Happy Halloween everyone!  Hopefully you have enough candy to last you for the weekend.  

Here are some sweet links for you.  Anyone catch the candy-sweet connection?  Yes, I know I am incredibly witty.

As you all know by now, Ken Macha is now the manager of the Milwaukee Brewers.  How about some reactions?

• I love how Macha wants to evaluate talent on his own, instead of relying on people within the organization to do so.  He is trying to come in with an open mind and assess the talent of specific players.  I can only imagine he is talking about players like Bill Hall and Rickie Weeks.  Macha does not want to hear about potential, about how close the players are to breaking out.  He wants to head into Spring Training and see it first hand for himself.  You have to love that.  Could the Brewers see some major changes this Spring Training? 
• Ken Rosenthal from FOX Sports says Macha needs to work on his communication with his veteran players.  Many of the quotations are pretty condemning by themselves, but it is important to note that Jason Kendall welcomed Macha to the Brewers with open arms yesterday.  I have even heard the term "players' manager."  My how that would change the picture painted by the media.
• In-Between Hops analyzes some of Macha's trends from his days in Oakland, but the post undermines itself when it admits that Billy Beane called the shots for the A's...not Macha.  How can you criticize Macha for playing the same lineup day in and day out when that's what Beane advocated?  How can you criticize Macha for leaving in his starters for a little extra work when you have Mark Mulder, Barry Zito (before he sucked), and Tim Hudson?  I think the post makes a very astute point when it argues that we have very little idea about what type of manager Macha will be in Milwaukee.  We simply do not know.
• The Brew Town Beat warns that Milwaukee will not be playing too much small ball under Macha.  That is probably a good thing, as we all witnessed Bill Hall try to bunt last season.  Little Leaguers all over the country had to shield their eyes from those fundamentals.
• View From Bernie's Chalet loves the fact that Macha is not going to try to be buddy-buddy with Brewers players.  If the players are not producing, they will not play.  As Macha said in his interview, "The manager's job is not to always be buddies with the managers."  Agreed.  Unfortunately, many Major Leaguers have ego issues and think that they deserve to start every day with a sub-.200 average against right handers (I am talking to you Bill Hall).  Brewers fans everywhere will appreciate this no-nonsense approach to managing.
• Right Field Bleachers employs a roundtable approach to the Macha hiring.  I have to agree with Tyler's point.  In the end, this hiring will not matter too much.  Let's stop fussing over who the manager will be for the Crew and actually focus on players who will actually get up off the bench once in a while.  I stick by the mantra that when a team is winning games, the players will get the credit.  When a team is struggling, the media and fans prefer to use the manager as a scapegoat.  Sounds familiar, does it not?
• Chuckie Hacks has the same concerns as many Brewers bloggers do about Macha, except the post fails to address the Billy Beane factor in Oakland.  Beane essentially forced Macha to be rigid in his lineups and leave his starters in a bit too long.  Same old, same old...

On to some non-Macha related notes.

• The Milwaukee Brewers had five players file for free agency yesterday.  Ben Sheets, Brian Shouse, Eric Gagne, Gabe Kapler, and Mike Lamb have all eschewed arbitration to test the open market.  I suspect the Crew will give Shouse a competitive offer, but I am not sure he will get the two-year deal he craves.  Lamb might be an interesting sign, but it will solve absolutely nothing at the hot corner.  That is, unless Lamb has an epic comeback year. 
• Bleeding Blue and Teal wonders what it would take to get J.J. Hardy to Seattle now that Jack Zduriencik is the GM in the rainy city.  While I understand this Seattle-Milwaukee trade talk will become a common occurrence, the offer is absolutely ridiculous.  Jose Lopez and Jarrod Washburn for J.J. Hardy and Brad Nelson?  Really?  You could not come up with a better package than that?  I do not want Jose Lopez, and certainly do not want Jarrod Washburn on my team.  The Yankees wouldn't even give up a middling prospect to get Washburn last summer.  Why would Milwaukee give up Hardy?  (h/t Brew Crew Ball)
• Pat Burrell rejected a two-year deal from the Philadelphia Phillies and will now explore the free agent market.  He will make a pretty penny somewhere this winter.  It will not be in Milwaukee, however.
• In one of the more-talked about bargain free agents of this offseason, Rocco Baldelli is drawing interest from the Tampa Bay Rays.  I suspect Rocco will most likely give the Rays a hometown discount, as the organization stuck with him through his rare mitchondrial disorder that caused him to miss extensive time.  The Crew could get in the talks though, so do not count anything out here.
• This may be unpopular with some, but I believe that Chad Cordero could be an excellent pick-up for the Crew at the right price.  The Washington Nationals outrighted him to Triple-A, but the right-hander declined the move and chose free agency.  Chad will likely sign a one or two-year incentive-laden contract with a team with an opening for a closer.  The right-hander is healing up nicely and will begin to throw again in the coming weeks.  You can bet that Doug Melvin will give Cordero's agent a call.
• First trade of the offseason?  The Kansas City Royals sent right-hander Leo Nunez to Florida for first baseman Mike Jacobs.  I am not sold on Nunez as a late-inning reliever because of his fly ball tendencies, but this looks to be a decent deal for both sides.  Jacobs may not fit too well in KC, but it addresses a problem area for the team.
• My favorite article of the day:  Dugout Central examines a new statistic, "second appearances."  The article postulates that a top-tier reliever should improve dramatically the second or third time facing a particular team.  The elite closers in the game, the likes of Joe Nathan and Jonathan Papelbon, do so to a large degree.  Below average relievers struggle more after facing a team the first time.  Give the article a look.  It is quite interesting.