rosa).
Many media and fans will remember Yost for his combative post game press conferences. I served as a Brewers beat reporter during the 2006 season and he wasn’t the jerk that was often found on camera. Yost was the first Brewers manager to have his post game presser televised after every game. His pregame interviews were very informative and he was cordial with the media. I don’t think he was equipped to handle all the extra attention. He was loyal to his players and always defended them in the media. His stereotypical answer on Jeff Suppan, “Sup’s a battler, he won’t give in he’d rather put someone on rather than hurt him. you know he struggled a bit early but settled down and kept us in the game.” On Dave Bush, “Bushy’s a bulldog, he pitched his heart out there tonight.” I still refer to Suppan as a battler and Bush as a bulldog when talking about them with my dad.
Randy Ready interviewed after Yost on Thursday. The former Brewers utility man has 8.5 years of minor league managing experience. In 2002, he was named Manager of the Year of the New York-Penn League, and he has managed at Class A Fort Wayne, Double-A San Antonio and Triple-A Portland. He was with Portland before the Padres promoted him late this season.
The Astros executives still have many other planned interviews to take place. Interim manager Dave Clark and Astros’ Minor League field coordinator Al Pedrique on Wednesday were the first to interview for Houston’s vacancy. Bob Melvin and Manny Acta will interview Friday; Pete Mackanin and Phil Garner will interview Saturday; and Brad Mills and Tim Bogar will close out the first round of interviews Monday.
Out of this list Dave Clark, Randy Ready, or Bob Melvin would be my top three choices. Melvin served as a Brewers coach for the 1999 campaign. The Astros are a team that is going to be in serious transition and will have to go with young players. A veteran manager that doesn’t play young players isn’t going to help matters. Ned Yost can help on a coaching staff, but I just don’t seem him as a manager.
