MELVIN STARTS SEARCH;THE GM REJECTS THE NOTION THAT KEN MACHA, 60, WAS OUT OF TOUCH WITH HIS YOUNG

Doug Melvin went old school the last time he hired a manager for the Milwaukee Brewers.

That didn't turn out so well, as he acknowledged Monday with the decision not to exercise the option on Ken Macha's contract for 2011. Macha leaves Milwaukee with a losing record - 157-167 in two uninspired seasons, including 77-85 this season.

One school of thought is that there was a generation gap between the 60-year-old Macha and his team, of which none of this season's regulars was older than 28.

While Macha acknowledged that his relationship with the team's two biggest stars, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, was somewhere between testy and nonexistent, Melvin does not buy into the notion that a younger manager is needed to relate to young players.

And he pointed to this season's playoff teams for proof.

"Bobby Cox is 69. Charlie Manuel is 67. Bruce Bochy is 55," Melvin said, noting the managers of Atlanta, Philadelphia and San Francisco, respectively. "The youngest manager of the postseason teams is (the Yankees') Joe Girardi and he has a $200 million payroll. Everybody else is 53 years of age and older. They're all old enough to be fathers of today's players.

"You look at all the managers going to the postseason and they're all experienced guys. They're all hard-core, down-to-earth baseball guys very similar to Ken."

What those other managers had over Macha was a better roster. Melvin conceded that the team's talent level has dipped since it ended a 26-year drought by going to the National League playoffs in 2008.

"Obviously, we've raised the bar since we went to the playoffs in 2008," Melvin said. "We didn't meet those expectations. It's not always the manager's fault but sometimes it's the manager's fault.

"Did he have the best talent out there? The team's not as talented as the 2008 team. We didn't have that kind of talent. I told (owner) Mark (Attanasio) we have to become more talented."

While Melvin figures to spend much of the off-season trying to improve that talent level - especially the pitching - his first job will be to pick a new manager. Though Macha has been seen as a lame duck for months, Melvin said the process of sifting through candidates is just beginning.

"Do you want an older guy? A younger guy? A proven guy? To get a guy that's won more games than Ken Macha, that's going to be tough," he said.

Melvin declined to discuss any prospective candidates, including current Brewers coaches such as Willie Randolph and Dale Sveum.

The most prominent name tossed out by national reporters is former Arizona manager Bob Melvin - no relation to Doug - who was a candidate when Ned Yost was hired after the 2002 season.

Other ex-managers who have been mentioned include Cecil Cooper, Clint Hurdle, Eric Wedge and Jim Fregosi.

Among the rising group of managerial candidates are: former Brewers shortstop and current Washington coach Pat Listach; Chicago White Sox coach Joey Cora; Los Angeles Angels coach Ron Roenicke; Tampa Bay coach Tom Foley; Los Angeles Dodgers Class AAA manager Tim Wallach and Chicago Cubs Class AAA manager Ryne Sandberg.

One of the most persistent criticisms of Macha's game strategy was his reliance on the home run and his disdain for the running game. Melvin said he thought the team could have run a little more, but that ballpark and roster factors supported Macha's approach.

"I think our park is conducive to fly-ball hitters," he said. "I'm a big believer in ballpark effects. We could have run more ... I told Ken that. But you do that and you get into pitching around the guys behind them."

For Melvin, who has two years remaining on his contract, the goal is to find the person to lead the team for the long haul.

"I've been a GM for 15 years and I've only let two managers go," Melvin said. "(You want) stability. A lot of people want to know why the Minnesota Twins have success. It's stability. They've had two managers in 30 years.

"This is a learning process. We have a lot of young players. Sometimes you have to have patience."