milwaukee brewers

According to two reports, the Milwaukee Brewers are expected to hire Ken Macha as their new manager. The Brewers called a news conference for Thursday afternoon to announce their new manager.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said as early as Monday that the former A's manager would be general manager Doug Melvin's pick.

ESPN.com confirmed the hiring, citing two unnamed baseball sources.

Ken Macha was hired Thursday as manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, taking over from Dale Sveum following the team's first postseason appearance since 1982.

The 58-year-old Macha, who managed Oakland to a pair of AL West titles, agreed to a two-year contract. He replaces Dale Sveum, who became interim manager when Ned Yost was fired with 12 games left in the regular season.

The Milwaukee Brewers announced Friday that Dale Sveum, who served as interim manager of the team in late September through a first-round loss in the playoffs, would not get the permanent job for next season.

Yovani Gallardo could be the Game 1 starter for the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL playoffs against Philadelphia, even though he's made just one major league appearance since May 1.

Gallardo returned from a torn knee ligament and pitched four innings last Thursday against Pittsburgh. The 22-year-old right-hander allowed one run and three hits while throwing 67 pitches.