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Yost Fired By Brewers

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 16, 2008

MILWAUKEE - The Brewers fired manager Ned Yost on Monday, hoping to pull out of another late-season slump that has jeopardized the team's chance of making the playoffs for the first time since 1982.

Third-base coach Dale Sveum will take over as interim manager for the remainder of the season. The Brewers have lost seven of eight and are tied with Philadelphia for the NL wild-card lead.

At 83-67, the Brewers have just 12 games to rebound. Milwaukee went into this month with a 5 1/2 -game lead in the wild card, but since has lost 11 of 14 - including a four-game sweep by the Phillies over the weekend.

Milwaukee was idle Monday, and was scheduled to begin a three-game series with the Central-leading Cubs at Wrigley Field this evening.

"This was a very difficult move to make, and we appreciate all of the work that Ned has done to develop this team into a contender," General Manager Doug Melvin said in a statement. "In the end, this was a collaborative decision made to put our club in the best position for the final two weeks of the season."
Bench coach Ted Simmons, once considered a potential successor should Yost be fired, has been reassigned to an "advisory role," making his long-term status with the team unclear.

By shaking up its on-field leadership, Milwaukee is hoping to avoid a repeat of last year's collapse. In 2007, the Brewers held an 8 1/2 -game division lead in late June but slid to 83-79 and missed the playoffs.

METS: Right-hander John Maine would be willing to work out of the New York's problematic bullpen - even as the closer - if he returns from a right shoulder injury.

Maine tossed a ball 35 times on flat ground Monday and hopes to return during next week's season-ending homestand. He is 10-8 with a 4.18 ERA in 25 starts this season. But he's open to relieving, if it gets him back on the field.

TIGERS: Left-hander Kenny Rogers won't pitch again this season, Manager Jim Leyland said.

Rogers is a free agent at the end of the season and the Tigers are unlikely to re-sign the 43-year-old veteran of 20 major-league seasons.

Rogers, a Plant City High graduate, allowed seven runs in 42/3 innings on Sunday against the Chicago White Sox.

YANKEES: Jorge Posada reignited the debate over Joba Chamberlain's future, recommending the young pitcher be kept in the bullpen and predicting more injuries if the team puts him back in their starting rotation.

Chamberlain, the hard-throwing righty who turns 23 next week, began the season in the Yankees bullpen, then moved to the rotation in June.

He was sidelined from Aug. 4 to Sept. 2 because of rotator cuff tendinitis and went back to the bullpen when he returned.

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