Welcome to Saturday Scorecard. We usually like to come out of the gate with some kind of quip, but this isn't a day for humor.

The Brewers are circling the drain and the daily newspaper just parted ways with a large group of talented, passionate, conscientious reporters, editors and administrative support workers. I've known some of them for nearly two decades. Others are strangers, but I feel for them personally and am saddened by the both the profession and the community that are diminished by their departures.

On to the notes...

Dead man walking? You see the picture of Brewers pitching coach Billy Castro that accompanies this column?

Do you think he is to blame for the Brewers' woes this season? Do you think he should be fired?

I don't, but I can't say I'll be surprised if it happens.

When Brewers owner Mark Attanasio fired Ned Yost with 12 games left last season, he set a precedent. The Brewers were sputtering at the time, but they also had a 83-67 record and were in the thick of a wild-card race they eventually won. Yost may have been under fire for a good portion of his tenure, but he basically was gassed after two bad weeks.

The current club has been leaking oil for nearly two months, and if the catastrophe continues it won't be surprising -- especially after last year -- if change comes.

Would that be fair? No. But, it's not fair that Castro has been handed what amounts to a mediocre Class AAA pitching staff and told to compete in an excruciatingly tough sport before a group of fans whose expectations for this club started in the range of "lofty" and climbed toward "borderline unreasonable."

Is it Castro's fault that Dave Bush got hurt, Manny Parra has been a head case, Carlos Villanueva lost his mojo, Mark DiFelice can't retire lefties and Braden Looper is showing why St. Louis let him leave? Is it his fault that the organization has no pitching depth and that Jack Zduriencik's scouting strategy favored hitters over pitchers?

Do you think, in his first year in the post that he waited 17 years to  attain, that Castro's  blueprint for the Brewers' return to the playoffs included major contributions from Mike Burns, Chris Smith, R.J. Swindle Tim Dillard and, now, Claudio Vargas?

Of course not, but these are the guys who have been inflating the team ERA at present, turning close games into 17-hit debacles.

The loss to San Diego Friday night at Petco Park was a particularly low point. Looper took a six-run lead into the bottom of the second and turned it into a one-run cushion when he was lifted after the fifth. The Brewers needed innings and he couldn't deliver.

With the trading deadline gone and little hope for saving the season, Attanasio and general manager Doug Melvin may at some point toss a grenade in what is becoming a comatose clubhouse by making a move on Castro or one of his colleagues on the coaching staff. It happens all the time in baseball.

Castro, a Brewers lifer, could be reassigned into an instructor's role and replaced by Class AAA Nasvhille pitching coach Chris Bosio, who would then be reunited with most of the Sounds' staff. A certain group of fans may applaud such of move, but would it represent progress? Has Castro worked in the job long enough to say, definitively, that he's not up to the task? 

As my radio colleague, Steve "The Homer" True might say, "When your horse is a donkey, what difference does the jockey make?"

A move on the coaching staff would put the spotlight on Macha, who probably has the team in a better position than it deserves based on its heinous run-differential. Macha became fungible the instant he signed a two-year contract, which is basically like a one-year deal in today's managerial marketplace. While it's highly unlikely that he'll be removed before the end of this season, things may have to be better for him to return for 2010.

Is this fair? No. But it's baseball. 

Castro and Macha are good baseball men tossed in a very tough situation. They deserve a better fate. Then again, so do the nearly 3 million fans plowing through the turnstiles at Miller Park.

The Brewers are approaching a very interesting crossroads fraught with interesting and potentially agonizing decisions. There is no doubt some things must change. The end of the dugout where the pitching coach and manager stand is a natural starting point, but obvious answers don't always lead to successful solutions.

Larry King Lounge: Did you see Cliff Lee pitch a complete-game victory in his debut with the Phillies? How does that make you feel about Clayton Richard's chances tonight against the Brewers?... Quarterback Tavaris Jackson hurt his knee already at Vikings camp. Let the Favre rumors begin.... Congratulations to veteran coach Tim O'Driscoll and the Arrowhead baseball team, which won the WIAA state championship with a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Marquette yesterday in Stevens Point.... Check out CBSsports.com for their "Rapid Reports" on NFL camps. Good information in short bursts.... Want to make a quick buck on the Bucks? Open up a store that sells "Hello. My name is ___" badges near the Cousins Center.... Why would the Buccaneers wear those ugly Dreamsicle orange jerseys again?... You may have heard a tape of ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews' call to 911. Andrews, whose life has to be miserable since some lowlife Peeping Tom posted a naked video of her on the internet, was complaining about a couple of paparazzi staking out her house. While I feel sympathy for Andrews and the way her privacy was violated, I couldn't help noticing the irony that her call to 911 came while her co-worker, Rachel Nichols, and an ESPN satellite truck were camped outside the gates of Brett Favre's estate in Hattiesburg.... Speaking of ESPN, is anybody out there watching the X Games? Didn't think so.