Milwaukee Brewers Name Coaching Staff

The Milwaukee Brewers named the remainder of their coaching staff for 2011 today, and Rick Peterson will not be a part of it. Peterson, the highly thought of pitching guru, will be replaced by Rick Kranitz. Kranitz was most recently the pitching coach for the Baltimore Orioles and also served as the Florida Marlins pitching coach from 2006-2007.

Jerry Narron will be Roenicke’s bench coach, replacing the departed Willie Randolph. Randolph was not asked to be a part of the coaching staff and was never a serious candidate for the managerial position, replacing Ken Macha. Rounding out the staff will be Dale Sveum returning as hitting coach, Ed Sedar moving from first to third base coach, Garth Iorg will be the new first base coach, and Stan Kyles will return as bullpen coach.

Some may question why a pitching coach from the lowly Baltimore Orioles was brought in to man the helm for the Brewers, but he does have a good track record. Kranitz was named Baseball America’s 2006 Coach of the Year for his work with the Marlins. His time spent with Baltimore is likely very similar to what ails the Brewers…a lack of considerable talent.

With the coaching staff now in place the focus will turn to improving the roster. Just about every hitter’s name has already been mentioned in trade talks, but Prince Fielder remains the likely name to be moved to acquire starting pitching.