Yost's revenge for 2008

I still think Ned Yost's firing with 12 games to go and his team in position for a playoff spot is one of the craziest managerial moves I have ever seen.

I said so then and I still think so now.

Well now he takes over the car wreck that is the Royals. Look, I don't know Trey Hillman and if you heard the post game interview with Royals GM Dayton Moore, you would have thought he was firing Mahatma Gandhi.

I think firing a manager who has a team in line for a playoff spot with 12 games to go is nuts.

But I don't think firing a manager more than 2 years into his run is so nuts.

The Royals sucked before Trey Hillman arrived and they suck now... maybe Ned Yost can turn things around.

Remember how the Brewers stunk every since year since 1992? They were the AL answer to the Pirates, except the Pirates actually made the playoffs in 1992!

Since 1992, the Brewers have had 2 winning seasons and 1 .500 season, all under Yost's management. So naturally the Brewers front office axed him when he was going to bring them October baseball for the first time since Harvey's Wallbangers.

So who knows what he will get out of Kansas City. Yeah he doesn't have a lot of great players... but he also has so called future stars like Alex Gordon and Luke Hochevar who have both been busts so far. Maybe they'll turn it around.

Watch him bring the Royals to the division title and he gets fired the day before the playoffs.

Sully Baseball already lay down the ground work for the Braves

So Bobby Cox is going to step down after the 2010 season and a manager needs to step into his impressive shoes.

Avid readers of this blog will remember I addressed this issue almost exactly a year ago.

I said Cox should manage through 2010 and his former coach Ned Yost should step in.

Yost has ties to the Braves glory days as a coach from 1991 to 2002. And he has managerial experience with helping turn the Brewers around.

And yes he was strangely fired last September... and his managerial methods have no shortage of critics.

But it is usually a smart move to bring in a manager with some experience and who made his rookie mistakes with other organizations.

Terry Francona cut his managerial teeth with the Phillies before coming to the Red Sox.

Charlie Manuel got the feel of managing with the Indians before leading the Phillies to the title.

Joe Girardi made his managerial debut with the Marlins before the Yankees brought him over to replace Torre.

And of course Torre managed the Mets, Braves and Cardinals before taking over the Yankees and Dodgers.

Maybe Yost can come to a friendly organization and bring to the Braves what he did right in Milwaukee, learn from what he did wrong and give the organization some continuity from their glory days.

It makes perfect sense to me.

So naturally the Atlanta Journal Constitution doesn't even list Yost as one of the top 5 candidates.

So what do I know?

Hey Braves... bring Yost back

So Ned Yost is out of work and Dale Sveum, a man who was hated as a third base coach, is clearly not the answer for the Hindenberg that is the Milwaukee Brewers.

You got your wish, Fire Ned Yost...
FireDaleSveum.com sends you directly to Brewers Mix.

It's clear the Brewers are a mess and praying that the Mets fold worse than they do... but what about Yost?

What should happen to him?
As he's sitting at home, checking Craigslist for job openings, I think there's only one place for him to go.

Back to Atlanta.
It makes all the sense in the world and its a natural fit.

He's respected in Atlanta by both the organization and what players that are left that he coached.

He was part of Bobby Cox's coaching staff for 11 division winners, 5 pennant winners and the 1995 World Series Champs.

And how much longer is Bobby Cox going to be manager?
At one point he is going to step down. Bobby Cox took over as GM 22 years ago and has been manager of the Braves for the past 18 seasons.

As the GM he drafted David Justice and Chipper Jones, developed Tommy Glavine and Steve Avery and traded for John Smoltz... then took over as manager in time to turn the former laughing stock of cable TV into a powerhouse.

The run is now over... it ended when Joey Devine served up a home run pitch to Chris Burke in the 18th inning of that amazing 2005 Division Series Game 4.

Bobby Cox has nothing to prove.
He's a Hall of Famer, at least according to me.

But he's also 67 years old and the team needs to go on a big rebuilding process... and this time they won't have Ted Turner's deep pockets.

Maybe they can orchestrate a graceful exit.
In 2 seasons, Bobby Cox will have managed 25 seasons in Atlanta (counting his first stint in the 1970s).

Why not have him manage through the 2010 season? He would have managed Braves teams in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.

And then hand the reigns over to Ned Yost and have him take the next steps the way Ron Gardenhire did when Tom Kelly retired.

They are going to be a 90 loss team this year and Glavine's career is over... Smoltz probably is done too. And Chipper is closer to 40 than he is to 30.

It seems like the right time to move on and Yost is the man to leave some of Cox's influence.

What do you Braves fans think?

Are you willing to concede that the glory days are over, Talking Chop?

How about you, Rowland's Office? Would you feel uncomfortable with anyone other than Cox as manager?

Yost might be a continuation of the Cox managerial style. Is that something you'd want, Braves World, or do you want a completely fresh start?

Does the fact that he was booted from Milwaukee make him damaged goods, Grimey?

Braves Net, are you of the Billy Beane school that the manager doesn't really matter?

Well it makes sense to me.
Moving from Milwaukee to Atlanta worked for the Braves.
It should work for Yost.

Hey Brewers...

How did that whole "Fire Ned Yost" thing work out for you?
That brilliant "let's give the team a jolt" idea that firing the manager with a dozen games left would be the move to put them over the top.

That or put them in full panic mode feeling the ship is rudderless.

Well the glorious Dale Sveum era has yielded 1 win in 5 games including a 9th inning collapse to the Cubs, 2 losses to the pathetic Reds and the only two losses CC Sabathia has ever had in a Brewers uniform.

Great job torpedoing the season AND making sure than Ben Sheets and Sabathia want no part of this organization.

Really, take a bow.

I thought it was stupid when they did it last Monday and I think it is even stupider now.

Don't Panic Brewers... whoops. Too late.

I was at work today and I happened to check CNNSI and I saw the headline "Brewers Fire Ned Yost."

I didn't understand what it meant. I felt like it was is a foreign language.
What do mean they fired him? At the end of the season maybe? They rehired him maybe.

But nope. I read the article... and the Brewers, tied for the Wild Card in mid September with 12 games to go, thought it was time for a change.

The only other time I can remember a contending team making a managerial move this late in the season was in the movie The Kid From Left Field when Gary Coleman took over as manager of the Padres... only to have child welfare take him away with the Padres up 3-0 in the World Series against the White Sox... and the interim manager lost the next three games... until Robert Guillaume was hired to manage game 7 which they won on a 3 run walk off shot by Gary Collins.

And any time your managerial moves remind me of a Gary Coleman movie, you know it is a n F'ed up move.

The Brewers are in full "Godzilla is approaching Tokyo" mode and they are still in position to at least play for a playoff spot.

What could that meeting between Yost and his friend GM Doug Melvin have been like?


YOST: Doug... I have a good feeling about this series with the Cubs. I know we had a crappy run. 3-11 stinks... but we are home, the crowd should be energized... and even with that run we are still tied for a playoff spot. We've got Sabathia on the mound, Sheets is pitching later... I think we got the losing behind us.

MELVIN: You're fired.

YOST: What? You mean you are not picking up my contract at the end of the year?

MELVIN: No. Right now. Clear out your desk.

YOST: What the f---? There's 12 games left!

MELVIN: We feel its time to go in a new direction.

YOST: In 12 days? You couldn't trust me for 12 days at home with our best pitcher on the mound? Who are you replacing me with? Did you clone John McGraw?

MEVLIN: Dale Sveum.

YOST: Let me get this straight... when I took this job, they had gone 10 straight losing years.

MEVLIN: Yup.

YOST: And I'm about to manage their second straight winning year.

MELVIN: That's right.

YOST: They could go to their first playoff since Paul Molitor, Cecil Cooper and Robin Yount were suiting up.

MELVIN: Uh huh.

YOST: And you are going to replace me with a guy who was such a bad third base coach that he was booed while getting his World Series ring in Boston?

MELVIN: He's our man.

YOST: Am I being Punked?

MELVIN: Security!


Seriously... there must be something we non Brewer fans just didn't know.

Sometimes it happens in other sports. I remember Larry Robinson taking over the New Jersey Devils in March of 2000 and leading them to the Stanley Cup title... but he was a Hall of Famer.

Dale Sveum?

Something is up here!

Fill us in Brewer land.

Two Fisted Slopper, what the f---?

No seriously Don Walker, what the f---?

Hey Scott at In Between Hops, I know expectations are high for this year but for a team that hasn't played October ball since Reagan's first term, isn't this a bit rash?

Let me ask you, Yost Infection. Was there grumblings about this that maybe those of us outside of Brewers land didn't hear about?

And Dale Sveum? Really? The guy that Sports Bubbler claimed can be replaced with an actual windmill!

Brew Crew Call, are you expecting a bump from the firing? Is 12 games enough of a bump?

I could understand if they brought in a Brewers hero like Robin Yount... but Dale Sveum? Was Billy Jo Robidoux not available? Is there another Brewer legend you'd rather see, Bernie's Crew?

Brewers Chatters, did Yost key Doug Melvin's car?

Or maybe this is like that Kevin Costner and Cal Ripken's wife urban legend. Did Melvin catch Yost with his wife? Hey Chuckie Hacks, let's spread that rumor.

How could that be any less insane than firing the manager with 12 games to go?