The Milwaukee Brewers have been a model of success for the past decade, and it’s quite clear the rest of the league has taken notice. From the Mets’ long-known courtship of David Stearns, to Craig Counsell leaving for the Cubs, to Walker McKinven going to the White Sox, and so many others, teams have been trying to hire away some of the top brains in the Brewers organization.
The Brewers have still retained some of their most crucial coaches and execs, most notably Matt Arnold, Pat Murphy, and Chris Hook. However, some teams are already getting an early jump on the next hiring cycle for coaches. The Red Sox fired a large chunk of their major league coaching staff recently, which has gotten the industry talking.
The Athletic’s Tyler Kepner put together a list of notable names to watch when this next hiring cycle gets into full gear. One current Brewers assistant coach was listed among the names, but it’s probably not who you would have expected.
First base coach Spencer Allen.
The 48-year-old Allen is in his first season as the Brewers’ first base coach. He has been in the organization since 2022, starting as a field coordinator and then most recently serving as the team’s Director of Player Development before being moved to the on-field staff for 2026.
Prior to joining the Brewers, Allen was the head coach for Northwestern’s baseball team.
The Brewers moved Allen to the on-field staff to replace Julio Borbón because they wanted more aggression on the basepaths again. It’s worked so far as the Brewers have the most stolen bases in baseball with 36.
Allen clearly is highly regarded around the league. He’s been a head coach before at the college level, has experience in player development on the pro side, and now has on-field MLB coaching experience. That checks just about every box you could look for in terms of experience, and he’s still fairly young.
Still, Allen probably would not have been most people’s first guess for a Brewers assistant coach to be on the radar for managerial jobs, since this is his first year with the on-field staff, and his previous work in the organization has been more behind the scenes in player development.
It wouldn’t surprise me if third base coach Matt Erickson, offense and strategy coordinator Jason Lane, or field coordinator Nestor Corredor also get some looks at managerial jobs in the future. They weren’t listed by The Athletic for this cycle, however.
Also on the list of candidates was McKinven, the former Brewers strategy coordinator who became the White Sox bench coach prior to last season.