Brewers' Braun, Melvin clear the air

MILWAUKEE -- Hours before the start of a key homestand, Brewers All-Star outfielder Ryan Braun and general manager Doug Melvin met for a tete-a-tete in a quiet dugout at Miller Park. They cleared the air after what amounted to a two-day spat in the media.

Then it was back to baseball.

"Doug and I are cool," Braun said.

"We're moving forward," Melvin said.

The surprising rift between Melvin, the popular GM who inherited a 106-loss team in late 2002 and built a contender that made it to the postseason in 2008, and Braun, the young superstar who will start his second All-Star Game next week, formed on Sunday, when Braun called on Melvin to bolster the Brewers' starting rotation. Melvin shot back Monday, calling Braun's comments "inappropriate" and "irresponsible."

Melvin even suggested that, "I'll be glad to have Ryan help if he wants to. I'll give him a badge and he can be my deputy."

On Tuesday, Deputy Braun faced reporters in the same dugout where he and Melvin met hours earlier. He delivered an unprepared statement that he said, "came from the heart."

"Doug and I met this afternoon as soon as I got to the ballpark," Braun said. "We had a good discussion. I think both of us now have a clear understanding of where each other is coming from, and it's derived from being competitive. Everybody wants to win. It's not going to jeopardize my relationship with him and it's not going to jeopardize my relationship with the organization. I know they are trying their best to do their jobs. They always have, and always will. This is basically a misunderstanding.

"I feel like my comments were kind of taken out of context a little bit, blown out of proportion. I was a little bit surprised that it became the story that it has. With that being said, I take full responsibility for everything that I say, for all of my actions. At times I'm emotional, I'm passionate, and it's derived from wanting to win. I definitely take full responsibility for everything.

"That being said, Doug and I are cool. Everything is good. I have no issues with anybody. I apologize if I offended anybody in the organization. That clearly wasn't my intent. I wasn't trying to disrespect anybody. I wasn't trying to call anybody out. It wasn't a conversation that I initiated; I was basically responding to a question. I try, when I'm dealing with the media, to be honest, and sometimes I'm honest to a fault. It gets me in trouble, and I recognize that. It's a strength and a weakness that I need to be more aware of at times.

"Moving forward, hopefully this is something I'll learn from. It's definitely something I'll learn from. We'll move on."
Reached by telephone, Melvin had the same sentiment.

"We cleared the air," Melvin said. "I told him that neither one of us needed to apologize to the other. We just talked. Now we're moving forward. We're OK. It was important that we get together."

Braun made his original comments after the Brewers lost for the fourth time in five games on Sunday, including three losses in four games against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Right-hander Mike Burns, one of two new additions to a starting rotation missing Manny Parra (demoted to Triple-A) and Dave Bush (injured), surrendered seven runs without escaping the fifth inning in Sunday's 8-2 loss.

The other new starter, Seth McClung, surrendered seven runs in 3 1/3 innings of the series opener and has since been moved back to the bullpen.

"We need to find a way to throw the ball a little better to have success," Braun said Sunday. "When you're constantly behind in games, it's not easy. It's not fun. [The Cubs'] starting pitching was clearly a lot better than ours this series. ... We're at the point right now where it would be important for us to go out there and acquire somebody."
McClung was asked for his response on Tuesday.

"It wasn't the smartest thing to stay, but I'm sure it came from a decent place," McClung said. "He just wants us to do well. I don't think that pointing fingers is ever a good thing, but I think it's going to blow over. We've never had an incident before, at least while I've been here, and I feel like we're a tough enough team as far as everybody liking each other that this will blow over. We have tough skin."

Brewers pitching coach Bill Castro said he had not been approached by any pitchers who were upset by Braun's comments. Still, Castro wasn't thrilled.

"We all have a job to do," he said. "Leave it at that."

Could it divide the pitchers and the hitters?

"I hope not," Castro said. "I hope he said what he needed to say, whatever he was trying to say or bring out."
Brewers manager Ken Macha knew something was up when he received a call from Melvin on Sunday night, after the Brewers returned from Chicago. With an off-day on Monday, it was "very uncharacteristic," Macha said, for the GM to call.

"Doug can stand on his record," Macha said. "He's pretty good at what he does. Last year, he wound up getting a pretty good pitcher for this ballclub."

That was CC Sabathia, acquired in a blockbuster deal with the Indians that cost the Brewers their top prospect -- Matt LaPorta -- plus talented center field prospect Michael Brantley and two pitchers.

"I'm glad they got together and they're on the same page," Macha said of the meeting between player and GM. "We have to focus on winning games, and to do that, everybody has to be pulling the rope in the same direction."

Melvin and Braun will be pulling for some time. Melvin signed a three-year contract extension through 2012 last fall, less than six months after he inked Braun to a new, eight-year deal through 2015.



(mlb.com)