Brewers Hire Of Ron Roenicke Confirmed

Earlier on Tuesday, it was rumored that the Brewers were going to hire Ron Roenicke to serve as their next manager from a pool of finalists including Bobby Valentine, Bob Melvin, and Joey Cora. And via Ton Haudricourt, we have confirmation:

Roenicke isn’t allowed to say anything on the matter until the team makes an official announcement, but that should come shortly. Unlike the Valentine and Bob Brenly rumors from before, then, there’s fire underneath all this smoke.

Roenicke wasn’t considered a favorite during the hiring process, with one source recently speculating that he ranked fourth on the Brewers’ list. But the more the team learned about him, the more they liked him. Writes Haudricourt:

“The further they went into the process, he stood out more and more,” said the source.

The Brewers liked the other candidates, also ... But Roenicke impressed them both in character and baseball knowledge and it became apparent his background of working as bench coach for Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia was a huge factor in his favor. Scioscia already had sent two coaches on to be big-league managers -- Bud Black in San Diego and Joe Maddon in Tampa Bay.

Haudricourt goes on to quote Brewers TV announcer Brian Anderson, who has spent a lot of time with Roenicke in the past:

”He’s a baseball Tony Dungy. He’s humble, a quiet leader, a great leader. He misses nothing. Every player who has every played for him loved him. He really believes in a team having one voice, in everybody being united for the same goal. Players buy into that. He treats people with respect and knows how to assess every situation.

“I’m not sure the Brewers really know what they’ve got just yet.”

You’ll be able to find more on the Roenicke hire on our Brewers blog Brew Crew Ball. The move won’t become official and there won’t be an introductory press conference until all the paperwork is sorted out, which could take a couple days, but this one’s going to happen.