Milwaukee Brewers Fire Ron Roenicke after going 7-18

The Milwaukee Brewers have fired manager Ron Roenicke Sunday after the team plummeted to a 7-18 start, the worst record in the league.

Brewers President and general manager Doug Melvin made the announcement just hours after the Brewers managed to win 5-3 against the Chicago Cubs. The team is expected to officially name Craig Counsell as the replacement on Monday at a news conference, several media outlets have learned.

"This came together fairly quick," Melvin said. "You can look at the two or three games and say we played better, but we looked at it how we performed over the entire month [of April] and how we performed over the course of the last 100 games."

Melvin added, "The last three games the players have performed better and you say, 'Why couldn't that have happened earlier?' It's [a lack of] consistency. We just did not play good baseball until the last few games. We couldn't wait to see if we'd lose three more or seven of the next 10 or whatever. Ron and I were both very frustrated at how the team was playing. We talked a lot about how you get the guys going and performing on a consistent basis."

Roenicke talked about his firing to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, stating that he wished he was fired a week ago and not when the team just started to play well.

He added, "Regardless of whether I think I'm doing a good job or not, I'm responsible for the team and how we do and how we play. Nobody was happy about what happened at the end of last year and nobody was happy about what happened at the start of this year. So, I get that part. If a team doesn't win, it usually comes down on the manager. Until the last week, we hadn't played very good baseball. My job is to win ball games. Over a course of time now, we haven't won many. That's not good."

The 58-year-old manager was with the Brewers for over four seasons. His record is 342-331.

Counsell is a native of Milwaukee and knows the organization well. He was the Brewers' versatile utility man in 2004 and from 2007 to 2011.

"Craig has many years of major league playing experience, and his three-plus years of learning all aspects of baseball operations helps prepare him for
this managerial position," said Melvin in a statement. "There will be challenges, but Craig has never shied away from leadership responsibilities on the field as a player or in his most recent role. I believe his on-field success as a player and his awareness for preparation should resonate in the clubhouse"

Before his promotion, Counsell was the special assistant to general manager Doug Melvin, a position he has held for three years.