After a two-year run as Milwaukee Brewers associate manager, Rickie Weeks is leaving the dugout for a new role within the organization.
Weeks will now serve as special assistant – baseball operations and domestic/international scouting, the team announced Thursday, Nov. 6.
It had been widely assumed the 43-year-old was hired into the role as associate manager and was being groomed as the potential successor to manager Pat Murphy.
Murphy has excelled since taking over for Craig Counsell in November 2023, though, and would appear to be the favorite to repeat as the National League’s manager of the year, although he just completed the second year of the three-year contract he signed to be manager.
“Rickie is not only a well-respected member of the Brewers organization but also the baseball community,” president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said. “This new role is an opportunity for Rickie to advance his career and broaden his experience, building off what he has accomplished already as a player, coach and baseball operations executive.
“We have no doubt that he will succeed in this new challenge.”
Among Weeks’ new duties:
– Assist with the evaluation of draft-eligible and international players while attending player tryouts, key tournaments and signing-day events;
– Draft preparation for the first-year player draft and assisting in the recruiting and evaluation process of possible amateur and professional player signings;
– Work with baseball operations leadership on player acquisitions and the assessment and recommendation of on-field rules changes and other changes relative to on-field competition.
Before being named associate manager, Weeks served as assistant to player development from 2022 to 2023.
And before that, Weeks played 11 of his 14 major-league seasons for the Brewers and is a member of the Brewers Wall of Honor. His best season came in 2011, when he hit 20 home runs and earned his lone all-star nod.
“The Brewers organization has done an exceptional job with the team over the last two years, and I am appreciative of my time on the coaching staff,” Weeks said. “I will miss the relationships with players and staff and wish nothing but the best to everyone.
“Right now, I will refocus in a new capacity with my eyes on future growth to help this club gain wins in a different role.”
The role of associate manager will not be replaced, the club said, with the responsibilities of the position redistributed and taken on by other members of the coaching staff.
Hitting coach Connor Dawson reportedly leaving for Royals
Weeks also appears to not be the only departure from the coaching staff.
It was reported on Nov. 5 that hitting coach Connor Dawson will be leaving for a similar role with the Kansas City Royals.
Dawson, a native of the Kansas City area, spent four seasons with the Brewers, who moved to a three-man staff of hitting coaches last offseason with Al LeBoeuf as lead and Eric Theisen also coming aboard after being promoted from the minor leagues.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Rickie Weeks will not return as Brewers associate manager, accepts new role in organization
Reporting by Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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