The Milwaukee Brewers got swept by the MLB’s worst team the Oakland A’s over the weekend, and with that came some unnecessary blame towards Brewers owner Mark Attanasio.
Now this vitriol from Brewers fans has been there for Attanasio for the past couple of years, that he doesn’t want to win, he’s too cheap, he doesn’t care about baseball in Milwaukee on and on and on.
First let me address the claim that Attanasio doesn’t spend money. This claim is short-sighted because Attanasio has tried to help make the team competitive but free agents simply don’t want to sign in Milwaukee. Off the top of your head name the last big-market free agent to sign with the Brewers? Aramis Ramirez? Jeff Suppan? Matt Garza? or Kyle Lohse? Big-market free agents don’t want to sign with the Brewers, because they aren’t getting 10-15 year deal for $300 million; more than likely, they are getting a three-year to -four-year deal worth between $40-50 million. Milwaukee isn’t a destination spot for free agents, and have to compete with the payroll they have.
Staying on the subject, the same people complaining about Attanasio doesn’t spend money, are the same people who also get mad when Milwaukee traded our farm system in a coveted trade, and that player leaves after a year. Want examples: See CC Sabathia and Zack Grienke. Those trades depleted Milwaukee’s farm system, and it took until former GM David Stearns who rebuilt the farm system when he took over in 2016.
Spending money doesn’t equate to winning. Via Spotrac The New York Mets have the highest payroll in the MLB at $344,875,664, and yet are 31-35, contrast that with the Tampa Bay Rays who have one of the lowest payrolls in the MLB, and will be the first team to reach 50 wins this season.
Milwaukee has been without their presumptive number two starter in Brandon Woodruff for most of the season, and have had guys in and out of the starting rotation due to injury. They lost Opening Day centerfielder Garrett Mitchell 16 games into the season. They just got back Luis Urias who had been out since Opening Day. They have also had injuries to their bullpen which have made them less formidable.
Everybody wants a free-wheeling owner like Steve Cohen or Padres owner Peter Seidler until they realize that doling out massive extension after massive extension isn’t good for your team long-term, and it handicaps your minor-league system because not only will you not have young talent, but it becomes impossible to develop those guys because they are stuck in the minor leagues.
Milwaukee before missing the postseason in 2022, had been to the playoffs for four straight seasons; yeah none of those appearances ended in a World Series appearance or win, but that doesn’t mean those were bad years. David Stearns should be credited for keeping the Brewers in a competitive window.
Which begs my next question for Brewers’ fans would you rather be the Washington Nationals where you win a World Series, but you’re probably going to be bad the next 5-10 years or would you rather be in the situation you are now where you remain competitive but can’t get over the hump. I understand the frustrations of not winning a World Series in franchise history, but Milwaukee has been close, and with how much parity there is in the National League currently, Milwaukee could sneak into a Wild Card berth and make some noise in the playoffs.
Mark Attanasio wants to win as bad as anybody, and has shown in the past to help get players to Milwaukee to make a World Series push. He’s not cheap, what he’s done as owner of the Brewers is nothing short of remarkable, and there’s not another owner who would do a better job in his situation.
4 Comments
https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/ You can have your own opinion, but you can’t have your own facts. Milwaukee has the 20th ranked payroll. Mets are # 1 26 man payroll at 258 million dollars. Brewers are 20th at 78 million dollars. A beer is $13 at Am Fam. MA can’t afford to compete with big cities, but he didn’t have to trade Hader for basically nothing. Ruiz has potential and we traded him away. Contreras will never be his brother. MA got burnt by Yelich deal, but all the free agents we sign flirt with the Mendoza line, most are dismal.
Is this a joke?
I’d much much rather have a title to hang my hat on. If the goal is simply to be competitive, then why even field a team. Winning isn’t everything but it is the only thing.
I 1000% agree with the first comment. We had a window where this team had a pitching core that WAS good enough to win a World Series. Ya we came up short which is ok. Instead of going out and trying to go for it, he does what he does which is nothing!! I am not buying free agents wouldn’t sign here, I am just not. Sure, they probably can’t land a Bryce Harper or Mike Trout, but they can get free agents. It doesn’t look good when you trade your all star closer at the deadline when in first place. It doesn’t look good when you take your Cy Young starter to arbitration and blame him for the collapse of last season. The window for this team to win anything anymore has gone and past. Is he a bad owner….I wouldn’t say that but he certainly never has gone all in. And yes, I would rather win a World Series and stink the next 5 years because you risked it. Fans are sick of him!!
“Spending money doesn’t equate to winning”
Yes, it does. You can’t simply cite rare exceptions and make it appear like the money doesn’t matter. Look at the WS winner by payroll rank every year…. If you’re spending in the bottom 50%, you have almost no chance whatsoever of winning it all. After you get over the positive PR piece in favor of Attansio above, maybe the readers can realize that you can win the division but never have a real shot at it if your owner doesn’t want to spend (and lets be honest, there have been multiple situations where that has happened thus far).