RANDOLPH IN THE HUNT FOR BREWERS' JOB

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     Willie Randolph says he's aggressive by nature and prides himself on being a teacher and motivator. 

     Bob Melvin says he's a hands-on kind of coach who can be intense on the bench, is upbeat and would be honest with his players at all times. 

     Both men bring loads of big-league experience, both as players and coaches, and they have nice things to say about Milwaukee. 

     And both of them, and doubtless several others, want to be the next manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, a team that has had 10 straight losing seasons. 

     Randolph, the longtime New York Yankees second baseman, is currently the third-base coach for the Yankees. Melvin, a catcher during his playing days, is the bench coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

     Both spent time in Milwaukee: Randolph as a player in 1991 (he batted .327 in 124 games) and Melvin as bench coach under manager Phil Garner in 1999. 

     On Thursday, both Randolph and Melvin were in Milwaukee for interviews with general manager Doug Melvin. And in an unusual twist for the Brewers, each candidate separately talked to reporters after the interview. The media interviews were videotaped and were expected to be shown to Doug Melvin afterward, team officials said. 

     Bob Melvin was first up Thursday, and was asked how he would change the mind-set of losing in Milwaukee. 

     "It's a tough question and it's something you definitely have to look hard at," he said. "You have to have some changes in mind, and I think one of them would be preparation. 

     "Teams like this have to prepare a little better. You have to bring in some people who have won and, you know, I'm not talking about $10 million guys, but there's guys out there, the gamer type of guy, like Craig Counsell, whom we have in Arizona. Guys who lead by example, and they have to buy into what you're trying to accomplish. They have to understand we're not going to win 100 games next year, but winning breeds success." 

     Bob Melvin, who is not related to Doug Melvin, said his impression of the Brewers last year was that the players needed to get a little better at catching the ball, not throwing it away. 

The Brewers, he said, hurt themselves by making mistakes late in the game.

     He praised the young pitchers the Brewers have, including Ben Sheets and Nick Neugebauer, and hitters Richie Sexson and Geoff Jenkins. But the team needs to play better defense, too. 

     "I think this club isn't far away, he said. "Couple of players, change the mind-set, and continually try to improve." 

     Bob Melvin said team chemistry was an important element to success. 

     "You can put together an all-star team and you might not win," he said. "The role players are so important. . . . I'd rather see a guy hit .260 with a .360 on-base percentage and doesn't run very well, then a guy who hits .300 with a .310 on-base percentage and runs well." 

     Bob Melvin, who has an interview with the Chicago Cubs next week, said players feed off the manager's attitude. And he said his attitude would be energetic and positive. 

     "In a situation like this, you want to be upbeat," he said. "Because if you lose your first four or five games of the year, everybody is going to say, `Here we go again.' And then that's dangerous." 

     In his meeting with reporters, Randolph was more circumspect about what he would do as manager. 

     "I know a little about the personnel here," he said. "I know they have some talent. I know they have some players that probably won't be here next year. So it's hard to say for sure. You start at spring training, see what you got and get ready to go to war." 

     Randolph said he would have played Brewers shortstop Jose Hernandez at the end of the season. Former manager Jerry Royster held Hernandez out of the lineup late in the season to avoid setting the major-league record for strikeouts. 

     "If I was the manager, I'd put him in the lineup," Randolph said. `If you're healthy, you play. Unless he was hurt or couldn't play, I would think he would want to play." 

As wth Bob Melvin, Randolph said it was important to find players who are willing to accept the manager's philosophy.

     "By nature, I am a very aggressive type of individual so if we have the players to be aggressive and run and do things like that, that's ideal," he said. "That's pretty much been the way I've been taught and pretty much how I like to go about running my ballclub." 

     Randolph, who was interviewed by the New York Mets and the Detroit Tigers and will be interviewed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, said he had known Doug Melvin a long time and had a good rapport with him. 

     "Being part of an organization that's solid and has an idea of where they want go, working with individuals who have the same goal in mind, it's intriguing," he said. 

     But Randolph knows that winning has been a foreign concept in Milwaukee. And so he would have to be patient with the ballclub in Milwaukee. 

     "I've been pretty fortunate to be a part of some great ballclubs, and used to a lot of winning," he said. "Start from the bottom and work your way into what you want do do, your style and system, and get the players that you need to move up the ladder and go to the next level." 

     Besides Randolph and Bob Melvin, other candidates who have been mentioned for the job include Jerry Narron, who was fired by the Texas Rangers, and Ken Macha, the bench coach for the Oakland A's.