That's an interesting perspective. The Brewers had the 2nd best record in the NL (not any more after last night's loss), and they were on target to win 90+ games and make the playoffs. As much as some criticize Yost, that's quite an accomplishment for a team with a modest cumulative salary (15th out of 30), no leadoff hitter, only 1 consistent quality starting pitcher, and other flaws.
I assure you, things could get a lot worse. Look at Cleveland, Detroit, Seattle, Baltimore, St. Louis, and the Yankees, all of whom have similar or higher team salaries and are hopelessly out of contention.
If changing managers with less than 2 weeks left in a season when a team is contending for a pennant was a good idea, why hasn't any team ever done it before? I still think it's a bad idea, and will have negative effects.
Well, at least you've backed off your "wins mean everything for a pitcher" stance. That's progress... however you still seem fixated on what the so-called "experts" predicted.
Furthermore, yes our payroll is modest, but it's certainly a far cry from where it was in past years. We gave Ryan Braun a large extension, and added salary both before the season and then during the season with the Sabathia acquisition. Also keep in mind that the payroll is low in part because we just have a lot of young talent that we haven't had to pay the big bucks to yet. Granted, we're still a small-market team, but teams such as Minnesota, Oakland, Tampa Bay, and Florida have proven that you don't have to spend big bucks to be competitive. Meanwhile, teams like the Yankees are floundering (as you have mentioned), and even your precious Cubbies weren't anything special in 2007 after that spending spree in the offseason before. I think that to a certain degree, the days of buying championships are over, as even teams like the Yankees are trying to strengthen their farm systems and build from within. So while big spending will always help to a degree, I don't know that it will necessarily be the factor it was last decade. Good scouting can now help level the playing field somewhat and at least give the small markets windows of years to compete.
Finally, I realize you probably haven't seen many Brewers games this month, but I've seen them all, and I can assure you that the team had no fire, was too tight, and the wheels were totally coming off. Yes, they are mathematically on a 90-win pace, but if you look at what they've done in the last few weeks, there is no way they were going to reach that number. The team that got to 80 wins by the end of August had completely disappeared, following their manager's lead in crumbling under the pressure.
Thus, something had to be done. Will it work? I have no idea, but standing back and watching the team self-destruct was an even worse option. If this team can right the ship quickly, there is still a chance. Last night, they finally showed some fight, and even though they lost, there was definitely a better demeanor about the team than what I saw in the first 14 games of the month.
