My, oh my, how the Brewers have fallen.

A few weeks ago, when the Mets swept Milwaulkee in three games (in Milwaulkee, mind you), I thought perhpas the Brewers might be in a bit more trouble than they bargained for. Prince Fielder wasn’t hitting. Ben Sheets was hurting. And the bullpen was argueably the second shakiest in the National League. Of course, only the Mets’ pen saved the Brew Crew from having that dubious honor.

13 games and 9 losses later, Aaron Rodgers has surplanted Ryan Braun as the young gun on everybody’s TV screen. So what did the Brewers do? Well, about the only thing you can do after the August 31 trading deadline– they fired the manager.

I know next to nothing about Ned Yost as a manager– my many Brewers fan friends have yet to fill me it– except possibly the fact that he loved to throw C.C. Sabathia’s arm into the dirt. I don’t know if he’s a nice guy, if he uses his pitchers well, if he is addicted to crack. I have no idea.

But I do know that firing a manager with less that 2 weeks to go in the season when you are tied for the wild card lead is really silly.

Now, I don’t normally stand up for managers or coaches, especially in baseball. The firing of a millionaire who will very soon be hired by ESPN or FOX as a consultant is hardly a reason to get upset or shed tears–and yes, that means I wasn’t outraged by the whole Willie Randolph thing– I was for firing Art Howe, for firing Joe Torre, for firing Grady Little, certianly for firing Dusty Baker in whatever job he holds, and I still own a “Fire Isiah” T-shirt.

But it makes no sense to fire Ned Yost.

The reason is, managers in baseball don’t do anything. Even in the National League, where Torre is occasionally called upon to send up a pinch hitter or to make a double switch, managers exert very little influence on the game. Let’s be honest- there isn’t one of us, who, if we watched enough games during the season, wouldn’t be able to arrive at the same decisions. This isn’t football, where great coaches make great teams. In baseball, great teams make great managers. (Side note- is it possible that someone will come up with a Quest-tech for managers which grades the statistical wisdom of their decisions? That’d be sweet.)

So ordinarily, I don’t think firing a manager does a heck of a lot, except perhaps if that manager is preaching a particular philosophy to his hitters or pitchers that is harmful: ie, telling them not to take pitches, or not to worry about walking batters. Other then those considerations, managers are essentially cheerleaders. Firing them for reasons other than their managerial philosophies is like firing the PA guy for not playing the right pump up music or the play by play guy for jinxing the team.

So why do I have a problem with the firing of Yost then if I don’t think it will affect the strategy of the game over the next few weeks? And if I think the psychological factors in the Brewers collapse have been overstated? Because the Brewers are risking upsetting their entire clubhouse for little to no benefit.

Let’s face it. It’s not as if the Milwaulkee players don’t want to make the playoffs. They obviously do. As most professional ball players have some concept of Games Back and Games Left To Play, it is also likely that every member of the Brewers is aware of the urgency of the situation. The Brew Crew does not need”a fire lit beneath them” –even if we admit that this proverbial “fire” was capable of making them play better baseball.

So why take the chance that the Brewers players really like Yost and will be less inclined to try and push very hard (and in C.C.’s case, risk their career) for Dale Sveum, the interim manager? Now, the odds of this happening may be very slim, but when all you stand to gain from firing Yost is more angst-indusing media coverage, why would you risk doing so this late in the season? If you really think the team is panicking/pressing, why make a panicky decision instead of standing calm?

This seems to defy even traditional baseball logic, with which I am rarely in agreement!