Brewers expected to hire Pat Murphy as new manager

Brewers expected to hire Pat Murphy as new manager

The Milwaukee Brewers are expected to hire bench coach Pat Murphy as the team’s next manager, MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal first reported Monday evening.

Brewers expected to name Pat Murphy their new manager, sources tell @TheAthletic. Murphy, Craig Counsell’s former coach at Notre Dame and his bench coach in Milwaukee from 2015 to ‘23, would become his rival in the NL Central.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 14, 2023

This will be Murphy’s first full-time managerial gig at the MLB level; he was the interim manager for the San Diego Padres in 2015 after Bud Black was fired, going 42-54 in the team’s final 96 games.

This hiring comes in lieu of Craig Counsell‘s shocking departure from the organization, fleeing to the division rival Chicago Cubs who already had an existing manager in place.

Nevertheless, the Brewers decided to go with an in-house hire, though among those in consideration were Toronto Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly, Astros hitting coach Troy Snitker and even former Brewers middle infielder Rickie Weeks, among others, per Rosenthal.

Murphy, 64, has been Milwaukee’s bench coach for the last seven seasons. Before he coached at the MLB level, Murphy was a very successful manager at the collegiate level with Notre Dame and Arizona State, where he went a combined 947-400-2 from 1988-2009.

The Padres’ job is now the only opening available managerial gig in baseball.

The Milwaukee Brewers made the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons last year, finishing 92-70. Though it got swept in the Wild Card round to the eventual National League champion Arizona Diamondbacks. Its current free agents include Carlos Santana, Wade Miley, Eric Lauer and Andrew Chafin, among others; Corbin Burnes, Willy Adames, Rowdy Tellez and Brandon Woodruff will all be free agents in 2025, making this quite the interesting offseason for the Brew Crew.

One piece of the puzzle–their new manager–is put into place, but how will the rest be sorted out? Let us know in the comments!

***

Click here for more MLB content

Check out the Vendetta Shop

Subscribe to Vendetta’s YouTube