Latest / Foul Territory / How Milwaukee out-builds big spenders and what it means for baseball, Andy McCullough joins FT

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How Milwaukee out-builds big spenders and what it means for baseball, Andy McCullough joins FT · Foul Territory

0:03
Speaker 1: Here comes Andy McCullough from The Athletic, wrote an article
0:06
Speaker 1: about 44 years waiting for Milwaukee to get back to
0:09
Speaker 1: the World Series. Here there are two wins away from
0:11
Speaker 1: a title. Andy, thanks for joining us. You teed up
0:14
Speaker 1: the first question so perfectly because it's in the title.
0:17
Speaker 1: Are the Brewers' glory days finally here? What do you think?
0:20
Speaker 2: It's a very good baseball team. It's the best team
0:23
Speaker 2: in franchise history. They stood toe-to-toe with the Dodgers, the
0:29
Speaker 2: two-time defending champs, and beat them four times in a row.
0:32
Speaker 2: You know, they haven't lost in quite a while. Like
0:34
Speaker 2: it's a, they're like, they don't really have obvious weaknesses
0:38
Speaker 2: and they do a lot of things. Well, it's a
0:40
Speaker 2: very well constructed, deep, relentless, you know, fun to watch
0:44
Speaker 2: baseball team. It's like, you know, if you're a Milwaukee
0:46
Speaker 2: Brewers fan, this is the team you have been waiting
0:49
Speaker 2: your entire life to watch. So, you know, they're, they're
0:51
Speaker 2: very fortunate right now.
0:53
Speaker 3: Andy, how did you come up with the title of
0:55
Speaker 3: this article?
0:58
Speaker 2: What's the, oh, the, well, that's a reference to the
1:01
Speaker 2: band Yolo Tango.
1:03
Speaker 3: I don't know.
1:03
Speaker 4: There's a, there's a funny, there's a, sorry, people that
1:06
Speaker 4: don't know, there's a, there's a pretty funny segment of,
1:10
Speaker 4: on MLB with Harold Reynolds and Matt Vaskers, and we
1:12
Speaker 4: always joke about where the guy writes a book and
1:14
Speaker 4: it says Babe Ruth goes to Japan and Harold Reynolds goes,
1:18
Speaker 4: so how did you come up with the title of
1:19
Speaker 4: this book? And he's like, well, Babe Ruth went to Japan.
1:21
Speaker 4: So Andy, now that the glory days of the brewers
1:24
Speaker 4: are here, How did you come up with the name
1:26
Speaker 4: of this title? Because this is in their glory days,
1:30
Speaker 4: and if they don't win this World Series, I don't
1:31
Speaker 4: know that it'll ever happen with this team, the way
1:34
Speaker 4: they're playing, and this group of guys.
1:36
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, that's just, they play glory days after they win.
1:39
Speaker 2: I'm just a hack.
1:39
Speaker 1: Oh, okay.
1:40
Speaker 2: You've got to understand. I like it. Yeah, yeah.
1:42
Speaker 3: Yeah, I like it.
1:43
Speaker 2: I'm just a total hack. But, yes, like, it actually,
1:45
Speaker 2: you know, like, it's cliche, but it is fitting, right? Like,
1:47
Speaker 2: this is, as I was saying, I mean, this is just, like,
1:49
Speaker 2: the team that, they have been building towards, you know,
1:53
Speaker 2: for the past, you know, basically, you know, David Stearns
1:56
Speaker 2: was hired in 2015 and, you know, Matt Arnold has
1:59
Speaker 2: kind of continued what Stearns started to build and really,
2:03
Speaker 2: you know, got into the postseason and stuff like that.
2:05
Speaker 2: And so, yeah, I mean, this is like the culmination
2:06
Speaker 2: of more than a decade of, you know, shrewd decisions
2:09
Speaker 2: and great player development and great performances. So yeah, like it's,
2:13
Speaker 2: these are the glory days for sure. Okay.
2:15
Speaker 5: You said this is the team that they built when
2:17
Speaker 5: David Stearns got hired, they built Did you hear Mark
2:20
Speaker 5: Antanasio's comment saying this team is built, not bought?
2:25
Speaker 2: I did hear that.
2:27
Speaker 5: Is that a, yes, it's a fair assessment, but is
2:30
Speaker 5: it also an assessment that, okay, because we're winning. Had
2:35
Speaker 5: the Henderson game gone differently, is that the same sentiment that, hey,
2:40
Speaker 5: we're building for the future, but, oh, crap, we would
2:43
Speaker 5: have loved to have won that game with someone else.
2:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, everything is in the context of the
2:47
Speaker 2: fact that they're winning. If they had lost to the
2:49
Speaker 2: Dodgers again, I don't think there would have been a very,
2:51
Speaker 2: you know, positive reception to the owner saying they were built,
2:54
Speaker 2: not bought, right? But, you know, it's accurate. I mean,
2:58
Speaker 2: they have not spent with, you know, the teams who are,
3:01
Speaker 2: generally they are the best performing team who spends the
3:06
Speaker 2: least in the score. Now, they don't have like a
3:08
Speaker 2: bottom five payroll, you know, like the Rays do this year.
3:10
Speaker 2: I think they're like, they ended up being 19th. And
3:13
Speaker 2: they have, you know, done a bunch of long term
3:16
Speaker 2: extensions with younger players, you know, to sort of buy
3:20
Speaker 2: out their arbitration. You know, Jackson Churio obviously comes to mind.
3:23
Speaker 2: So it's not like they're like completely adverse to spending ever,
3:26
Speaker 2: but they try and be very, very strategic with it. But, yeah,
3:29
Speaker 2: I mean, I think that's a from Adonazio's perspective, you know,
3:32
Speaker 2: he is emphasized, I guess, the the. The most gentle
3:36
Speaker 2: way of saying it would be sustainability, you know, in
3:39
Speaker 2: keeping this thing going, which leads to making, you know,
3:41
Speaker 2: hard roster decisions when you have star players like they traded,
3:44
Speaker 2: you know, Corbin Burns. They traded Josh Hader. They traded
3:48
Speaker 2: Devin Williams. They traded Freddie Peralta, you know, all on
3:51
Speaker 2: the eve or approaching free agency. You know, they're going
3:54
Speaker 2: to have a variety of those decisions this winter. But like,
3:57
Speaker 2: it's hard also to argue with the results. Like they
3:59
Speaker 2: are the best team in baseball this year. They had
4:01
Speaker 2: the best record in baseball last year. And they're really
4:04
Speaker 2: well positioned for, you know, the next two or three
4:06
Speaker 2: seasons as well.
4:08
Speaker 4: Andy, you're talking about Mark Antonacci, who I love talking to.
4:11
Speaker 4: But he also said, well, we need a salary cap
4:13
Speaker 4: so there's hope. Is there not hope in Milwaukee? Is
4:15
Speaker 4: there not hope this year that they're going to win
4:17
Speaker 4: the World Series? You know, you mentioned all this and that.
4:19
Speaker 4: They've also sold the most World Series merchandise of all time, right?
4:23
Speaker 4: They can't get enough of Brewers baseball. Is there really
4:26
Speaker 4: no hope in Milwaukee?
4:28
Speaker 2: I do wonder, I mean, if we talk to, you know,
4:30
Speaker 2: the league has talked so much about competitive balance, like
4:33
Speaker 2: if the Rays and the Brewers have to spend to
4:35
Speaker 2: a salary floor, will that wreck the competitive balance in
4:38
Speaker 2: the sport? You know, if they're too good, these will
4:41
Speaker 2: create juggernauts. Look, I mean, the owners want a salary cap,
4:44
Speaker 2: you know, they can say competitive balance, they can say
4:47
Speaker 2: growing the game. I think at the end of the day,
4:50
Speaker 2: it's franchise valuations and making more money controlling costs. They
4:53
Speaker 2: want to have the system that the NFL and the
4:56
Speaker 2: NBA and the NHL have. Um, obviously there is hope
5:00
Speaker 2: for all teams in major league baseball. I think the
5:02
Speaker 2: brewers demonstrate that the, you know, the rays demonstrate that
5:06
Speaker 2: the guardians demonstrate that, you know, there's, it's possible to
5:10
Speaker 2: be a small market team and win and, you know,
5:13
Speaker 2: spending money does not guarantee championships. You know, the Mets
5:17
Speaker 2: have not won since 1986. The Yankees have not won
5:18
Speaker 2: since 2009. Uh, the Cubs have won once in their
5:20
Speaker 2: entire history and, Like, it's, you know, it's a crapshoot. But,
5:27
Speaker 2: you know, the argument from the owners is, you know,
5:31
Speaker 2: competitive balance, all that stuff. I think at the end
5:34
Speaker 2: of the day, it comes down to just making more
5:36
Speaker 2: money and controlling the salaries of their most expensive labor,
5:40
Speaker 2: the players.
5:42
Speaker 5: Is this, since the Brewers are now your team, after
5:44
Speaker 5: you wrote this article, they're now your team.
5:47
Speaker 3: Sure.
5:48
Speaker 5: Is this series hurting baseball?
5:52
Speaker 2: No, I don't think so. No, I don't think so.
5:55
Speaker 2: I mean, look, like some years you get a marquee
5:57
Speaker 2: matchup like, you know, the Dodgers and the Yankees that,
6:00
Speaker 2: you know, have coastal teams with like huge, you know,
6:03
Speaker 2: maybe more international followings. But like hurting baseball, I don't know.
6:09
Speaker 2: I think the product is pretty good. You know, it's fun.
6:12
Speaker 2: The two games have been solid to watch. Like there's
6:14
Speaker 2: a lot of exciting players. There's not a ton of.
6:17
Speaker 2: household names, but I guess that's why they broadcast these
6:19
Speaker 2: games on television so it goes into your household and
6:22
Speaker 2: you learn who William Contreras is, I guess.
6:26
Speaker 5: You said there's hope for these teams. Do you think
6:31
Speaker 5: the other teams that are consistently not in it, the
6:35
Speaker 5: lower market teams that don't have what the Guardians, the Rays,
6:38
Speaker 5: the Brewers have, is it a lack of effort or
6:42
Speaker 5: is it a lack of their stubbornness, like you would say.
6:47
Speaker 5: You were mentioning the Brewers' stubbornness to get rid of
6:51
Speaker 5: Freddie P, to get rid of Josh Hader, to get
6:53
Speaker 5: rid of Burns. Now they kept Big Woo around on
6:55
Speaker 5: a qualifying offer.
6:56
Speaker 2: For sure, and they kept Willie Adamas too. It's not
7:01
Speaker 2: a cut-and-dried thing. I think it's just, look, building a
7:04
Speaker 2: good baseball team is hard. And it's probably harder to
7:08
Speaker 2: do it if you don't have an unlimited budget. But
7:12
Speaker 2: that's like kind of I mean, why would you do
7:15
Speaker 2: this for a living if you didn't want to compete?
7:17
Speaker 2: Like it's a competitive industry. And so some teams are
7:20
Speaker 2: better at it than others. You know, Milwaukee is better
7:23
Speaker 2: at it than some of their other. you know, small
7:25
Speaker 2: market teams. That doesn't mean those teams can't get better.
7:27
Speaker 2: That doesn't mean, you know, that those teams maybe haven't
7:30
Speaker 2: like caught bad luck along the way, you know, whether
7:32
Speaker 2: it's like a rash of pitching injuries with guys or
7:34
Speaker 2: things like that, you know, or like, you know, you
7:35
Speaker 2: look at like Baltimore, right? Like they built this really,
7:38
Speaker 2: really enviable position or a group of position player prospects.
7:42
Speaker 2: And then it's kind of stalled out in the last
7:44
Speaker 2: couple of years. there still is time for them to
7:47
Speaker 2: sort of like fix it and get it right. But
7:49
Speaker 2: it's just like, it's just hard to do this. It's
7:51
Speaker 2: hard to, to build a good baseball team, you know,
7:54
Speaker 2: and it's hard to do it when you're spending a
7:56
Speaker 2: ton of money. I mean, look at the Mets, you know,
7:58
Speaker 2: they've spent like more than $ 300 million on payroll several times,
8:02
Speaker 2: you know, in this past decade and like several times
8:04
Speaker 2: they've also missed the post season. So yeah, I just,
8:08
Speaker 2: I don't know if there's like one specific reason why
8:11
Speaker 2: these other teams are not doing it other than that, like,
8:14
Speaker 2: It's a difficult profession and, you know, it's also competitive.
8:18
Speaker 2: So like you don't get credit for like, you know,
8:21
Speaker 2: trying your hardest, if that makes sense.
8:24
Speaker 6: Okay, Kratzy, here we are again, man. How many times
8:27
Speaker 6: do we have to tell people to get the best
8:29
Speaker 6: tickets in the house? Where do we got to go?
8:31
Speaker 6: We got to go to SeatGeek. It's been worth it
8:33
Speaker 6: so many times, so many years. The green light will
8:36
Speaker 6: let you know when it is time to go and
8:39
Speaker 6: the best seats available. The red will let you know
8:41
Speaker 6: if it's not the best. Kratzy, tell them how easy
8:43
Speaker 6: it is.
8:44
Speaker 5: Todd, I know it's easy, but I'm looking for the
8:47
Speaker 5: deals because that's what I do. Even so much, like
8:51
Speaker 5: we're getting such a good deal, I want you to
8:52
Speaker 5: come across the river and we'll go to a Sixers
8:55
Speaker 5: game together. I don't know where to sit in the stadium,
8:57
Speaker 5: but it'll let me know that it's a perfect view
9:00
Speaker 5: because I'm not a big NBA fan, but I got
9:03
Speaker 5: to go see the Sixers play with LeBron and the boys.
9:06
Speaker 6: And of course I have a code for you all.
9:07
Speaker 6: You can use code TERRITORY10 for 10% off your next
9:11
Speaker 6: set of tickets at SeatGeek. That's 10% of all tickets
9:15
Speaker 6: with promo code TERRITORY10. Make sure you click the link
9:18
Speaker 6: in the description to download the app and have the
9:20
Speaker 6: code automatically added to your account so you can use
9:23
Speaker 6: it later.
9:24
Speaker 4: Also, by the way, now that we've established that you're
9:26
Speaker 4: a full Brewers fan, so when you go to the
9:28
Speaker 4: Trop tonight, since you're on the road, you're probably going
9:30
Speaker 4: to get things... you know, yelled at and booed and
9:33
Speaker 4: you step into the trop. So just be ready for that.
9:36
Speaker 3: Okay.
9:36
Speaker 4: Well, I want to talk about the Rays. The Rays
9:39
Speaker 4: get to play in the trop. The Brewers have already
9:41
Speaker 4: started complaining about the roof, Trevor McGill, which the roof
9:44
Speaker 4: has been there the whole time.
9:45
Speaker 3: Okay.
9:46
Speaker 4: So I played in the Metrodome where the roof was
9:49
Speaker 4: whiter than it was in the trop. Is it going
9:52
Speaker 4: to make a difference? I mean, is it going to
9:54
Speaker 4: make a difference?
9:54
Speaker 3: We already saw a.
9:55
Speaker 4: Ball hit a wire and in American family field for
9:58
Speaker 4: the brewers and get them an outright.
9:59
Speaker 3: So will it make a difference in this series? The roof?
10:03
Speaker 2: I don't think so. I think McGill's just funny. I
10:05
Speaker 2: don't even know if he was complaining all that much.
10:06
Speaker 2: He's just an amusing fellow. I mean, he said he,
10:08
Speaker 2: you know, met a ghost at the Fister a few
10:10
Speaker 2: years ago. So, you know, it's like, he's, he's willing
10:13
Speaker 2: to see what needs to be seen. Um, Yeah, no,
10:16
Speaker 2: I don't think the roof's going to be a big deal.
10:18
Speaker 2: I mean, I think, and by the way, I do
10:20
Speaker 2: think that there's going to be a lot of Brewers
10:22
Speaker 2: fans here in St. Pete, you know, these next two nights,
10:25
Speaker 2: three nights, if, you know, the series goes that long.
10:27
Speaker 2: So I expect them all to come to the press
10:29
Speaker 2: box and give me high fives and stuff as, you know,
10:31
Speaker 2: America's number one Brewers fan who lives in Manhattan.
10:35
Speaker 3: Perfect. By the way, have you ever stayed at the Vinoy?
10:38
Speaker 2: No, dude, do you know what the travel budget is
10:40
Speaker 2: for news outlets these days?
10:42
Speaker 3: Come on. I don't.
10:44
Speaker 2: Not all of us have big league service time, bro.
10:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, true. Fox does treat me well about that. But, Andy,
10:50
Speaker 3: let me say this.
10:51
Speaker 4: So the Brewers, there's one team that– these two teams,
10:54
Speaker 4: we should call this the ghost series, and it's fitting
10:56
Speaker 4: that it could end, I think, on Halloween if I'm
10:59
Speaker 4: wrong because the Vinoy is known for being haunted, and
11:04
Speaker 4: that's where most of the teams stay in Tampa.
11:06
Speaker 3: Yeah.
11:07
Speaker 4: And the Pfister in Milwaukee is known as being haunted.
11:10
Speaker 4: So we're going to find out if it ends on Halloween,
11:12
Speaker 4: everyone should just have to dress up as a ghost.
11:14
Speaker 3: Or have the ghost from the Vinoy fight the.
11:15
Speaker 4: Ghost of the Pfister and see who, I don't know,
11:18
Speaker 4: settle it that way.
11:20
Speaker 2: We wrote about that actually going into the series. It's
11:22
Speaker 2: like a very fair fight, right? If you're both staying
11:24
Speaker 2: in a haunted hotel, it's not a competitive advantage. I
11:28
Speaker 2: do think, though, that the Pfister does a better job
11:31
Speaker 2: marketing their ghosts. Because everyone knows that the Pfister, you know,
11:35
Speaker 2: is haunted. There is less known about the Vinoy being
11:39
Speaker 2: haunted to the extent that like the Brewers, when I
11:40
Speaker 2: was telling them for the story, I was like, are you,
11:43
Speaker 2: you know, how do you feel about ghosts? Which is
11:45
Speaker 2: like a great way to start an interview with a
11:46
Speaker 2: ball player. It's really good to ingratiate yourself that way.
11:49
Speaker 2: They definitely don't look at you like you're the dumbest
11:51
Speaker 2: person they've talked to all day. Um, and they would say, yeah, yeah.
11:54
Speaker 2: The Pfister. I said, no, do you know about the Vinoy?
11:56
Speaker 2: And they're like, what are you talking about? So I
11:58
Speaker 2: do think, you know, yeah, the brewers took the first two,
12:01
Speaker 2: but they were not totally prepared, you know, for the
12:03
Speaker 2: house of horrors awaiting them at, uh, the Vinoy.
12:06
Speaker 5: Ooh, you already made the, you already made the title
12:08
Speaker 5: for your next article, the house of horrors, but it's
12:11
Speaker 5: not the whole Vinoy.
12:12
Speaker 3: It's only the old side.
12:14
Speaker 2: So it's the old side, which makes sense.
12:16
Speaker 6: Yes.
12:16
Speaker 3: Which makes sense.
12:17
Speaker 2: The ghost would be there.
12:18
Speaker 5: You wouldn't have new ghosts.
12:20
Speaker 4: But wouldn't the ghost want an upgrade? Don't the ghosts
12:23
Speaker 4: ask for an upgrade? Don't they go to the front
12:25
Speaker 4: desk and say, I want an upgraded room, please, like
12:27
Speaker 4: everybody does?
12:29
Speaker 3: Only your ghosts.
12:31
Speaker 2: They're just forced to float through this mortal coil in
12:35
Speaker 2: eternity until they can rectify their sins and find the afterlife.
12:39
Speaker 4: I guess.
12:40
Speaker 5: Hang on, hang on. I'm going to write that down
12:42
Speaker 5: as I ask you my next question. The mortal sins
12:46
Speaker 5: of the trop is less about the roof, and to me...
12:52
Speaker 5: Has anybody asked, and I asked somebody, I forget who
12:54
Speaker 5: it was, a few days ago, about the mound issues
12:58
Speaker 5: that our guy is going to have if there's a
13:02
Speaker 5: game five in Jacob Mizorowski.
13:05
Speaker 3: No.
13:06
Speaker 2: What is the deal with that? Tell me about it.
13:07
Speaker 5: Just because on road games, a lot of road mounds
13:12
Speaker 5: don't have the same amount of landing zone clay that
13:17
Speaker 5: Mizorowski steps through because it's the World Series. because it's
13:22
Speaker 5: been a continuous, it's happened at quite a few road mounds,
13:26
Speaker 5: and it doesn't happen in Milwaukee, is it something that
13:30
Speaker 5: can be addressed or should be addressed by Major League
13:33
Speaker 5: Baseball to make it a fair playing surface?
13:39
Speaker 2: Uh, I mean, I, this is the first I'm hearing
13:41
Speaker 2: about this. Uh, wow. You're telling me about this now. Um, yeah, I,
13:47
Speaker 2: I don't know. Just like off the top of my head. No,
13:49
Speaker 2: they should, the race should do what they want with
13:50
Speaker 2: the mound. Why would they accommodate a player on another team?
13:54
Speaker 5: I'm not saying they should.
13:57
Speaker 2: I'm saying, no, yeah, I just, I know, but like, no,
13:59
Speaker 2: it hasn't come up yet.
14:00
Speaker 3: No.
14:00
Speaker 2: I mean, I assume if there is a game five.
14:02
Speaker 3: Yeah.
14:02
Speaker 2: Cause, cause Mr. Oski hasn't pitched on the road yet
14:04
Speaker 2: this October. Right.
14:05
Speaker 3: He has not.
14:06
Speaker 2: Because he's only– yeah, three at home, and they've– yeah. So, yeah,
14:10
Speaker 2: I don't know. I mean, we'll see if that becomes
14:13
Speaker 2: an issue going in. I just don't know why the
14:14
Speaker 2: Rays would change their mound to help the other team.
14:18
Speaker 4: Andy, this is your thing today. If you get to
14:20
Speaker 4: see Pat Murphy, your first questions to him should be,
14:24
Speaker 4: should the Rays have to change the mound for Miz
14:27
Speaker 4: in game five? And then you thought you got bad
14:29
Speaker 4: looks when you asked the ghost question? I'd love to
14:31
Speaker 4: see and hear Murph's answer to that question. So go
14:33
Speaker 4: ahead and then film it for us so we can
14:35
Speaker 4: run it on our post-game show.
14:37
Speaker 3: Andy asked this question, and this was Murph's response.
14:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll see. We'll see.
14:42
Speaker 3: You don't think he would like that question?
14:45
Speaker 2: I mean, he might. He's a fairly, you know, equanimous guy.
14:48
Speaker 3: Wow, you used some big words, Andy. Equanimous.
14:52
Speaker 2: He cannot breathe underwater.
14:54
Speaker 3: Exactly.
14:57
Speaker 4: When you talk to Murph, when he does the press conferences–
15:01
Speaker 4: And he does this when we do our manager meetings.
15:02
Speaker 4: He talks real quiet. He really talks quiet. And then
15:06
Speaker 4: everyone has to kind of lean in, right? Does he
15:09
Speaker 4: do that in his press conferences too before and after games?
15:13
Speaker 2: Sometimes. I mean, yeah, he's very familiar with the art
15:16
Speaker 2: of negotiation. He knows how to draw the audience in.
15:18
Speaker 2: He knows how to hold things. He very much breaks
15:21
Speaker 2: the fourth wall a lot too in press conferences. He
15:24
Speaker 2: calls upon other people within the audience as he's answering
15:27
Speaker 2: his own questions. So it is definitely– a more interactive experience,
15:32
Speaker 2: I would say, than most managers are. It can be
15:36
Speaker 2: quite entertaining.
15:37
Speaker 1: Hey, Andy, one more for you. So you were talking
15:42
Speaker 1: about the Brewers and some of the edges that they
15:44
Speaker 1: have as an organization. To me, I think someone like
15:48
Speaker 1: Jackson Churio encapsulates that. I've learned more about the Brewers
15:51
Speaker 1: as we're watching them in the playoffs, number one. their
15:54
Speaker 1: international scouting department is either one or one of the top, right?
15:58
Speaker 1: Some people say it's number one in terms of personnel.
16:01
Speaker 1: And then also here's a crazy concept. They signed him
16:04
Speaker 1: pretty early on. And I know you mentioned that they
16:06
Speaker 1: signed Pratt and Lara and some others. So for me,
16:09
Speaker 1: those are two advantages that any team could do big
16:12
Speaker 1: or small. And I think a lot of teams are
16:14
Speaker 1: missing the boat there. They don't have the right staff
16:17
Speaker 1: covering the international market, and then they're not going after
16:19
Speaker 1: the right players. with contract extension offers, sometimes in terms
16:24
Speaker 1: of being scared, I don't really understand it. Like I
16:27
Speaker 1: can remember the ones that don't work. They're not many.
16:29
Speaker 2: And even when you look back at their contracts, like.
16:31
Speaker 1: Scott Kingery, Jose Tabata, like we're talking about like Tabata,
16:34
Speaker 1: I think made less than 20 mil, right? Singleton 10
16:37
Speaker 1: mil and Kingery was like 25, like in baseball terms,
16:41
Speaker 1: that is toilet paper.
16:43
Speaker 2: Yeah. I do think, I mean, I guess the counter
16:44
Speaker 2: would be like a Luis Roberts contract where it's like
16:48
Speaker 2: I did it you know backfire for the White Sox
16:50
Speaker 2: no I don't think so but it also like it
16:52
Speaker 2: didn't exactly totally pan out I mean I look I
16:55
Speaker 2: think with the Brewers if you're doing something like you're
16:59
Speaker 2: going to guarantee Churio I think it's like eight years
17:02
Speaker 2: 82 or something like that with several options tacked on
17:05
Speaker 2: that is a significant you know expenditure for them you
17:09
Speaker 2: know given that they run a payroll somewhere from like
17:12
Speaker 2: you know 125 to 150 million if not less um,
17:16
Speaker 2: each year. And so it does involve some risk, but yeah,
17:20
Speaker 2: that is absolutely a thing that, you know, teams could
17:24
Speaker 2: be doing. Um, you know, and it's like, it's also,
17:26
Speaker 2: it's interesting. I, when Andrew Friedman was running the Tampa
17:30
Speaker 2: Bay Rays, they did a lot of contracts like that,
17:33
Speaker 2: buying out pre-arb guys, um, and locking them in and
17:37
Speaker 2: maybe getting a few years of, And the Dodgers have,
17:40
Speaker 2: for the most part, not done that with their younger guys.
17:43
Speaker 2: And so, you know, and that could be just a
17:45
Speaker 2: personnel thing or it could be, you know, reflection of
17:48
Speaker 2: like how the the quants sort of add up the
17:51
Speaker 2: numbers and feel about those deals. But at the same time, like, yeah,
17:54
Speaker 2: like I think it's also worthwhile with like Laura Pratt
17:58
Speaker 2: and Churio. I believe all of them were struck before
18:01
Speaker 2: they reached the majors, which. you know, again, it's not
18:05
Speaker 2: a huge financial commitment, but it is a risk and
18:07
Speaker 2: it's a credit to the organization, you know, for it
18:10
Speaker 2: seems like at the very least in Churio's case and
18:12
Speaker 2: picking the right guys, like he is a very good
18:15
Speaker 2: player who, you know, could be an MVP down the road.
18:18
Speaker 2: So it's, you know, it's a risk, but they appear
18:20
Speaker 2: to be succeeding on it.
18:23
Speaker 4: Andy, before we let you go, I have to ask,
18:24
Speaker 4: because I'm going to be at the game tonight. Is
18:26
Speaker 4: that the shirt over your shoulder that you're going to wear?
18:28
Speaker 4: So I can, I will not be able to miss
18:30
Speaker 4: you from anywhere in the stadium. If you wear that
18:33
Speaker 4: Pink and blue shirt. No, not the one you have on.
18:36
Speaker 3: No, I'm wearing that tomorrow. Oh, you're wearing that tomorrow.
18:39
Speaker 6: Yeah. Okay.
18:40
Speaker 3: So I'll see you tomorrow then. Okay. Yeah.
18:42
Speaker 2: No, you'll, you'll be able to, you'll be able to
18:43
Speaker 2: see me from the, on the other side of the
18:45
Speaker 2: bridge in Tampa.
18:46
Speaker 3: Okay. Yeah. With that shirt. That's what I was wondering.
18:49
Speaker 3: If not tonight, then I'll definitely, I'll be like, I'm blind,
18:52
Speaker 3: but I can see that guy. I know who that
18:54
Speaker 3: guy is. That shirt on.
18:57
Speaker 2: I wear what fits at this point, man. Like, you know,
18:59
Speaker 2: it's like, you know, I can't lose the weight. It's
19:03
Speaker 2: not going anywhere. I just got to stick with what works.
19:07
Speaker 2: Just be careful. You said a bad word.
19:08
Speaker 1: You said bridge.
19:09
Speaker 2: It's causeway.
19:10
Speaker 3: That's true. You will get yelled at for that. Sorry. Careful.
19:13
Speaker 2: Apologies. Apologies.
19:14
Speaker 1: Florida resident here. I don't want to get in trouble.
19:16
Speaker 1: I've gotten in trouble before. So you're better off doing
19:18
Speaker 1: it here than out in the wild there. And don't
19:21
Speaker 1: tell them about the traffic that it takes to get
19:24
Speaker 1: over there, the time, the whole deal.
19:25
Speaker 2: So be careful. Maybe the shirt will direct them over here.
19:27
Speaker 3: Follow the Dodgers.
19:28
Speaker 1: Here, come over the causeway. We're over here. It's two
19:31
Speaker 1: and a half hours today, but it's worth it. It's
19:33
Speaker 1: a World Series game. And don't worry, eventually you'll be
19:35
Speaker 1: in Tampa. I could go all day.
19:37
Speaker 2: There you go. Andy, good stuff, dude.
19:39
Speaker 3: Thanks for joining us.
19:40
Speaker 1: Everyone check out the article in The Athletic with much
19:42
Speaker 1: more on the Brewers run here.
19:44
Speaker 3: Appreciate you, man.
19:45
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me. Have a good one, guys.