Breaking down options for Crew's next manager

November 7th, 2023

This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy¡¯s Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

MILWAUKEE -- Brandon Woodruff and his wife were driving home from a physical therapy session in Birmingham, Ala., when his phone started buzzing with texts from friends. Craig Counsell was leaving the Brewers, his hometown team to manage the rival Cubs, they said. Woodruff thought it was a prank.

Then his phone rang. Counsell was on the line.

¡°I told him, ¡®I wasn¡¯t expecting the Cubs!¡¯¡± Woodruff said.

No one was expecting the Cubs. After parts of nine seasons with Counsell at the helm of the team he cheered as a boy and played for as a pro, the Brewers are in the market for a new manager. They¡¯ve already interviewed some internal candidates, Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said, and have compiled a list of external candidates for the event Counsell moved on.

¡°We had a really good thing. We have a really good thing,¡± Attanasio said. ¡°And I¡¯ll give Craig credit for helping to build that. ¡­ We¡¯re going to look for a manager that can continue having a terrific clubhouse culture and can help us keep winning and get over the hump in the playoffs.¡±

Here are some names to know.

External candidates

Joe Espada
Dusty Baker¡¯s bench coach in Houston is a candidate to replace the retiring legend. If the Astros go in a different direction, Espada, 48, would be a strong candidate for any job in baseball. He¡¯s bilingual and has been coaching in the Majors or Minors since 2010.

Don Mattingly
Manager of the Dodgers from 2011-15 and the Marlins from 2016-22, Mattingly is now bench coach of the Blue Jays. He gained fortune and fame as the sweet-swinging first baseman for Attanasio¡¯s boyhood team, the Yankees.

Clayton McCullough
The Dodgers' first-base coach, 43, managed for 10 years in the Minors for the Blue Jays before moving to the Dodgers¡¯ system starting in 2015. He has a reputation for developing younger players and was a finalist for the Royals before they hired current skipper Matt Quatraro.

Troy Snitker
The son of Braves manager Brian Snitker has been the Astros' hitting coach since 2019. Just 34, Snitker impressed enough in his first season as Houston¡¯s Double-A hitting coach in 2018 that the Astros promoted him to the Major League staff.

Andy Green or David Ross
Green, the former utility infielder is just 46 and has MLB managerial experience with the Padres from 2016 until he was let go in September 2019. Since then, he¡¯s been the Cubs¡¯ bench coach under Ross, who suddenly, stunningly, became a free agent on Monday after going 262-284 in four seasons at the helm in Chicago. What a story that would be.

Gabe Kapler
A Brewers outfielder in 2008, Kapler has managed parts of six seasons for the Phillies and Giants. San Francisco let him go near the end of the regular season. The 48-year-old Kapler is serious about fitness and meditation, and particularly attuned to the front office. He reportedly interviewed last month for Boston¡¯s top baseball operations job.

Rodney Linares
The 46-year-old has a ton of managerial experience after beginning a coaching career in 1999 at the ripe old age of 21. During his 12 years as a skipper in Houston¡¯s system, he managed the likes of Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa, J. D. Martinez and George Springer. Linares has been on the Rays' staff since 2019, first as third-base coach and now bench coach.

Internal candidates

Pat Murphy
Attanasio made additional news Monday night when he said all of the Brewers¡¯ coaches had signed contracts for 2024. That presumably includes their 64-year-old bench coach, who was once Counsell¡¯s college coach at Notre Dame and is known for sometimes coaching as if he¡¯s on a football field, not a baseball diamond. Murphy briefly managed the Padres in 2015 before answering Counsell¡¯s call to Milwaukee.

Rickie Weeks
Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder were the headliners, but a lot of the Brewers¡¯ toughness in the late 2000s and early 2010s, as the franchise ended its long postseason drought, came from Weeks. After a few years at home with his kids the Brewers hired him as an instructor in February 2022, and Weeks was just promoted to special assistant this week.

Victor Estevez
Any of the managers of Milwaukee¡¯s full-season Minor League affiliates could get a look, from Rick Sweet at Triple-A Nashville to Mike Guerrero at Double-A Huntsville to Joe Ayrault at High-A Wisconsin to Estevez at Low-A Carolina. Estevez is 35, has managed five seasons in the Minors and has a bright future after leading a young Mudcats team to the franchise¡¯s first postseason berth since 2008. He has a high-profile job this winter managing Escogido in the Dominican League.

Other internal candidates could emerge, like associate pitching, catching and strategy coach Walker McKinven, or someone from player development. General manager Matt Arnold is leading the Brewers¡¯ search and was not available for comment amid Monday¡¯s flurry of news.

Interestingly, Attanasio said he spoke to some Brewers players on Monday morning and asked them what they believe the Brewers have done well, and where the organization could improve as they begin to interview potential managers.

¡°Obviously, we've had that conversation of, ¡®Would we make the postseason if Counsell wasn't managing?¡¯¡± said Brewers ace Corbin Burnes. ¡°I think that's kind of something that you might get to see this year. This is obviously the first year that we could have basically the same team with a different manager. So, quickly, you might get to see how much influence he had on us and how much he brought success to the team.¡±

As laid out last week, the Brewers face critical decisions this winter beyond hiring a manager, with Burnes, Woodruff and shortstop Willy Adames all going into their final arbitration years. Those players received calls from Counsell on Monday after news broke of his surprise move south.

¡°He said that he got the opportunity to do this because of what we did as an organization,¡± Burnes said. ¡°Us developing and buying into the process and becoming good baseball players and helping the team become a good baseball team, allowed him to get to this position to make this decision. So, he was just thanking me. It's really cool to hear that the work you put in, the success that we had on the field, allowed him to have that opportunity.

¡°And I basically did the same thing and thanked him. You know, he was one of the most vocal guys of not giving up on me after 2019, and giving me a chance.¡±

Said Woodruff: ¡°He wanted me to hear it from him. He didn¡¯t go into great detail, which I respect, and I didn¡¯t ask. I didn¡¯t want to get in the middle of it. But he gave me brief outlines of what went down. It was a good talk. I love ¡®Couns.¡¯¡±

seductrice.net
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
prowp.net
webmanicura.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
mfhoudan.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
kftz5k.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
casino-natali.com
iprofit-internet.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
healthandfitnesslives.com
androidnews-jp.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
britsmile.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
kakakpintar.com
jerusalemdispatch.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
rajasthancarservices.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
hemendekor.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
worldhealthstory.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
techguroh.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com