By Evan Brunell

Now that the Athletics have fired manager Bob Geren in the midst of a nine-game losing streak, let's take a look at his replacement.

Bob Melvin is a pretty vanilla choice -- he doesn't have a major personality and has always worked closely with the front office. This is exactly how GM Billy Beane likes it, with a manager who works in lockstep with the front office. In the famed Moneyball book, it was made clear that Beane felt a manager should be an extension of the front office and do what it requests. Melvin can certainly do that.

Bob Geren controversy

Geren fired as manager; Melvin takes over A's owner: Geren 'terrific' Street calls Geren 'least favorite person' Miller: Communication issues with A's Fuentes not punished, clears air with Geren Power Rankings | Player Rankings Message Board: A's

Melvin is a lot like Geren in that regard, but he also has a reputation as a strong communicator, which was obviously Geren's clearest deficiency following a clash with reliever Brian Fuentes and having ex-Athletic Huston Street speak out in bitter terms about Geren. Melvin will have work ahead of him to manage Beane's needs and involvement while building trust with a squad he knows little about. He had just rejoined the Diamondbacks as a special assistant -- so he's coming into a team that essentially doesn't know Melvin at all. That puts him at a disadvantage, but Melvin is still a strong hire by the team and should fit right in with the front office as he is sabermetric-friendly and looks at numbers to help make his decisions.

In Arizona, Melvin was sometimes referred to as the "mad scientist" for his jiggering of lineups, mixing and matching players to get the best out of each player. Given Oakland is struggling offensively, it could use a fresh look at lineup composition as a way to spark the offense. With Melvin's reliance on numbers and goal of hiding player's weaknesses, he is a logical fit.

Melvin was hired to manage the Mariners in 2003 as Lou Piniella's replacement, winning 93 games in his interim season but did not have his contract renewed after 2004 when the club tumbled to 99 losses. He was later hired as Diamondbacks manager in 2005 after Arizona severed ties with Wally Backman, who originally was supposed to be the new skipper. Melvin stayed there for almost a full five years, winning the NL Manager of the Year award in 2007 with a 90-72 record and division title before sinking to 82-80 and being fired with a 12-17 record in 2009. Overall, Melvin's career managerial record is 493-508.

Melvin was then a finalist for both the Brewers and Mets' managerial jobs this offseason, but lost to Ron Roenicke and Terry Collins, respectively. Beane said on a conference call to reporters that Melvin's availability for the job played a part in Geren's firing at this point. (Hat tip: San Francisco Chronicle.)

Melvin has copious coaching experience outside of managing. He was the bench coach for Arizona from 2001-02, earning a World Series ring in his first year. He was also Phil Garner's bench coach in Milwaukee for 1999 and Detroit in 2000. Prior to that, he served in a variety of roles for the Brewers, both as a coach in the majors and minors as well as in a front-office capacity.

No one knows how Melvin will do as a manager, but it's clear that Beane followed a blueprint here: Find someone who is numbers-friendly, will work with the front office and take orders, and a new requirement: be a strong communicator.

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By C. Trent Rosecrans

You may have missed it last night, but the A's switched closers again, with Brian Fuentes picking up the save in Oakland's 4-2 victory.

It was Fuentes' first outing since blasting manager Bob Geren following Monday's game. The next day, Geren declared Grant Balfour the closer. However, in his time as the "closer," Balfour made just one appearance, entering Tuesday's game ina  non-save situation. Balfour gave up Mark Trumbo's three-run homer, but the A's still won, 4-3.

Geren said he talked to both pitchers after Thursday's game and told them Fuentes would go back to closing -- so maybe he learned from Fuentes' criticism of his communication skills.

According to Joe Stiglich of the Bay Area News Group, Balfour sounded "perplexed" by the situation.

"I was kind of in the closer's role for four days and no chance to close," He said. "It's kind of weird, but whatever. I'm just trying to pitch, whatever it takes to win for the ballclub."

Still, it will be a moot point soon enough. Andrew Bailey returned from the disabled list before Sunday's game. Bailey won't close games right away, but will ultimately return to the role.

"When he's ready to assume the closer role, I'll give it to him," Geren told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

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By Evan Brunell

Oakland owner Lew Wolff weighed in on the Bob Geren fiasco to MLB.com in favor of Geren, as the manager comes under fire for poor communication skills.

Bob Geren controversy

Street calls Geren 'least favorite person' Miller: Communication issues with A's Knobler: Why Geren isn't on hot seat Fuentes not punished, clears air with Geren Power Rankings | Player Rankings Message Board: A's

Wolff said that Geren has been "fantastic" and likes "the way he deals with everyone."

All due respect to Wolff, what exactly is he supposed to say? An owner should always back up his manager publicly, even if there are issues internally. It's why a vote of confidence tends to spell doom.

"I think Bob's fine, terrific," Wolff said of Geren as a manager. "It's a tough job."

One issue that has cropped up is that Geren is a close friend of GM Billy Beane, serving as best man for Beane's wedding. However, Wolff doesn't feel as if Geren's received any more of a leash thanks to his friendship, suggesting the opposite.

"Billy delayed Bob's career for reasons like that, which I thought was silly," Wolff said. "Billy's goal is to win ballgames, and he evaluates everything."

Prior to Wednesday's game, Geren called a private team meeting and refused to speak about what was discussed.

"Just a meeting to talk about the team, and that's it," Geren said. It's easy to figure out that the purpose of the meeting was to try to get everyone on the same page, clear the air with regard to communication issues and get the club focused on winning games. Whether that can be done with Geren or not remains to be seen.

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By Evan Brunell

Bob Geren has never been a favorite of players or fans in Oakland, but since he was the best man at GM Billy Beane's wedding, that apparently qualifies him to be manager of the A's. But when one of your former players calls you his "least favorite person I have ever encountered in sports," you may not be the right choice for the position.

Bob Geren controversy

Miller: Communication issues with A's Knobler: Why Geren isn't on hot seat Fuentes not punished, clears air with Geren Recap: OAK 6, LAA 1 Power Rankings | Player Rankings Message Board: A's

Huston Street was drafted by Oakland in the first round back in 2004 and spent four years with Oakland, the last two with Geren. In fact, that pairing may have been the reason why Street was traded after the year, as he has history with Geren. Street had to be separated from the manager after being pulled from a game in Detroit way back in 2008. Street would later apologize to his teammates, calling himself "selfish," as the San Francisco Chronicle
relays.

Now closing for the Rockies, Street had no issues making his true feelings known after the latest fracas.

"Bob was never good at communication, and I don't want to speak for anybody else, but it was a sentiment reflected in many conversations during the two years I spent in Oakland," Street said to the Chronicle, "and even recently when talking to guys after I left. For me personally, he was my least favorite person I have ever encountered in sports from age 6 to 27. I am very thankful to be in a place where I can trust my manager."

As word filters out about Geren's poor communication skills (which that umpire in the photo clearly resents), one has to wonder if my prediction that Geren was on the hot seat coming into the season wasn't so off-base, tight bond to Beane notwithstanding.

In that piece, I argued that while Geren had never had any confrontations with players, he rankled fans with some of his tactical decisions, was seen as a mouthpiece for the front office and presided over a less-than-impressive team. Well, you can add public confrontations with players to that list now, as Brian Fuentes provided the fodder that has led to more relevelations of Geren's poor communication skills.

"I don't think there are any issues that way, not at all," Geren told CBSSports.com's Scott Miller. "I speak to about all of the players every day."

Except that as Miller outlines, that's far from the case.

Reliever Grant Balfour told Miller, "That's his personality. He doesn't really communicate with the players. Everyone's different. Maybe you've got to approach him," adding that Geren did not tell him he was becoming the closer after the A's demoted Fuentes from the role. Michael Wuertz also complained about Geren's communication skills, saying he simply doesn't tell people when they are playing, and that includes hitters, who have to look at the lineup every day to figure out what's going on instead of being told in advance, and oftentimes there will be strange benchings of a hitter who has gotten hot.

On the same road trip in which Street confronted Geren, Mike Sweeney fought with Geren on a team flight after a series in Kansas City as the Chronicle remembers. Sweeney felt it may have been his final chance to play in Kansas, a place where he was the face of the franchise for a decade. That was Geren's second year in Oakland.

His first year in 2007 saw the reigning division champions fall out of the playoffs, with players calling him "wishy-washy" and "oblivious." After the year, three coaches were fired, and one of these coaches spoke out.

"I didn't want to come back anyway," Bob Schaefer said at the time, according to the Chronicle, noting that he didn't feel the staff was best utilized. "I was happy they hired me, but I was happy they fired me."

Meanwhile, Beane appears as oblivious as Geren on the communication issues.

"It's a natural reaction for people who follow the team," Beane told the Chronicle of fan frustration with Geren (how about player frustration?). "All positions of leadership come with criticism. Bob knows that. I know that in my position. Ultimately, from our standpoint, the best thing is to look for a solution."

While the A's are currently two games out of first place with a 23-26 record, that reflects the lack of any other team seizing an opportunity in the West. Plus, the A's have relied on their pitching to keep them in games, and that may start changing with Tyson Ross and Brandon McCarthy on the disabled list. There's still the matter of a moribund offense and a clubhouse that's clearly fed up with Geren.

If Beane is looking for a solution, the first thing he should to do is start with the person who's in charge of leading his players.

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By Evan Brunell

FUENTES BLOWS UP: Brian Fuentes, the Athletics closer, had some strong words for manager Bob Geren after losing his seventh game of the year. He's now blown five of seven tie games and Fuentes isn't happy about the skipper's communication skills, saying Geren has handled his communication with the reliever poorly.

"There’s just no communication," Fuentes says. "Two games, on the road, bring the closer in a tied game, with no previous discussions of doing so. And then, tonight, in the seventh inning, I get up. I haven’t stretched, I haven’t prepared myself. If there was some communication beforehand I would be ready to come into the game  -- which I was, when I came into the game, I was ready. Just lack of communication. I don’t think anybody really knows which direction he’s headed."

Fuentes really shouldn't be complaining about being brought in during a tie game on the road. The general rule of thumb is that you deploy your closer with a tie at home or lead on the road, but that doesn't mean everyone has to follow that tenet -- not to mention that rule of thumb is a pretty weak one. You bring in your best reliever for the situation that demands it most, end of story.

That aside, it appears as if Geren doesn't have the right pulse on Fuentes -- or maybe even the bullpen as a whole. Fuentes says it's difficult to adhere to what appears to be a random schedule, instead of being afforded time to stretch and prepare for coming into the game in the eighth or ninth. Again, we're seeing "established" rules for closers with no reason for being established causing problems. In Fuentes' defense, however, he didn't trailblaze these established rules -- he's just following them and it's easy to see how he thinks they're a valuable part of his preparation. From the manager's perspective, though, Fuentes may have very well been the best choice to come into the seventh inning. The problem is when you don't communicate effectively.

"I thought he misspoke," Fuentes said of when he first learned Geren wanted him in the game in the seventh. "I thought it was some sort of miscommunication, but he said, ‘No, you’re up,’ so I got up and cranked it up. You can’t try to guess along with them. Very unpredictable."

Fuentes adds that this hasn't been a situation that's been slowly getting worse; rather, it's fairly recent and Fuentes first became displeased when Oakland traveled to San Francisco this past weekend. Or maybe it's because Fuentes has a 6.48 ERA in 8 1/3 May innings.

"I think the games in San Francisco were some unorthodox managing," he noted. "I thought it was maybe the National league thing, that maybe that had something to do with it, but [Monday] was pretty unbelievable."

Just don't expect Fuentes to be the one to initiate communication. He's going to leave that up to Geren.

"I can’t predict the future. If he decides to take that step, then there will be communication. If not, I’ll make sure I’m ready from the first." (MLB.com)

LOSING CONFIDENCE: Wins and losses don't matter from an evaluation perspective, that much is clear. But for a pitcher, it can be pretty demoralizing to see an 0-7 mark next to his name, like John Danks is dealing with despite a 4.34 ERA that is plenty good enough to keep him in the rotation, as manager Ozzie Guillen said. "It’s getting harder and harder," Danks said. "That's the blunt truth. But like I said, it doesn’t do me any good to sit and dwell on it or feel sorry for myself. I got to come in ready to work and have myself ready for my next strart. That’s how I’ll go about it." (Chicago Tribune)

RANDY POFFO, BASEBALL PLAYER: Before "Macho Man" Randy Savage became a sensation in the wrestling world, he was an aspiring baseball player with a tremendous work ethic who just didn't have the talent to go beyond Class A. But that didn't stop Savage, whose real name was Randy Poffo, from trying. (Sports Illustrated)

SAVAGE HOMER: When Brewers GM Doug Melvin heard that Savage had died, it took him a while to figure out that Savage was the same Poffo who played in the minor leagues. "I think he hit a homer off me," Melvin said, hearkening back to 1972 when the two would have been on opposing rookie-ball teams. Unfortunately, Melvin was unable to verify this, as he could not find boxscores. (MLB.com)

MOVING ON: It's hard to, but Francisco Rodriguez is trying to move on from the much-publicized altercation with his ex-girlfriend's father last season. Rodriguez is off to a fantastic start as closer and appears to have made major strides mentally. (New York Daily News)

MANAGING FOR THE FANS: In case it's not clear for you just yet, Jim Leyland manages for the fans, not with fans. Leyland didn't take too kindly to being second-guessed for taking Rick Porcello out of a game in which he was one-hitting the Pirates after eight innings with 84 pitches. Closer Jose Valverde finished off the win, and Leyland went on a rant Monday about being second-guessed. (Detroit Free-Press)

START 'ER UP: The Cardinals will put Mitchell Boggs into the rotation at Triple-A after the reliever was demoted in a bit of a surprising move on Monday. The transition to the rotation isn't permanent, but it will afford St. Louis some security in rotation depth as well as allow Boggs to fine-tune his secondary offerings. (FoxSportsMidwest.com)

GOING OPPOSITE: David Ortiz seems to be taking a page out of Adrian Gonzalez's book, as Big Papi is going to the opposite field more than he ever has before, banging balls off the Green Monster. Of Ortiz's 27 hits at home so far, 14 have gone the opposite way. Compare that to a full-season total of 16 in 2008. (WEEI)

MOVE THE WALLS: Padres manager Bud Black might be getting sick of the decrepit Padres offense. Black has avoided all comment about possibly moving the walls of Petco Park in, but admitted Monday he thought there was "room for discussion." (MLB.com)

GLOVE MAN: What can't Eric Hosmer do? All the focus has been on Hosmer's offense, but he sports a pretty good glove too. Alcides Escobar thinks so, smiling enthusiastically when asked about Hosmer's defense. (Kansas City Star)

SLOW AND STEADY: Adam Lind still hasn't played in a game since May 7 thanks to a sore back, but that could finally be coming Wednesday. Once Lind returns from his minor-league rehab assignment, he'll return to first base but will see starts at DH mixed in to ease him back physically. (MLB.com)

DAT DUDE: Brandon Phillips' Twitter account is among the best in sports and has turned him into a marketing machine who fans adore. That's quite a ways from the kind of person he was in Cleveland. This is a nice profile of Phillips and how Twitter has impacted him. (MLB.com)

SELLING OUT: The Double-A Dayton Dragons are at 799 consecutive sellouts and if all goes according to plan, July 9 is when the Dragons will take out the Portland Trail Blazers for most consecutive sellouts in sports history. However, 40-60 tickets a game for the 7,230-seat stadium remain, although the team does not appear concerned about that posing an issue. (Dayton Daily News)

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By C. Trent Rosecrans

Jim Thome, Twins -- For all the talk of Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz and Chase Utley making their returns on Monday, it was Jim Thome who stole their thunder. Although Hamilton and Cruz each homered, Thome homered twice and upped his career total to 593. Before Monday, the Twins had managed just six homers at Target Field all season.

Corey Hart, Brewers -- Think two homers is good? Try three. That's how many Hart hit on Monday in the Brewers' 11-3 victory over the Nationals. Hart, who missed most of April on the disabled list with a  strained oblique muscle hadn't hit a homer since coming off the DL and was hitting just .237/.275/.329 with one RBI in 81 plate appearances. He was also hitless in his last 11 at-bats cooing into Monday. He broke through against the Nationals, racking up seven RBI on his three homers. His second homer gave him 100 for his career.

Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians -- If you haven't taken notice of the Indians' shortstop, you should. He may be the MVP of the first quarter of the season. After a 5-for-5 performance with two homers on Sunday, Cabrera hit another homer and then drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth to beat the Red Sox 3-2 at Progressive Field.

---

Bronson Arroyo, Reds -- If Edinson Volquez was sent to Triple-A for his outing against the Indians on Sunday, perhaps Arroyo should be checking out real estate in the California League. It turned out the slumping Phillies offense didn't need Chase Utley, but Arroyo, who allowed nine runs on 10 hits in 2 2/3 innings. 

Kenley Jansen, Dodgers -- Now the Dodgers closer, Jansen came into Monday's game a perfect 5 for 5 in save opportunities in his brief career. Well, as you can tell from his presence here, he's now 5 for 6. With the Dodgers leading 3-1, Jansen gave up a one-out single to Bill Hall before striking out pinch-hitter Matt Downs. He then walked Angel Sanchez in an 11-pitch at-bat and with two men on, he ignored the runners, allowing a double steal. Michael Bourn tied the game with a double before hitting Clint Barmes. Hunter Pence then singled, allowing the speedy Bourn to score and give the Astros a 4-3 victory.

Bob Geren, Athletics -- How many times does a pitcher have to fail before his manager loses confidence in him? Well, that's a good question for the A's manager. Brian Fuentes entered Monday's game having lost five of the seven tie games he entered. With the A's and Angeles tied at 1, who did Geren bring out for the eighth inning? Brian Freakin' Fuentes. He walked the first batter he faced and got Bobby Abreu to ground into a fielder's choice before being replaced by Michael Wuertz. Not the worst performance, but when Torii Hunter doubled to score Abreu, Fuentes was charged with a run and the loss. He is now 1-7 on the season and is the third reliever with seven losses in the first 48 games of a season, joining Jim Kern in 1980 and Gene Garber in 1979.

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By C. Trent Rosecrans

No day in the year probably evokes as many cliches as opening day. Several times today you'll hear of hope and optimism and that's total crap.

There's no reason for the Pirates fans or Astros fans or Royals fans to think 2011 will be any different than 2010. But the thing is, the beauty of the baseball season isn't that every team has a chance. It's that there are 162 games and no matter how bad the team, they'll still win three times out of every eight games. 

Even watching the Mariners for 162 this season, you'll still have walk-off wins, reasons for hope, shutouts thrown, home runs hit and a whole lot of baseball. It's a beautiful thing.

And then there's a team that you don't think has a chance that somehow stays atop the standings. Sure, they may not win it all, or even make the playoffs, like the Padres last season. But they still bring some excitement and reasons to watch through August and September. The ride isn't half the fun, it's all the fun.

Even without a spot at the top of the standings, there's a reason to go to the ballpark -- heck, going to the ballpark is reason enough. A hot dog, a beer and an afternoon game in the bleachers? Heaven, even if two also-rans are on the field.

Then there's rookies to watch and dream about their potential or the veteran to remember him in his prime.

Yeah, baseball is full of the cheesy cliches, but that's another part of the fun. I'm cheesy about the start of baseball season and I just don't care. (Of course, this is coming from someone who spent the last minutes leading up to a NCAA National Championship game back in the media room watching a Royals opener on TV right up until tipoff when I reluctantly went to my courtside seat to the game, so I may be a little messed up in the head.)

TENSION: Imagine going into the last day of the exhibition season unsure of your fate and then throwing a pickoff move into right field with two outs and a 1-0 lead in the ninth inning that leads to the losing runs. That can't feel good.

And then, well, being called into the manager's office right before the final cuts are announced. Really, really not good.

Except, after A's manager Bob Geren went over Bobby Cramer's gaffe, he then congratulated him on making the team.

Cramer, a 10-year minor league veteran, made his first opening day roster and will be the A's long reliever. (San Francisco Chronicle)

TICKETS AVAILABLE:  The guys who brought you last year's Mets help wanted video with not-John Ricco, are back trying to sell Mets opening day tickets.

While not as good as their last Mets video, it's still pretty good.

 

MO BETTER: We know Mariano Rivera has been really good for a really long time, but check out his run as the Yankees' closer against all the other closers since he took over in New York in this great graphic from the Washington Post.

HOPEFUL HAPP: Astros lefty J.A. Happ still hopes to get back to pitch on his turn in the team's rotation, Sunday against the Phillies. The former Phillie, Happ, would be facing former Astro, Roy Oswalt in the final game of the opening series. (Houston Chronicle)

VIVA ANAHEIM: I think I've already named about three "best promo ever" winners, but this is my current favorite -- the Angels' Mexican wrestler mask. I so wish I could be in SoCal in May, instead I'll be in Ireland. Oh well. (Orange County Register)

MEET THE METS: The Mets are trying to embrace their blogging community and hosted a conference call with manager Terry Collins on Monday. (Networked Blogs)

BURNETT SICK: Yankees starter A.J. Burnett is dealing with the flu, but says he still expects to make his scheduled start on Saturday. (New York Daily News)

BASEBALL HEALING: I lived in Japan for a couple of years and I've told people many times about the high school baseball tournament and the best way I've been able to describe it is the NCAA basketball tournament -- but only better, because it's baseball. It's even more important this year. (Associated Press)

PIRATES LIKELY TO BEAT PREDICTION: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review columnist Joe Starkey doesn't have high hopes for the Pirates this season. That's understandable. That said, I think they'll do better than his 9-153 perdecition.

TATER TROT RETURNS: Larry Granillo is bring back the Tater Trot Tracker. For those of you who missed it last year, the blogger tracked the time of every home run trot i the majors last season. He's doing the tracker for Baseball Prospectus this year, check out what he learned last season.

UNIWATCH: The always awesome Uniwatch baseball preview. There aren't too many changes this year, except for the Dodger throwbacks and the end of the Blue Jays' powder blues.

SAFETY FIRST: MLB is taking steps to help protect players against concussions, but the players can choose to do more, and Justin Morneau is doing that. Morneau will wear the Rawlings S100 helmet this year. The oversized helmet offers more protection for a batter's head, but is the subject of ridicule by other players and fans. Some players, such as David Wright, have worn it briefly only to go back to a regular helmet after hearing the jokes. Morneau apparently doesn't think concussions are funny, and he's right. (St. Paul Pioneer Press)

BACKPEDDLING: Andre Either's agent says he'd love to stay in Los Angeles long-term. Of course he would. (Los Angeles Times)

AN APPLE A DAY: One of the most injured teams last season, the Red Sox are hoping prevention can help them beat injuries. (Boston Globe)

EXPRESS LINE: Putting aside the vogue bigger, badder, fatter concessions, two minor league clubs -- Richmond and Lehigh Valley -- are going with faster, allowing you to use your smartphone to preorder and pay for your concessions. (Ben's Biz Blog)

PREVIEW: Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper were on display at NatsFest at Nationals Park. Strasburg said he's hoping to start opening day 2012 for the Nats. Harper said his ankle is fine, even though there's still concern he may miss his minor league team's April 7 opener. (Washington Post)

SPEAKING OF PROSPECTS: The Kansas City Star's baseball preview section is mostly about the Royals of 2012 and beyond, instead of this year's team. Bob Dutton asks if the Royals' influx of talent means Kansas City can return to its winning ways of the 70s and 80s. And then Tod Palmer looks at how it could go wrong -- like the Pirates of the late 90s.

REMEMBERING THE DUKE: The Dodgers will wear a No. 4 patch on their uniforms to honor the late Duke Snider. (MLB.com)

DONE GOOD: Kudos for Dan Haren for his work in helping fund a Miracle League field, allowing special-needs kids a place to play baseball. (Arizona Republic)

MUST READ: This graphic novel biography of Roberto Clemente looks awesome. (Atomic Books)

WELCOME BACK: Hard-core baseball fans wept when MinorLeagueSplits.com was shut down, but a replacement has been founded -- mlsplits.drivelinebaseball.com/mlsp
lits. Let's just say it's already been bookmarked.

LOW AND AWAY: Our friends the Baseball Project have let us use their music for our podcast, and to celebrate opening day, Yep Roc Records has the MP3 download of their album, Vol. 2: High and Inside on sale for $3.99. (Yep Roc Records)

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