Brewers Name Roenicke New Manager

The Milwaukee Brewers have named Ron Roenicke their new manager signing him to a two year contract.

Roenicke, who has spent the past 11 seasons as part of Mike Scioscia's coaching staff with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, replaces Ken Macha who was dismissed at the end of the 2010 season.

Prior to joining the Angels, Roenicke had spent time as a coach and minor league manager in the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants systems. Roenicke also played in the majors for parts of eight seasons as an outfielder with the Dodgers and Giants as well as with the Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds.

Roenicke is the third member of Scioscia's coaching staff to be hired as a big league skipper. Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon and San Diego Padres manager Bud Black served under Scioscia as his third base coach and pitching coach, respectively. Maddon, of course, took the Rays to an AL pennant in 2008 and the Padres under Black were playoff bound until their September swoon.

Given that Roenicke is a Scioscia disciple, I think he will place a greater on emphasis base running and stolen bases more than Macha. In 2010, the Brewers were second in the NL in homeruns but only ranked 12th in stolen bases. It will also be interesting to see if Roenicke will be able to garner the respect of the Brewers players in a way that Macha couldn't. But even if the Brew Crew takes to Roenicke they still need pitching.