Year for Yost

In a bizarre piece of news, the Brewers announced they picked up the option for 2009 on manager Ned Yost's contract shortly after the 2007 season ended without making an announcement. (JSOnline, Brewers.com and Wisconsin State Journal)

It's not shocking news and it is a good practice to not let coaches go into a year as a "lame duck" (though I'm sure the guys at FireNedYost.com aren't thrilled...), but it's really strange that the Brewers just "forgot" to mention the move. It's definitely newsworthy.

Yost is not perfect, but he makes more right moves than wrong ones and, like any coach, he's given too much credit when things go right and too much disdain when things go wrong. His biggest flaw, and one he admits to, is his bullpen management. I believe another year of experience and the addition of Ted Simmons as bench coach should help substantially. If things go right, the bullpen will also be deeper and stronger than last season.

While Yost's 2009 option has been picked up, I'd be surprised if he's coaching in 2009 with the Brewers if he does not take the team to the playoffs this season. There is a lot of talent on the team and he has helped mold that talent into a winning team on the field, but there is only a small window of time that all of that talent will be together and this could be Yost's last shot to prove he's the man to take Milwaukee back to the postseason.

The 2008 season is truly The Hunt for Ned's October.