Phoenix – He sat alone in front of his locker Tuesday morning, but there was no reporter around him.
He is pitcher Elbin Rodriguez, the most exciting free agent signature for the Winter Milwaukee Brewers.
On the same day, 23-year-old Japanese pitching sensation Sasaki announced that she had signed with 26-year-old Rodriguez, Rodriguez and Rodriguez, and last season’s Tokyo Yakult swallows and signed with the brewer.
While $3.2 billion was spent on free agency this winter, Brewers’ big move was spending $900,000 on Rodriguez with a $1.35 million club option.
It has dominated the National League Central division since 2017, winning four division titles and reaching the playoffs in six of the last seven seasons.
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Now, instead of going to the neck like the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, the brewers are on putt after winning consecutive NL Central.
Own in beer and stuff your face with cheese curd is enough.
“We really don’t have any options, do we?” Brewers outfielder Christian Elich, the top-paid player of $22 million, tells USA Today Sports. Everyone wins in the offseason.
“It’s a challenge that we seem to have to face every year. We lose pieces. For a few years, we lose more than others.
“We want to make the opportunities and opportunities to compete in everything, and I think we still do that, and we just have to get out there and see how it unfolds. ”
The Brewers attack All-Star Shortstop Willie on the San Francisco giants, trading Devin Williams closer to the All-Star for the New York Yankees, using bailiffs Trevor Megill and young people Joey Ortiz and Bryce Tarlan. And stay within the organization. shortstop
“We have good young players,” Elich said. “We’re always relying on younger players, and that unfolds.”
The brewer owner, Mark Athanacio, is not trying to apologise. Certainly they would have wanted to continue their attacks. Instead of relying on the Yankees’ cast-off Nestor Cortez, they hope they have the resources to sign Marquee Free Agent Starters.
Attanasio hears complaints. He hasn’t whined about the Dodgers and Mets. He hasn’t groaned about pay gaps throughout the game.
But he hasn’t even spent.
Attanasio claims they are struggling to break, as the Cubs claimed they lost $20 million last year, and Angels owner Arte Moreno predicts they will lose $50 million this year. The Mets and Padres lost over $100 million last year. According to Attanasio, the sole revenue revenue was a $2.5 million cash inflow from the wildcard playoff round against the New York Mets.
“From an ownership perspective, my goal is to compete all the time. …We don’t like talking about us as a small market. We certainly don’t play like a small market. . The fourth most wins in the National League.”
The Brewers, Dodgers and Astros are the only teams in the major leagues to score at least 86 games in a full season over the past seven seasons.
The difference, of course, is that the Dodgers won two World Series championships and four pennants in that stretch.
The brewer has not been to the World Series since 1982. Of course, you can’t win.
“My job to win the World Series is my job,” Attanasio said.
Competing for the World Series is very easy, Atanacio said if the revenue stream is a little closer to the Big Boys. Over the past two years, the Brewers have garnered 2.5 million fans in two years, ranked 9th in the National League, attracting 3 million fans three times since 2008, but has earned around 35 million TV revenues It’s dollars. By comparison, the Dodgers are in the middle of a 25-year, $8.35 billion television deal, with an average of $330 million per year.
“I don’t want to think of it as small, but we couldn’t do what a big market would do from a free agency and salary perspective…” says Attanasio. “We don’t have the financial ability to bring superstars. We try to hold on to everything we can.”
Now, if local TV revenues were shared equally, like the NFL, then that could be a completely different story. The Kansas City chief has been in the Super Bowl for three years in a row, and has an epic matchup with the Buffalo Bills. The last small World Series game was in 1997 between Cleveland and the Florida Marlins.
“If there’s a playoff game between the NFL’s Buffalo and the city of Kansas City and it’s going on so long, isn’t it that good for the sport?” Attanasio asks. that? . …
“We’re looking at what the NFL did with the media deal. We know what the NBA did. It’s all sitting there. If we can do that, the pie is for everyone, for the owner, and for the player. For it, it’s bigger for everyone.
“Whatever the labor system is, you need to understand how to do it.”
Is there a chance that one other team would agree to share local TV revenues?
“Of course anything is possible,” Attanasio said. “It’s probably better to ask those teams than I do. It was the lowest media contract in baseball and that didn’t stop us.
“And you continued the symmetry gap in baseball, but that didn’t stop us.”
They will find ways to lock players, just like rookie Jackson Chowlio on a nine-year, $215 million contract in 2020, or a $82 million contract last spring.
“I think one of the reasons for our success is that we embarked on a way of running that we’ve been stuck for 20 years. VE always tried to keep players on the end.”
Still, the brewers continue to chew together.
“We are aware of the industry’s challenges regarding the economics of sports,” said Brewers GM Matt Arnold. “But we’re not going to make any excuses about it. We’ll accept that.”
Really, they don’t have a choice.
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