Finally Y-ousted

Real Stadiums Have Roofs is chiming in today with his take on the firing of Ned Yost and other Milwaukee Brewers news. Nothing posted in this space reflects my opinions in any way. Go Cubs!

Former Batting Champion's Cousin To Lead Brewers

The roar you heard from Milwaukee today was not the sound of the droves of Cubs fans cheering on the most overrated and overpriced team in the nicest ballpark on Earth (miller) . Instead, that roar was in response to the only decent news Brewers fans have had in two weeks. In a move that should be surprising only in that it came 385 days too late, the axe finally fell on Brewers manager Ned Yost.

After going 20-7 in August and starting September with a 5 ½ game lead in the wild card, Yost who just so happens to share three letters of his last name with ‘lost,’ flubbed and tinkered with lineups and relievers until the Brewers’ miserable 3-11 start to September completely erased their sizeable wild card lead. This September debacle comes on the heels of a similar collapse last year, when the Brewers blew an 8 ½ game division lead and finished two games in back of the Cubs.

While there is plenty of blame to be passed around, see e.g., Ben Sheets and his injury which is seemingly obvious to everyone but him and Yost, Hall’s and Weeks’ inability to hit and field, Doug Melvin inking Jeff Suppan’s fat contract, Craig Counsell’s roster spot, and mostly Prince Fielder’s failure to maintain a decent weight or field his position resulting in losing Gallardo for the season as well as the former MVP’s inability to hit with men in scoring position, as the manager of a young and indisputably talented team that folded down the stretch in what could be two consecutive seasons, Yost deserves the lion share of the blame. Whether it was leaving relievers in too long, pitching Brian Shouse against Pat Burrell, pitching Gagne at all, promoting Craig Counsell from batboy to everyday player, or batting the best hitter in the league in the five hole, Yost often refuses to put his team in the best position to win games and that becomes especially apparent when they need wins the most.

The only non-bright spot from Yost’s firing is that he didn’t take Doug Melvin with him. Whether this move is enough for the Brewers to turn their September around and make the playoffs remains to be seen, the firing does, however, virtually guarantee six wins against the Cubs down the stretch and makes the Crew National League front-runners for years to come.