Attanasio "We have to be fiscally responsible..." [merged... Mark A.: Sign of strength or sign of weakness? reply #52ish]

[dpapo]

There is an interview with Mark Attanasio in JSOnline today and for those people who think the Brewers have all this extra money to spend, that may not be entirely the case. Here are some of the quotes from Attanasio that wasn't actually in the article, but a story which links to the article.

"Doug is incredibly disciplined," Attanasio said. "We have a budget that business works up, and baseball works up a budget. We don;t say the number is $90 million or it's $80 million. Then Quinn does a budgetary buildup, with ticket price revenue, paring revenues, sponsorship revenue, Central Fund revenues...."

Then the Brewers come up with a number. "As names of players come up, I'll say that's a budget-busting name. I don't want to say, 'I love that guy, go get 'em.' I say, 'Doug, for a name like that, a fan recognizable name that, more important to Doug, is a difference-maker for our team, that becomes a different conversation. It can be that. But I want to emphasize that we have to be fiscally responsible.

"We have to be fiscally responsible to be facing what we are facing this year. It's a tightrope but we are walking it."

Attanasio and Melvin often use the word "flexibility" when it comes to spending for players. But the dour economic conditions have changed the game this year. "There is flexibility," Attanasio said. "But you can't use 'a lot' any more because of the economy."

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/35959644.html

Some quotes from the article in the newspaper,

"One of the challenges I have is buying into a falling market. When you buy into a rising market, you can't move fast enough. The challenge here is that, look, any investment you made in 2008 on Wall Street, 12 months ago, 12 weeks ago, 12 days ago, even 12 hours ago, you are down. We have to be careful with what is going on here."

"Attanasio knows that Melvin has proven adept in previous seasons at signing players late in the winter. "We think we will see some bargains at the last minute," Attanasio said. "We'll keep our powder dry a little bit."

There is not a specific number for next season's payroll; last year, the Brewers spent more than $90 million. Attanasio said Melvin has some flexibility to make a run for a quality player."

"Attanasio also said that the franchise turned a slight profit this past season, although he did not disclose specifics. Getting two playoff games at Miller Park last season helped the bottom line, he said."

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/35939054.html

[bklynbrewcrew]

I had a fear of this when the stock market started tanking. Attanasio runs a money management firm and Im sure he has lost a ton of money. Looks like we are dumping contracts right now instead of trying to win. I wouldnt be surprised if our payroll drops to the 60 mil range or so. Looks like its gonna be a very disappointing offseason.

[Never Outhustled]

Attanasio also said that the franchise turned a slight profit this past season, although he did not disclose specifics.

I remember how funny it was during the season when Attanosio stated the team would lose money this year, like we're all totals rubs and haven't the slightest knowledge of baseball economics. The secret is out, this team can easily support a $90 million dollar payroll, and more.

[rm121978]

$60-70m payroll the next 2 years, then spend some money and "go for it" in 2011. That's all this team/market can hope for - have .500 seasons and make a playoff run every 2-3 years.

[JohnBriggs12]

I had a fear of this when the stock market started tanking. Attanasio runs a money management firm and Im sure he has lost a ton of money. Looks like we are dumping contracts right now instead of trying to win. I wouldnt be surprised if our payroll drops to the 60 mil range or so. Looks like its gonna be a very disappointing offseason.

That's reality bklybrewcrew and 90% of the teams in baseball have to live in it.

[dpapo]

To be fair, this is similar to what Attanasio has stated in the past, except for this parts about how bad the economy is at the moment. I just think for people who thought we may have had a $90 million payroll or even $80 million to start the season, it's probably not going to happen. The Brewers may be able to sign one player to a $10 million dollar contract, say a Fuentes, but probably not two. So, maybe they spend some money on a Fuentes or a starter now and then try to pick up one of two other free agent pitchers later on when they wouldn't have to pay as much.

Now, if they are able to not only dump Cameron's, but also Hall's salaries, maybe that will give them the flexibility to do a bit more.

[BADGERJOBOB]

Maybe we should dump all of our really good players for tons of prospects and hope to have a repeat of 2008 sometime within the next 10 years. What a joke. We cram 3 million people through the gates this year and we get the same sob story of how this team loses money and can't afford to pay anyone a decent salary.

 

Attanasio is right in that in this economic downturn a lot fewer fans will go see a ballgame but it won't be because of the economy that fans won't go, it will be because this team won't have a realistic chance to compete for a playoff spot this year if we tourniquet our spending.

[jeffy]

All the owners are wealthy and likely have lost a lot in the stock market. In addition, most of them are probably concerned about the possibility of lower revenue due to lower attendance and less demand for sky boxes, over-priced concessions, etc.

 

(one wonders how teams in NY, the financial capital of the US, are doing with leasing of all the new sky boxes, that I assume are part of the two new ballparks)

[zzzmanwitz]

Lets not jump off ship yet. If no signings are made before the season, then yes, lets get a little upset. I've got them at about 65 Million right now, taking arbitration eligible players into account. There is still plenty of room (and plenty of FAs) to make a move.

[JJHardy7]

I remember how funny it was during the season when Attanosio stated the team would lose money this year, like we're all totals rubs and haven't the slightest knowledge of baseball economics. The secret is out, this team can easily support a $90 million dollar payroll, and more.

 

As long as they win and attendance doesn't drop. I don't think 'easily' is close to reality IMO. A few more Suppan type contracts to get to $90 million isn't a good thing. I don't think the Brewers made a ton of money last year. They maybe made a few bucks, but having a successful franchise is more important long-term to increase the value of the franchise.

[MessiahRp]

I guess this fits here -

 

Buster Olney: Brewers' time in the spotlight has, sadly, passed

 

http://insider.espn.go.co...dex%3fname%3dolney_buster

 

Rp

[nate82]

You are all reading way to much into this. The Brewers can support a payroll up to $90-95 million depending on the attendance and merchandise sales. The Brewers can be profitable at $80-85 million depending on attendance and the merchandise sales. The Brewers are very profitable at $75-80 million in salary.

 

The Brewers can also be a winning team in those salary ranges. It just takes better scouting and some luck to be competitive at the right times. The Brewers just have to make right decisions on who they pay for you can't sign a lot of Suppan's to back end loaded contracts.

[Tbadder]

Maybe we should dump all of our really good players for tons of prospects and hope to have a repeat of 2008 sometime within the next 10 years.

 

I don't think this would be the worst idea. Especially if we obtain guys that needed only one year at AAA to be major league ready. That would allow our second mini-wave (Gamel, Escobar, possibly Jeffress) entry as well, and that could be followed up with the 3rd wave (AA and A+ players, possibly even Lawrie by then). Coupled with extra picks this year, and some luck, we might be able to create a Twins-like organization and actually be competitive on a consistent basis. We will never be competitive spending money--ever, never.

[TooLiveBrew]

Looks like its gonna be a very disappointing offseason.

 

Good grief, I've lost count of how many times you've posted this bkbrewcrew. We get it. You're exceedingly impatient.

 

I agree with Nate, and think nothing more should be read into this than they're not going to be making any additions like Sabathia's of last season. There's still plenty of room for the team to make acquisitions.

[brewmann04]

well no one knows how much he actually lost so we should not dump on him yet.

the fans did come and he did add CC so i have alot of respect for the man.

with the way the ecomony is it hard to see the brewers having 3 million again

[MessiahRp]

well no one knows how much he actually lost so we should not dump on him yet.

the fans did come and he did add CC so i have alot of respect for the man.

with the way the ecomony is it hard to see the brewers having 3 million again

I believe I saw this quote above: "Attanasio also said that the franchise turned a slight profit this past season, although he did not disclose specifics."

 

So he didn't lose anything.

 

Rp

[Invader3K]

One thing about the economic downturn...I've heard that baseball attendance actually has done better, historically, during recessions, because people go to one or two more ball games instead of going on a vacation or whatever. I dont' know if that's actually true, but someone was talking about that on MLB on XM a couple weeks back.

[steve267268]

That's reality bklybrewcrew and 90% of the teams in baseball have to live in it.

Not necessarily. If we continue to draft well then we should continue to have quality players at low costs. This last season we went all in and it cost us a player who could have stepped in and played a big role well before 2011. I'm happy with the move, but what i am saying is that we have to be smart with how we recycle players. Instead of signing Burnett we should have the ability to pluck the next Burnett from our farm system. That's the theory, at least. If the Marlins and Rays can compete on their payrolls and awful fan support there's no reason we can't with a higher payroll and great fan support.

[steve267268]

I believe I saw this quote above: "Attanasio also said that the franchise turned a slight profit this past season, although he did not disclose specifics."

 

So he didn't lose anything.

 

Rp

He has also stated before, in similar words, that the amount of money he has staked in the Brewers is PEANUTS compared to what he has on wall street. I met a gas station attendant in Madison who lost $6,000 of his 401K due to the recession. Just think of the kind of money Mark A. must have lost

[Invader3K]

I really don't think there is much correlation between Attanasio's business and the Brewers. It's not like he's running the team on his own dime.

[zzzmanwitz]

I really don't think there is much correlation between Attanasio's business and the Brewers. It's not like he's running the team on his own dime.

 

Maybe I'm confused... but I thought that's what you are doing when you own a business.

[TooLiveBrew]

But he's not the sole owner (not even close, %-wise... iirc). I think the point is that his personal finances are separate for the most part from the Brewers' finances.

[bucks2281]

One thing about the economic downturn...I've heard that baseball attendance actually has done better, historically, during recessions, because people go to one or two more ball games instead of going on a vacation or whatever. I dont' know if that's actually true, but someone was talking about that on MLB on XM a couple weeks back.

I don't have a link or anything, but I believe the conventional wisdom is that sports is one of the last luxuries that people surrender during tough economic times. People say attendance was down in 2008, but they forgot that the Cubs-Astros series MP put a significant dent in that figure, as did several rainouts.

[Patrick425]

I didn't want to start a new thread and this seems like the most appropriate place to post this.

 

I heard some comments from Scott Boras this morning on XM. Basically he was complaining about "teams that have not won anything for years". He stated that instead of investing in payroll some of these teams were basically taking the money and paying down debt to increase the owner's equity in the team. These comments sicken me. I find it funny that players and agents like to throw around the phrase "hey, in the end, it's a business" when it's conveinent for them like when they leave a small market team for more money (I'm not necessarily talking about CC). However, when the owners (who by the way own the teams) try to make business decisions that are not in the best interest of the players, the players cry foul.

[tomwopat]

I think the Brewers could support a $90MM payroll if and only if they make the playoffs. The difference between the big market and the small market teams is how much risk they're willing to take on the second half of that equation.

 

Think about it this way: Are the Brewers 2:1 odds to make the playoffs if they add one $10MM player? what about two?

 

The team is due to have some honeymoon affect from making the playoffs last year (although considerably less than if they would have made it to, or won the WS), but I don't think the team has the talent to sustain the excitement necessary for the string of sellouts that it drew last year.

 

On the other hand, there's still a good collection of core is still present in non-FA players, but it's going to be hard to address the issues of lack of depth and lack of impact in the rotation simultaneously.