Dalton Out; Brewers Put Bando in Charge

Sal Bando replaced Harry Dalton as general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday, and his first decision will be whether to bring back Manager Tom Trebelhorn.

Bando, 47, was a member of three World Series winners with Oakland in the 1970s before he signed with Milwaukee as a free agent. He had been a special assistant to Dalton since 1981, and his new title will be senior vice president of baseball operations.

“We need to make a decision for 1992. We will do it in the short term,” Bando said referring to Trebelhorn. “It could be as short as a day and it could be as long as a week. . . . I’m very open right now.”

Brewer owner Bud Selig said Dalton will be reassigned to a senior vice president and will work on special projects.

Dalton, who brought Frank Robinson to Baltimore, Nolan Ryan to the Angels and Rollie Fingers and Pete Vuckovich to Milwaukee, called his reassignment a “bittersweet moment.”

“I’d be less than candid if I told you I was particularly thrilled about no longer being the general manager,” Dalton said. “But I’m very, very pleased about remaining with the team.”

Critics blamed Dalton for trades that brought Franklin Stubbs, Edwin Nunez and Ron Robinson to Milwaukee and for signing multimillion-dollar contracts with Stubbs and pitcher Teddy Higuera. All were ineffective or injured in 1991.

Tensions built as Brewer third baseman Gary Sheffield accused Dalton of “ruining the team” during a spring training interview.