NewsBrewers retain Bosio as advance scout
Former pitching coach will travel ahead to watch other teams
By Adam McCalvy / MLB.com
10/30/09 9:09 PM ET
MILWAUKEE -- Chris Bosio will be back with the Brewers in 2010, though he probably won't spend much time at Miller Park. Bosio, who finished 2009 as Milwaukee's interim pitching coach and was one of three finalists for the permanent job, will instead travel ahead of the team in a newly created advance-scouting position meant to enhance the video-based system already in place. Bosio served a similar role for the Mariners late in the 2001 season. "We talked about a number of different things, but this was the one we talked about at the most length," Bosio said, referring to his discussions with Brewers general manager Doug Melvin. "I enjoy breaking down the game and trying to help us win." The appointment came 10 days after the team announced Bosio would not return as pitching coach -- that job went to organizational newcomer Rick Peterson -- but would be back in a role to be determined. Bosio could have gone to the post he held at the start of 2009 as Triple-A Nashville's pitching coach, but he took the scouting job instead. The Brewers for years have relied on a video system for their advance-scouting reports on opponents. Bosio will work closely with Brewers manager of advance scouting and baseball research Karl Mueller to help to fill what Brewers manager Ken Macha called "holes" in that system by seeing upcoming opponents in person. He'll talk to coaches and fellow scouts about everything from managerial tendencies to who's swinging a hot bat. How Bosio's reports will fit into the current system and the precise details of his travel schedule remain to be ironed out with Melvin. "It's another step in my career, another role that interests me," Bosio said. "I'm thrilled that the organization was looking at me to fill it." Understandably, he would have been more thrilled to be retained as the pitching coach. Bosio took over that job on an interim basis on Aug. 12, when Bill Castro was dismissed. Castro had spent 17 years as Milwaukee's bullpen coach but lasted only 4 1/2 regular-season months as the pitching coach. The Brewers finished the year with a 4.83 ERA, next-to-last in the National League, and tied for last in the Major Leagues with a 5.37 starters' ERA. Bosio inherited a staff still riddled with injuries. "[Returning as the pitching coach] was my first choice, but they wanted to make a change," he said. "Change happens in baseball. That's one thing that's the same whether you're a player or a coach. "It was a [good] opportunity and I tried to make the most of it," he said. "I enjoyed it, being a guy from Wisconsin and a former Brewer." Bosio, who lives near Appleton, Wis., just north of Milwaukee, was the Brewers' second-round Draft pick in 1982 and pitched for the team in the big leagues from 1986-92. "Now my responsibility is different, but I'm going to go work just as hard," he said.Adam McCalvy is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
