I can’t wait until the Brewers trade Ryan Braun.
All kidding aside, this sounds just like Doug Melvin is trying to use the media to get his point across that players don’t need to be criticizing the management. Maybe he took it personally. I have no idea. I can only guess at what’s going on.
Players as well as upper management in the MLB use the media solely for strategic purposes I’m sure, as it’d be the most logical thing to do — you can manipulate the public’s perception of you, your team, and your players through the newspaper. It’s why people who say that “reporter X is just a spokesperson for Scott Boras” are essentially right but they should extend that to “reporter X is just a spokesperson for the baseball team.” You can replace “baseball team” with “government” or “university” or any other entity and you are still accurate in terms of the crux of the U.S. media. Media manipulation is one of the ways the Brewers create a positive spin on their ballclub. Remember that Fox Sports Wisconsin is a partner with the Milwaukee Brewers and not an independent media entity.
In other words, my guess as to what Melvin’s trying to do is give Brauny a little slap on the wrist in public just as a warning to never speak out against the pitching staff again. This won’t be made into a big deal so long as Braun keeps his mouth shut from now on and only is frank enough not to want to cause a big tussle in public.
