"Longtime Brewers coach Bill Castro happened to be at Miller Park , arranging for some items to be shipped home to the Dominican Republic, when he got the call he was waiting for.
Brewers manager Ken Macha was on the other end of the line. He offered Castro, the Brewers' bullpen coach for the past 17 seasons, a new opportunity as pitching coach.
"It's a dream come true," Castro said a few hours later. "It's a big foot in the door for me."
Castro, 56, will be serving under his seventh different full-time or interim manager in 2009, his 18th season on the Major League coaching staff and his 35th season in some capacity with the Brewers as a player, scout or coach. He will replace Mike Maddux, who had an offer from the Brewers to return for a seventh season as pitching coach but instead took a richer offer from the Texas Rangers.
Castro was the only candidate interviewed for the Brewers' opening. The Brewers were looking for experience in their bench coach, and they found it in one of their managerial candidates.
Former Mets manager Willie Randolph, one of three finalists for the managerial vacancy eventually filled by Ken Macha, on Saturday was named Macha's bench coach. It was the team's second coaching appointment in as many days -- Bill Castro was elevated to pitching coach on Friday, and it left the bullpen coach as Milwaukee's only vacancy.
Randolph said he spoke with Macha the morning after the Brewers made their managerial choice, simply to offer congratulations. Four hours later, Macha called with the bench-coach offer.
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"It surprised me, too," Randolph said. "He had what you call a brainstorm, I guess."
Brewers general manager Doug Melvin told Randolph he will be free to interview for managerial openings as they become available. Randolph has already been mentioned as a possibility for Seattle's vacancy.
"'I didn't really want to wait around," Randolph said. "If I get a job that will put me in the manager's seat any time in my tenure, I could do that. It was nice that Doug left that as an option.'"
According to the Randolph article, he was offered the position on the same day the Brewers decided on Macha, which means that they've been sitting on this announcement for almost two weeks? Surprising
