Pablo Sandoval to the Red Sox (5 yrs/$95MM)

[DuWayne Steurer]

I just refuse to believe that the Brewers cannot afford to contend. The value of the Brewers has nearly doubled (if not more) since Mark A bought the team. We're talking a few hundred million dolars in increased value. Why not put that into the team? Mark A and the rest of the ownership group are all extremely wealthy men. They don't need to turn a profit by owning the Brewers. They are choosing to claim "small market, small market" and making sure they profit while loyal Brewers fans are hoodwinked into believing that we are "going for it" and "doing everything we can to compete for a title" or "can't afford to compete on an even playing field with big market teams"

 

Rich people are rich (except NBA players) because they generally don't get involved in red-cost ventures. That's why teams have budgets. It's really easy for you to sit here as a fan and say "WELL I DONT CARE IF MARK A LOSES MONEY I WANT A CHAMPIONSHIP", but clearly, he is not going to choose to operate that way. He got rich by not operating that way, and there's nothing suggest that he's going to change the way he manages his money.

[3and2Fastball]

I just refuse to believe that the Brewers cannot afford to contend. The value of the Brewers has nearly doubled (if not more) since Mark A bought the team. We're talking a few hundred million dolars in increased value. Why not put that into the team? Mark A and the rest of the ownership group are all extremely wealthy men. They don't need to turn a profit by owning the Brewers. They are choosing to claim "small market, small market" and making sure they profit while loyal Brewers fans are hoodwinked into believing that we are "going for it" and "doing everything we can to compete for a title" or "can't afford to compete on an even playing field with big market teams"

 

Rich people are rich (except NBA players) because they generally don't get involved in red-cost ventures. That's why teams have budgets. It's really easy for you to sit here as a fan and say "WELL I DONT CARE IF MARK A LOSES MONEY I WANT A CHAMPIONSHIP", but clearly, he is not going to choose to operate that way. He got rich by not operating that way, and there's nothing suggest that he's going to change the way he manages his money.

 

Just so long as we all understand it is a choice he is making. It is not as if he cannot afford to sign more players, he's choosing not to.

 

Personally I care a lot more about the Brewers winning than I do whether Mark A ends up worth $100 million or $1 billion!

[logan82]

I just refuse to believe that the Brewers cannot afford to contend. The value of the Brewers has nearly doubled (if not more) since Mark A bought the team. We're talking a few hundred million dolars in increased value. Why not put that into the team? Mark A and the rest of the ownership group are all extremely wealthy men. They don't need to turn a profit by owning the Brewers. They are choosing to claim "small market, small market" and making sure they profit while loyal Brewers fans are hoodwinked into believing that we are "going for it" and "doing everything we can to compete for a title" or "can't afford to compete on an even playing field with big market teams"

Because that isn't real money they can spend. That only becomes real money if the team changes hands.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I just refuse to believe that the Brewers cannot afford to contend. The value of the Brewers has nearly doubled (if not more) since Mark A bought the team. We're talking a few hundred million dolars in increased value. Why not put that into the team? Mark A and the rest of the ownership group are all extremely wealthy men. They don't need to turn a profit by owning the Brewers. They are choosing to claim "small market, small market" and making sure they profit while loyal Brewers fans are hoodwinked into believing that we are "going for it" and "doing everything we can to compete for a title" or "can't afford to compete on an even playing field with big market teams"

 

Rich people are rich (except NBA players) because they generally don't get involved in red-cost ventures. That's why teams have budgets. It's really easy for you to sit here as a fan and say "WELL I DONT CARE IF MARK A LOSES MONEY I WANT A CHAMPIONSHIP", but clearly, he is not going to choose to operate that way. He got rich by not operating that way, and there's nothing suggest that he's going to change the way he manages his money.

 

Just so long as we all understand it is a choice he is making. It is not as if he cannot afford to sign more players, he's choosing not to.

 

Personally I care a lot more about the Brewers winning than I do whether Mark A ends up worth $100 million or $1 billion!

 

That's fine, but it's not your money you're talking about. This isn't Mike Ilitch we're talking about......some crazy old coot who's willing to dump his profits into payroll to win a series before he dies. This team is an investment for Attanasio. He didn't buy it to lose money. He's an investment banker. I'm 100% sure he wants to win, don't get me wrong, but not at the expense of losing money.

[TooLiveBrew]

I just refuse to believe that the Brewers cannot afford to contend. The value of the Brewers has nearly doubled (if not more) since Mark A bought the team. We're talking a few hundred million dolars in increased value. Why not put that into the team? Mark A and the rest of the ownership group are all extremely wealthy men. They don't need to turn a profit by owning the Brewers. They are choosing to claim "small market, small market" and making sure they profit while loyal Brewers fans are hoodwinked into believing that we are "going for it" and "doing everything we can to compete for a title" or "can't afford to compete on an even playing field with big market teams"

Revenues have skyrocketed across the league, though -- for the gains the Brewers have made, big-money clubs like BOS have seen revenues driven even higher. Just look at the TV contracts signed in recent years by the likes of LAA, TEX, & more. The Brewers' deal went up to something like $25-30MM/yr, while the bigger markets were signing deals north of $100MM/yr. Even though the Brewers have seen their revenues go up, it's not enough to keep pace. The reality is & probably always will be that Milwaukee is one of smallest markets (if not the smallest) in MLB.

[fondybrewfan]

The value of the franchise is irrelevant in the discussion about having the monetary capability to contend. Yes if MA decided to sell the team tomorrow he would make a boatload; but that doesn't mean the team can afford to sign FA X this season. It all comes down to cash flow; no sane businessman would overspend on payroll or any other area knowing that they couldn't afford to pay. Yes you could say MA could subsidize the loss from this other business interests but MA didn't get to be a billionaire by making decisions like that. The Brewers are ultimately a business and no one really has any idea how much money is really made.

[yfinn6]

I just refuse to believe that the Brewers cannot afford to contend. The value of the Brewers has nearly doubled (if not more) since Mark A bought the team. We're talking a few hundred million dolars in increased value. Why not put that into the team? Mark A and the rest of the ownership group are all extremely wealthy men. They don't need to turn a profit by owning the Brewers. They are choosing to claim "small market, small market" and making sure they profit while loyal Brewers fans are hoodwinked into believing that we are "going for it" and "doing everything we can to compete for a title" or "can't afford to compete on an even playing field with big market teams"

 

Rich people are rich (except NBA players) because they generally don't get involved in red-cost ventures. That's why teams have budgets. It's really easy for you to sit here as a fan and say "WELL I DONT CARE IF MARK A LOSES MONEY I WANT A CHAMPIONSHIP", but clearly, he is not going to choose to operate that way. He got rich by not operating that way, and there's nothing suggest that he's going to change the way he manages his money.

 

Just so long as we all understand it is a choice he is making. It is not as if he cannot afford to sign more players, he's choosing not to.

 

Personally I care a lot more about the Brewers winning than I do whether Mark A ends up worth $100 million or $1 billion!

 

It's not that simple, though; his budget is set at a certain amount. He's operated his entire life with a budget and not breaking it means that he's been able to live the life he's set out to. People that save a lot of money, make a lot of money, etc, tend (not always, obviously) to have very strict budgets for themselves. For them, "afford" means not breaking their budget, even though they might be able to comfortably afford things out of their budget. They have a status quo, and they don't stray from that.

 

So while you say he has a choice - he does, and maybe he can "afford" to buy better players, but in the realm of his business world, he cannot afford them without risking loss. We don't have to like it, but it makes sense for him.

[TheCrew07]

I just refuse to believe that the Brewers cannot afford to contend. The value of the Brewers has nearly doubled (if not more) since Mark A bought the team.

 

I would go on at length about your post as I've done in the past, but I really have grown incredibly weary of this debate. The Brewers as a business have finite resources, Mark A's wealth is irrelevant.

 

The continual hardline statements like "I just refuse to believe..." suggest that you really aren't interested in a reasoned debate of the facts, but instead rather simply pushing your opinion as fact.

[3and2Fastball]

It's not that simple, though; his budget is set at a certain amount. He's operated his entire life with a budget and not breaking it means that he's been able to live the life he's set out to. People that save a lot of money, make a lot of money, etc, tend (not always, obviously) to have very strict budgets for themselves. For them, "afford" means not breaking their budget, even though they might be able to comfortably afford things out of their budget. They have a status quo, and they don't stray from that.

 

So while you say he has a choice - he does, and maybe he can "afford" to buy better players, but in the realm of his business world, he cannot afford them without risking loss. We don't have to like it, but it makes sense for him.

 

So, essentially then, Mark A is the biggest problem the Brewers have. He cares more about his own money than he cares about the Brewers winning a World Series

 

Again I say his lifestyle and the lifestyle of his family wouldn't change one iota if he has $50 million or $200 million.

 

I hope he sells the team to someone who cares mostly about Championships

[3and2Fastball]

I just refuse to believe that the Brewers cannot afford to contend. The value of the Brewers has nearly doubled (if not more) since Mark A bought the team.

 

I would go on at length about your post as I've done in the past, but I really have grown incredibly weary of this debate. The Brewers as a business have finite resources, Mark A's wealth is irrelevant.

 

The continual hardline statements like "I just refuse to believe..." suggest that you really aren't interested in a reasoned debate of the facts, but instead rather simply pushing your opinion as fact.

 

To the contrary, I have read carefully the contradictory statements by those here who have clearly delineated the choices Mark A makes as being his customary methods of operation. It isn't something I feel the need to go on & on about, and will only very occasionally bring up every once in awhile, moving forwards.

 

If what others have said is true, and there is a financial ceiling that Mark A will not go beyond no matter what, then more than ever I feel that Doug Melvin is the wrong GM for the Brewers.

[yfinn6]

It's not that simple, though; his budget is set at a certain amount. He's operated his entire life with a budget and not breaking it means that he's been able to live the life he's set out to. People that save a lot of money, make a lot of money, etc, tend (not always, obviously) to have very strict budgets for themselves. For them, "afford" means not breaking their budget, even though they might be able to comfortably afford things out of their budget. They have a status quo, and they don't stray from that.

 

So while you say he has a choice - he does, and maybe he can "afford" to buy better players, but in the realm of his business world, he cannot afford them without risking loss. We don't have to like it, but it makes sense for him.

 

So, essentially then, Mark A is the biggest problem the Brewers have. He cares more about his own money than he cares about the Brewers winning a World Series

 

Again I say his lifestyle and the lifestyle of his family wouldn't change one iota if he has $50 million or $200 million.

 

I hope he sells the team to someone who cares mostly about Championships

 

The biggest problem the Brewers have is they're the Brewers. No matter how much money an owner has, he's not going to take a loss on this team, or any team. It's just terrible business, and these guys are business savvy.. they have to be, it's how most of them made their wealth. They're not going to suddenly change their strategies just to buy another free agent (that doesn't guarantee them anything).

 

As far as buying championships, I'm sure Redskins fans have loved the way Daniel Snyder has tried to buy championships through numerous Free Agent signings. It's just not as easy as you make it out to be.

[TooLiveBrew]

It's not that simple, though; his budget is set at a certain amount. He's operated his entire life with a budget and not breaking it means that he's been able to live the life he's set out to. People that save a lot of money, make a lot of money, etc, tend (not always, obviously) to have very strict budgets for themselves. For them, "afford" means not breaking their budget, even though they might be able to comfortably afford things out of their budget. They have a status quo, and they don't stray from that.

 

So while you say he has a choice - he does, and maybe he can "afford" to buy better players, but in the realm of his business world, he cannot afford them without risking loss. We don't have to like it, but it makes sense for him.

 

So, essentially then, Mark A is the biggest problem the Brewers have. He cares more about his own money than he cares about the Brewers winning a World Series

 

Again I say his lifestyle and the lifestyle of his family wouldn't change one iota if he has $50 million or $200 million.

 

I hope he sells the team to someone who cares mostly about Championships

Mark Attanasio isn't the club's only owner, he's simply the principal shareholder (see this article, which is from '07 & may be out of date). This front office listing at Brewers.com (section: Advisory Board) shows some overlap in names from the JS article I linked. I'm not sure if all the Advisory Board members are also part-owners or not.

 

It's not "Mark A's money", it's the operating revenues of the Milwaukee Brewers. If the club decide to go into the red on player salaries (as they've done to a slight degree in prior seasons), it'd have to be approved by more than just Mark.

[BrewBalls]

Mark A spends more on payroll than half the teams in the league (16th in payroll for 2014) while being in the smallest market. Since he bought the team in 2005, the payroll has increased from $40.2M in 2005 to $103.8M last season. He has been willing to take a loss financially from time to time, if he thought the addition of one more player could put them over the top, but most owners are not willing to continuously lose money year after year just because "they can afford to" (with the exception of Mike Ilitch). I can't think of any business owner who would be willing to basically throw money away just because they can. There is a reason these individuals can afford to purchase a major sports franchise and you cannot. Your reasoning just doesn't make sense strictly from a business standpoint.

[Thurston Fluff]

 

Rich people are rich (except NBA players) because they generally don't get involved in red-cost ventures. That's why teams have budgets. It's really easy for you to sit here as a fan and say "WELL I DONT CARE IF MARK A LOSES MONEY I WANT A CHAMPIONSHIP", but clearly, he is not going to choose to operate that way. He got rich by not operating that way, and there's nothing suggest that he's going to change the way he manages his money.

 

The same reason Mark A won't spend more than he makes on the Brewers is why I never buy Brewer or Packer gear. Why would I pay double just for the honor of giving them free advertisement for their product? Perhaps if they were willing to spend just to make me happy I could be convinced to change my mind just so they can make more money.