The Attanasio Effect

[logan82]

How much of an effect has Mark A. actually had on the Brewers organization? How many of the players do we have now just because he is now the owner?

I don't think his monetary contributions have been as big as a new attitude towards the team from fans andd the community. Since he took over I can think of only 2 deals that I don't think get made before he took over. I don't think Suppan gets signed without Mark and I don't think the trade for Carlos Lee gets made.

[splitterpfj]

I doubt the prior regime would have given Sheets his current deal, and Hall may have chosen to leave as soon as he could as well if things hadn't changed the way they have.

 

The financial impact is evident in more subtle ways as well, if you look at what guys like Miller, Mench, Counsell and Graffanino cost, I doubt the Seligs would have spent that money on the bench either.

[GAME05]

interesting question. i think he's been huge. nobody but scrubs would have signed with Milwaukee to be part of a perennial 90-loss team.

 

exit Sheets

Hall wouldn't have extended the contract

no Suppan

no Carlos Lee, as said before

Weeks may not have been drafted over a cheaper player

no Miller

 

boy, just imagine the team now if Moeller was still our starter and Gross and Brady as our starting OF. and with Jenkins being allowed to hit against lefties. yikes. Graffy or Councell would have been that one big FA that Selig trotted out each year saying they would save the team.

 

this team would have turned into the Expos in short order and we'd be lucky to break a million fans a year.

[Bucky Rules]

You mention Suppan and Lee. From there we get Cordero and Mench. I'm not sure that we would've acquired Johnny Estrada and Vargas or signed Bill Hall. Jenkins and/or Mench (if acquired) would probably be gone. And we wouldn't have Counsell or Graffanino as veteran backups. We can't just assume that our payroll would've ballooned to $70mil when it barely ever saw the sunny side of 50 in the previous regime.

 

Obviously the core of this team would be in tact. The place where we'll see an impact from the new ownership is probably going to be in how long we can keep this group together.

[logan82]

Good point about the bench. Wether or not Miller is here because of Attanasio is questionable though since his contract predates the change in ownership. Of course that was more of a formality so Attanasio might have had some dealings with the Brewers before officially taking over.

 

EDIT: Mark A. took over the Brewers in January of 2005. Weeks was already drafted by then.

[Bucky Rules]

Quote:

---

I doubt the prior regime would have given Sheets his current deal

---

 

I'm not sure that the Seligs would've even let him go.

[logan82]

They did give a big contract, at the time, to Jenkins. The Sheets and Hall deals might have gotten done anyway. I don't think we would be as good as we are now without Mark, but we would still have the same core players.

[rluzinski]

The Sheets signing was huge but most of the other talent was home grown or aquired through trades. The credit should primarily go to Melvin and Jack Z. They put this team together and that talent is what has the fans excited.

[Bucky Rules]

Quote:

---

The credit should primarily go to Melvin and Jack Z. They put this team together and that talent is what has the fans excited.

---

 

I would agree with that, and I would add in Dean Taylor for changing the focus of the organization. His shortcomings can certainly be argued. But, he came in with a plan to build the organization from the draft on up. He set it up. And we're reaping the benefits of that focus now.

 

I would take Doug Melvin seven days a week over Dean Taylor, but Dean deserves some credit as well.

[bklynbrewcrew]

I dont think you can underestimate the job that Attanasio has done with this team. He has consistently raised the payroll and for the most part let Melvin and Jack Z do there jobs. The only issue I have with him is the Suppan signing. I truly believe that Attanasio was watching last years playoffs and went out on his own to sign Suppan. I dont see any way that Melvin would have given him that contract. Suppan is basically a journeyman run of the mill 4th or 5th starter that is being grossly overpaid. If this contract prevents us from signing Sheets I will be very very upset as Sheets is a true number one starter that this team cant afford to lose. Its up to Attanasio to pony up and keep Sheets in a Brewer uniform for many years to come.

[honuswagner21]

I don't think Turnbow gets a 3 year deal pre-Attanasio. I also, somewhat question whether Counsell gets 2 years and $6 million. I know that they wanted playoff experience but Counsell's dollars seem a little steep for experience. Same thing for Suppan

[Thurston Fluff]

I'm not so sure any of the deals wouldn't have been done. The Jeffery Hammonds signing shows they were willing to pay for players when the time was right. They just didn't get the right player or pick the right time. That was more on Dean Taylor than it was the Seligs. Maybe the Soup deal wouldn't have been done but with hindsight being 20/20 that may not have been so bad. Not that Soup is a bad deal by any means. It's just we have in house options that are far cheaper and probably as good.

We shouldn't judge them by the payroll the final season since it was not related to the Seligs unwillingness to pay as much as it was to aid in the sale of the team. It gave the new owner flexibility and didn't lock him in to potentially bad contracts like the Cubs did. Overall I tend to believe circumstances dictated the payrolls more than merely being cheap. The time they had the revenue was the same time they needed to start all over. There was no way they were going to be able to buy their way to a good team after Sal got through with it. They semi attempted to and all that did was get us 100+ losses. If they couldn't buy a good team it didn't really make sense to spend a ton of money on a bad one. As it is they probably overpaid for the production of some of those late 90's early 00 teams. Even Mark A. didn't ramp up the payroll to it's current level his first year. There simply wasn't any benefit to it.

[hauser42]

Suppan is here because he can eat up innings and the younger pitchers did not need to be rushed up from the minors.

 

If the Brewers really want to resign Ben Sheets they will get it done.

[Thurston Fluff]

Suppan is here because he can eat up innings and the younger pitchers did not need to be rushed up from the minors.

 

For the record I agreed with the signing. However Villenueva was ready and capable of starting at the beginning of the year so slotting him in the rotation wouldn't have hurt his development. My point was he was the only one that may not have been signed IMO.

[Invader3K]

I think on the surface, the starting lineup and rotation (minus Suppan), would be pretty much the same if Wendy was still the owner. However, I don't think the team would have the same depth. We wouldn't have Cordero, and Turnbow would probably be gone or traded by now. The bullpen and bench would also be lacking. It would basically be like the Selig teams of a few years ago, where you have one star pitcher (OK, sometimes the Brewers didn't have any), a couple "name" bats in the lineup, and not much depth underneath.

[BillScottCanRake]

How much credit should Attanasio get for what has been done? It's hard to say, because one of his best attributes is he isn't a Selig or married to one. Almost any new owner would have had that attribute, too.

 

I like Mark and I think he's done well in his short time owning the Brewers. But I think time will tell just how good he is an an owner. He hasn't really been tested yet, and once he is tested I hope that I can say his best attribute is something other than not being a Selig.

[Never Outhustled]

The business side of the Brewers is where Attanosio's effect is felt. The Marketing and Public Relations has improved immensly under his watch. He has had no impact on the baseball side. The team still ranks low in payroll, hasn't been a big spender in the draft, isn't very active in Latin America, and non--existent in Asia.

 

The baseball operations are doing well because Melvin and staff are extremely effient and effective at what they do.