Macha fired as Oakland A’s manager

OAKLAND, Calif. – Ken Macha managed the Oakland Athletics into the A.L. Championship Series, yet it still wasn’t enough to save his job.

Macha was fired on Monday, two days after the West champions were swept out of the playoffs by Detroit.

The A’s did not announce a replacement. Bench coach Bob Geren was considered a top candidate.

“Not to fault either side, but I felt a disconnect on a lot of levels,” general manager Billy Beane said. “Once again, it’s not to point the finger at Ken or anything like that. But that disconnect was there and it was something we needed to address as soon as possible.”

Oakland went 368-280 in his four seasons as manager, but has frustrated management and fans by failing to get into the World Series.

“I feel good about what we did here,” Macha said in a phone interview. “I went to the ballpark every day with the sole intent of winning a baseball game for the Oakland A’s, and we did a lot of that. I have zero regrets.”

In an odd episode last October, the A’s parted ways with Macha, then rehired him a week later, giving him a three-year contract.

The A’s became the sixth major league team to let its manager go since the final days of the season. Dusty Baker (Chicago Cubs), Joe Girardi (Florida), Felipe Alou (San Francisco), Frank Robinson (Washington) and Buck Showalter (Texas) are not coming back, either.

To manage the A’s, taking a back seat to Beane is an understood requirement. In the best-selling book “Moneyball,” an in-depth look at Beane’s management style and reliance on statistics, the job comes across as practically interchangeable and not worthy of the big dollars other teams pay their managers.

Macha, 56, made $800,000 this year and was still owed $2.025 million.

Despite a rash of injuries, Oakland won the West with a 93-69 record. After sweeping Minnesota in three games in the first round of the playoffs, the A’s were eliminated by the Tigers in four straight – their first ALCS since 1992.

“I’m really shocked,” said Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who managed Oakland from 1986-95. “I just look at the season they had. … (If) there was friction, how did they beat Minnesota?”

Beane said he didn’t regret rehiring Macha last year.

“No, I think you can only take a decision out of the context of when it was made,” Beane said. “So that was the right decision at that point and we feel this is the right decision at this point.”