Rick Schlesinger speaks to group in Green Bay

[prophet]

My partner is a CFO for a company up here in Green Bay, and has meetings every month with a group of other executives in the area to discuss business stuff. Anyway, none of that matters. What matters is that once in a while they invite a guest speaker to the meetings to do a speech and a Q & A. So when he told me that Schlesinger (someone please correct my spelling) was going to be that speaker this time, i decided to be his plus one. This was last night by the way. He was actually a lot more open than I figured he would be. A few things that were interesting was talking about Braun, the budget, the new TV deal, extensions for two pitchers (who could that be...lol), the minors, and the payroll.

 

As far as Braun, he said that the hearing was taking place today (which was thursday), but other than that the team basically stays completely out of the process and lets the player, the union, and the league handle everything. Didn't say anything really, other than the team is behind him 100%. One moron actually said that if he's guilty, the team should try to trade him, or void his contract. He seemed very angry when he said it. Rick chuckled, and said Braun is one of the best players to ever play the game and has one of the most team friendly deals in the history of the league. No way in hell do the Brewers try to get rid of him.

 

He likes the new TV deal. Says it's not the best, but it gives them more flexibility. He also said that the deal fluctuates based on ratings, so it helps to motivate the team to continue to be good. Since it does change based on ratings, he encouraged fans to watch the games and DVR em so the ratings go up.

 

He said that talks have occurred about extending Marcum and Greinke, but they are very early. Moving forward he admitted it would be difficult to sign both, but they are confident that, if the budget allows they could find a way. It depends on the player too though. It also goes along with payroll. He said that K-Rod signing was unexpected, but not unplanned for. Their payroll going forward right now is projected at about 108 - 112 million, which would be the highest in franchise history, but he said was a doable payroll for the team. It doesn't leave as much flexibility as they would like though, so the team we see now is probably going to be what we get, unless trades happen.

 

He said that minor league system was a concern last year, but he likes how they have developed since then. He said that our system was very position player heavy, but it has switched to a pitcher heavy system now. I asked about Mike Fiers, because he's my favorite minor leaguer for a few seasons now, and he told me that he has a real shot this year of breaking camp with the club. He might have just been trying to make me happy, but hell, I'll take it.

 

Lastly, one guy asked about signing Fielder, and Rick was honest and said it's not going to happen. With the payroll the way it is right now, many moves would have to be made to do it, and they feel that all the necessary scenarios would only weaken the team. He said that it is Gamels job to lose, and they are confident in him. The same guy pressed the issue a little bit (same guy who said they should trade Braun) and Rick had a funny line. He said the odds of signing Fielder would be about the same as getting struck by lightening three times, while getting mauled by a family of polar bears, with the winning powerball ticket in your back pocket. I'm paraphrasing, but I liked it.

[Invader3K]

Pretty cool stuff. Thanks for sharing. I like the idea of the TV deal generating more revenue if the ratings go up. Hopefully the fans continue doing their part in tuning in to support the team.

[1992casey]

(someone please correct my spelling)

 

Done. You were one letter off (Schlesinger rather than Schlessinger). That's better than I usually do. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[1992casey]

Thanks for the informative update. I'm glad to see things like "Rick chuckled" and "Rick had a funny line." Dealing with the negative has not always been one of his strengths.

[carniesandrubes]

I get the impression that the new TV deal is still nowhere near where it should be, especially compared to other teams with similar viewerships. Seems like they negotiated that one a year or two too early and could have gotten a much better deal now vs. when it was originally done.

[Warning Track Power]

Lastly, one guy asked about signing Fielder, and Rick was honest and said it's not going to happen. With the payroll the way it is right now, many moves would have to be made to do it, and they feel that all the necessary scenarios would only weaken the team. He said that it is Gamels job to lose, and they are confident in him. The same guy pressed the issue a little bit (same guy who said they should trade Braun) and Rick had a funny line. He said the odds of signing Fielder would be about the same as getting struck by lightening three times, while getting mauled by a family of polar bears, with the winning powerball ticket in your back pocket. I'm paraphrasing, but I liked it.

Thanks for the good information Prophet. Interesting stuff.

 

However, I do believe that Schlesinger is posturing with the above comment. Taken in context with the televsion comment about watching the game live and how important ratings are to the Brewers, I believe if Fielder were to sign elsewhere for a contract that the casual Brewer fan feels they could match i.e. 5 year $100m, 6 years $120m or 3 years $75m, those casual fans may be turned off and not watch or come to Miller Park. Being real, there is no scenario where the Brewers FO could justify to the casual fan not making a bunch of moves like the trading of Wolf, Hart or K-Rod to ensure Prince's return. Whereas the diehards like most of us understand a team with Prince and minus Wolf, Hart and K-Rod may actually be worse, I can't imagine that any of them even combined would bring the revenue like a Prince would. Until the day Prince signs with someone else, I will hold firm in my belief that if he signs for something close to the above 3 contracts, I think he plays in Milwaukee in 2012 regardless of the drastic roster manuevering it would take.

[brettac1]

Some fans have been building this strawman argument for how they could have signed Fielder all offseason already, so I don't expect that to change regardless of what the terms of his contract end up being. He didn't want to stay in Milwaukee. That's why he hired Boras. The team made essentially a token offer to him, to say "hey, we tried". That's about it for the story. There hasn't been any new offers made since that one, the team and Boras have barely had any contact all offseason, and they committed money to other players. I don't know what more the team has to do or say to get the point across.

[dadofandrew]

Prince will not offer the Crew a match, so wondering if they could match it is moot.

[Raw Biz]

Lastly, one guy asked about signing Fielder, and Rick was honest and said it's not going to happen. With the payroll the way it is right now, many moves would have to be made to do it, and they feel that all the necessary scenarios would only weaken the team. He said that it is Gamels job to lose, and they are confident in him. The same guy pressed the issue a little bit (same guy who said they should trade Braun) and Rick had a funny line. He said the odds of signing Fielder would be about the same as getting struck by lightening three times, while getting mauled by a family of polar bears, with the winning powerball ticket in your back pocket. I'm paraphrasing, but I liked it.

Thanks for the good information Prophet. Interesting stuff.

 

However, I do believe that Schlesinger is posturing with the above comment. Taken in context with the televsion comment about watching the game live and how important ratings are to the Brewers, I believe if Fielder were to sign elsewhere for a contract that the casual Brewer fan feels they could match i.e. 5 year $100m, 6 years $120m or 3 years $75m, those casual fans may be turned off and not watch or come to Miller Park. Being real, there is no scenario where the Brewers FO could justify to the casual fan not making a bunch of moves like the trading of Wolf, Hart or K-Rod to ensure Prince's return. Whereas the diehards like most of us understand a team with Prince and minus Wolf, Hart and K-Rod may actually be worse, I can't imagine that any of them even combined would bring the revenue like a Prince would. Until the day Prince signs with someone else, I will hold firm in my belief that if he signs for something close to the above 3 contracts, I think he plays in Milwaukee in 2012 regardless of the drastic roster manuevering it would take.

I just find it hard to believe that management would knowingly make the team worse and/or cripple itself with a bad contract just to please the "casual fan." Fans ultimately want to see a winning team. If you put a winner on the field, the fans will come (unless you're in Florida).

[dlk9s]

I just find it hard to believe that management would knowingly make the team worse and/or cripple itself with a bad contract just to please the "casual fan."

The Twins did it.

[Raw Biz]

I just find it hard to believe that management would knowingly make the team worse and/or cripple itself with a bad contract just to please the "casual fan."

The Twins did it.

I don't think they gave Mauer that contract solely to appease the fans. Mauer had just won the MVP after finishing 4th the year before. You could argue that it was a bad contract (I think it was) but I don't see the reasoning being that they didn't want to lose fans. That might have factored somewhat but it wasn't the driving force. Mauer was still a very good offensive player at a position where there aren't many. I don't know what the overall budget for the team was at the time either but I would think that they were able move pieces around if needed to make the contract work. With Prince, the team would have to sign him first, putting them $30+ million over-budget and then have to try to sell off valuable pieces. I don't think the situations are comparable.

[Warning Track Power]

Thanks for the good information Prophet. Interesting stuff.

 

However, I do believe that Schlesinger is posturing with the above comment. Taken in context with the televsion comment about watching the game live and how important ratings are to the Brewers, I believe if Fielder were to sign elsewhere for a contract that the casual Brewer fan feels they could match i.e. 5 year $100m, 6 years $120m or 3 years $75m, those casual fans may be turned off and not watch or come to Miller Park. Being real, there is no scenario where the Brewers FO could justify to the casual fan not making a bunch of moves like the trading of Wolf, Hart or K-Rod to ensure Prince's return. Whereas the diehards like most of us understand a team with Prince and minus Wolf, Hart and K-Rod may actually be worse, I can't imagine that any of them even combined would bring the revenue like a Prince would. Until the day Prince signs with someone else, I will hold firm in my belief that if he signs for something close to the above 3 contracts, I think he plays in Milwaukee in 2012 regardless of the drastic roster manuevering it would take.

I just find it hard to believe that management would knowingly make the team worse and/or cripple itself with a bad contract just to please the "casual fan." Fans ultimately want to see a winning team. If you put a winner on the field, the fans will come (unless you're in Florida).

I agree wholeheartedly that I would rather see a winning team and even the casual fan would. My point only is that K-Rod and Wolf are likely gone after 2012 anyways and Hart's deal ends in 2013, and if the casual fan believes their contracts for this season are the reason why the Brewers cannot afford Prince you are going to see a lot of unhappy casual fans tuning the Brewers out in 2012.

 

I think most of us understand though the larger picture that the money isn't there to extend Greinke and Prince anyways and given the choice I think most would extend Grienke over Prince.