Brewers: 7 Manager Candidates To Take Over Now That Craig Counsell Is Gone

Brewers manager candidate #4 - Rangers bench coach Jeff Banister

Jeff Banister should be a priority for a Brewers team looking to end their World Series drought. Banister is the bench coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He knows what it takes to coach a team successfully in October and get to the World Series, something the Brewers haven't been able to do. They've made the postseason but have been eliminated in the first round each of the past four times.

Banister has managerial experience as well, serving as the skipper for the Texas Rangers from 2015-18. He was then a special assistant in the Pirates front office before being hired by the Diamondbacks for their bench coach position ahead of the 2022 season.

During this managerial interview cycle, Banister has been a pretty hot name around the league. He was dealt a tough hand as manager of the Rangers back then and his performance as the bench coach for Arizona has been excellent.

Plucking a coach from a team that has had postseason success may be the best way for the Brewers to end their own postseason woes.

Brewers manager candidate #5 - Team USA manager Mark DeRosa

Former big leaguer and former Cub infielder Mark DeRosa has been a popular name in recent years as a potential future manager. Another smart, cerebral former player that doesn't have much experience in the job but makes sense to pick as a manager.

DeRosa has interviewed in the past for managerial jobs but his lack of experience was a sticking point. As a result, DeRosa was the manager for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic early this spring to get some experience under his belt. Team USA made it to the WBC finals, but ultimately fell to Team Japan.

I could see DeRosa getting an interview with Milwaukee. He's spoken highly of the team in the past and does so regularly as an analyst on MLB Network. With his experience managing Team USA, DeRosa will have something on his resume to prove he's ready to manage an MLB team.