The struggles of Yelich and Hiura - Let the numbers talk!

[Simba2020]

Teams generate so little of their revenue from sponsorships or merchandise sales that it would be foolish to dole out a massive contract based on the little uptick in revenues it would produce. Said player would have to bring in a significant number of fans to every game in order for it to be justified on a purely economic basis. I think we'd all agree that winning is going to drive attendance and I'll admit I'd have no idea how many people would go to a game just because Yelich or Braun or whoever is in a Brewers uniform versus not going if they weren't.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Teams generate so little of their revenue from sponsorships or merchandise sales

 

Source? And again, you're stuck on this attendance thing that I called from the start, that nobody is arguing. What you're also not factoring here is that attendance is very expensive. There are huge operating costs with a game. It doesn't cost the Brewers anything for somebody else to take one of their players and pose for a couple photos or for AmFam to pay $60 million for naming rights. So it's not an apples to apples thing.

[homer]

Branding is a bonus. They didn't look at Yelich and say "Hey this guy would be great for branding and he's good, let's sign him to a huge extension". They said "Hey this guy had two MVP years, let's sign him to an extension. As a bonus, he'll be great for the brand"

 

You'd have to be a total degenerate for a team to not offer you an extension because of branding.

[PeaveyFury]

Teams generate so little of their revenue from sponsorships or merchandise sales

 

Source?

 

I too would like to see a source backing that up, as I am also skeptical of that claim. The Packers as one of the few publicly-available financial disclosing sports franchises have consistently noted that their absurd level of merchandise sales is one of the major contributors to their operating income each year. Granted, the Brewers aren't the Packers when it comes to fanbase overall, but I have a hard time believing that merchandizing accounts for 'so little' of their revenue.

[adambr2]

Did any casual fans who come to the ballpark because of Christian Yelich know who Christian Yelich was when we acquired him? No, I doubt it. He was just some good player who played for the Marlins. He became a face of the brand because of his performance. He isn't even a great natural face because he doesn't really have a fitting personality for it. He isn't a vocal clubhouse guy or extroverted personality. Braun was. So is Adames.

 

I get that the "face of the franchise" has some intangible value to it but the Brewers have come a long ways since the early 2000s about building their brand without the need for name recognition. If Yelich was gone tomorrow someone would fill the void and the wheels would keep turning.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Baseball is by far the most hyper-local sport of the major ones, so I would honestly be surprised if Yelich was even a top 20 jersey at the height of his popularity. I'm gonna guess there's no way he was in the top 10. The players just don't transcend the hometown team like they do in other sports.

[roadcrew3]

Baseball is by far the most hyper-local sport of the major ones, so I would honestly be surprised if Yelich was even a top 20 jersey at the height of his popularity. I'm gonna guess there's no way he was in the top 10. The players just don't transcend the hometown team like they do in other sports.

 

Yelich was 5th in MLB Jersey sales in 2019.

 

https://www.mlb.com/news/top-20-mlb-player-jerseys-for-2019

[OldSchoolSnapper]

https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2019/03/28/bryce-harper-has-best-selling-jersey-of-2019/

 

This has him 8th, which is still waaaaay higher than I thought. Pretty impressive looking at the cities/names on that list. But it makes some sense that a player new to a team would sell well.

[MrTPlush]

Baseball is by far the most hyper-local sport of the major ones, so I would honestly be surprised if Yelich was even a top 20 jersey at the height of his popularity. I'm gonna guess there's no way he was in the top 10. The players just don't transcend the hometown team like they do in other sports.

 

I guess without elaborating I don't know exactly what you mean by this, but the NBA seems to be waaaay more hyper-local than the MLB.

[MrTPlush]

I dunno what else say on the topic since it won't ever be put to the test. But I absolutely don't believe that if I stood on a street corner downtown with a headshot of Adames, that 20% of passersby could ID him.

 

There is a video where Aaron Judge interviews fans on the streets of New York about Aaron Judge and no one could recognize they were talking to...Aaron Judge.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Baseball is by far the most hyper-local sport of the major ones, so I would honestly be surprised if Yelich was even a top 20 jersey at the height of his popularity. I'm gonna guess there's no way he was in the top 10. The players just don't transcend the hometown team like they do in other sports.

 

I guess without elaborating I don't know exactly what you mean by this, but the NBA seems to be waaaay more hyper-local than the MLB.

 

The NBA has millions of fans who live in other countries and everyone knows who their biggest stars are. Everyone who follows basketball knows who somebody like Paul George is. The majority of MLB fans know very little outside of their own team. And they don't watch non-hometown baseball like NBA fans do. The NBA also has legions of fans who put player loyalty before a specific team. And the NBA sells players more than either the MLB or NFL. You can take some second tier guy like Russell Westbrook and he has almost double the online presence of Tom Brady...and I don't think his 17 million followers are all Wizards/Thunder/Lakers fans.

 

Geographically speaking, I'd say MLB teams generally reach across their states better than NBA teams do, but fans of the Warriors or something take more a vested interested in Bucks vs. Nets playoff series than say, Brewers fans take in Cleveland vs. Minnesota.

[owbc]

Baseball is by far the most hyper-local sport of the major ones, so I would honestly be surprised if Yelich was even a top 20 jersey at the height of his popularity. I'm gonna guess there's no way he was in the top 10. The players just don't transcend the hometown team like they do in other sports.

 

I guess without elaborating I don't know exactly what you mean by this, but the NBA seems to be waaaay more hyper-local than the MLB.

 

About 10 years ago I started working at a lab with a couple of researchers who had just come over to the US from China for the first time. In that situation I would always tell people that I'm from "Milwaukee, which is close to Chicago" because nobody from overseas has ever heard of Milwaukee. However, with the global popularity of the NBA, they were immediately like, "Oh, like the NBA Milwaukee Bucks?" And this was when the Bucks were terrible.

 

As for Yelich...I think if he hadn't been willing to sign a team-friendly deal the Brewers would have been fine letting him walk. I would be surprised if the Brewers sign another big deal like that in the Stearns era. Mostly because they will still be paying Yelich forever

[CheezWizHed]

When we first traded for Yellich, he could've walked down the street and very few people would've recognized him. People will very soon start recognizing Adames. He is exactly the SS we hoped Arcia would become: Excellent D, Good bat, clubhouse-excitement/glue personality (the one thing Arcia did).

 

I follow basketball and know who Paul George is, but couldn't pick him out of a lineup. He isn't that iconic of a player.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

He isn't that iconic of a player.

 

Yea, that was the point. You know who he is and what team he is on. A player of comparable stature in MLB, even the majority of people who follow their home team won't know where that kind of player is even playing. You could go down the line NBA fans can tell you the best player on a bunch of different teams. You won't be able to do that in MLB. I can tell you the starting QB, RB and WR on nearly every team, but ask me who plays third base for Seattle or catcher for Houston in a random year and I have no idea.

[Simba2020]

Teams generate so little of their revenue from sponsorships or merchandise sales

 

Source?

 

I too would like to see a source backing that up, as I am also skeptical of that claim. The Packers as one of the few publicly-available financial disclosing sports franchises have consistently noted that their absurd level of merchandise sales is one of the major contributors to their operating income each year. Granted, the Brewers aren't the Packers when it comes to fanbase overall, but I have a hard time believing that merchandizing accounts for 'so little' of their revenue.

I've had access to several teams financial information. Obviously it's confidential so I can't divulge any detailed information. However, outside of in-park merchandise sales, all jersey sales, etc. just get shared equally by all teams. In-park merchandising doesn't even come close to 1% of a team's revenues in general.

[jonescm128]

Source?

 

I too would like to see a source backing that up, as I am also skeptical of that claim. The Packers as one of the few publicly-available financial disclosing sports franchises have consistently noted that their absurd level of merchandise sales is one of the major contributors to their operating income each year. Granted, the Brewers aren't the Packers when it comes to fanbase overall, but I have a hard time believing that merchandizing accounts for 'so little' of their revenue.

I've had access to several teams financial information. Obviously it's confidential so I can't divulge any detailed information. However, outside of in-park merchandise sales, all jersey sales, etc. just get shared equally by all teams. In-park merchandising doesn't even come close to 1% of a team's revenues in general.

 

Speaking of team financials, and I know this is getting a bit off topic, but were terms of their new deal with Bally every announced? I thought they had a deal in place earlier this year...

[sveumrules]

Manny Pina: 8 HR | 22 RBI

Christian Yelich: 6 HR | 30 RBI

Keston Hiura: 4 HR | 18 RBI

[owbc]

Manny Pina: 8 HR | 22 RBI

Christian Yelich: 6 HR | 30 RBI

Keston Hiura: 4 HR | 18 RBI

 

Pina 0.1 bWAR (prior to today)

Yelich 0.8 bWAR

Hiura -1.0 bWAR

[jonescm128]

Manny Pina: 8 HR | 22 RBI

Christian Yelich: 6 HR | 30 RBI

Keston Hiura: 4 HR | 18 RBI

 

Just as we all predicted

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Manny Pina: 8 HR | 22 RBI

Christian Yelich: 6 HR | 30 RBI

Keston Hiura: 4 HR | 18 RBI

 

Just as we all predicted

 

Imagine someone actually predicting this and that they'd still be 70-46.

[BruisedCrew]

I might have the secret to getting Yelich back on track. In the fantasy league I am in we are allowed five keepers per season. I drafted Yelich when he first joined the Brewers in 2018 and have had him as a keeper since then. I knew that I was taking a risk this year that 2020 was a fluke, and that he would return to form this year, but it obviously hasn’t turned out that way and Yelich has been a fantasy bust.

 

I have been reluctant to drop Yelich because I would lose the right to have him as a keeper next year. But, as it becomes more and more apparent that he isn’t going to turn things around this year, and would not be a good choice as a keeper next year, I’m thinking about releasing him now.I suspect he would suddenly become a lot more productive once I let him go.

[Pugger]

https://www.brewcrewball.com/2021/8/13/22622995/milwaukee-brewers-christian-yelich-needs-an-adjustment-outside-the-strike-zone

[jonescm128]

Yelich with two doubles yesterday*

 

*misplayed ball in outfield and excuse me check swing against the shift

 

But we will take what we can get!

[pitchleague]

I kind of find it funny that, over the last week (since August 10th), Counsell has had Yelich bat 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the order. Maybe this week they'll try him at 5th, 6th, and 7th just to see what happens!

 

Okay, maybe I'm the only one that finds it kinda funny!

[jonescm128]

Yelich 1st Half vs 2nd Half Tracker (games through 8/17)

 

ABs: 187 / 68

AVG: .241 / .235

OBP: .399 / .297

SLG: .369 / .353

OPS: .768 / .650

ISO: .128 / .118

BB%: 19.7 / 8.1

K%: 27.7 / 27.0

2B: 7 / 5

HR: 5 / 1

 

Last 7 games: .310/.355/.414

 

He has been getting his hits lately but that power is still evading him. Even his doubles have been ground balls down the line. His single last night was vintage Yelich - hard hit line drive to the opposite field - so hoping his is starting to find it.