Brewers Owner Mark Attanasio said the team’s payroll is “as much a function of our ability to compete on the field and the availability of players as it is a snapshot of any given year's profit or loss,” according to Tom Haudricourt of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. The team’s Opening Day payroll last year was $100M, but Attanasio said it has “moved to the upper" $80M range after signing P Kyle Lohse. He added, “We also need to stay in the range of fiscal responsibility not to harm the long-term prospects for the franchise. Payroll has been in this range dating back to 2008. It is more that we stretched it last year than dropped it this year.” Meanwhile, Attanasio said of the Brewers’ ballpark, “I have always regarded Miller Park as a significant asset to the team and the community and am committed to maintaining the facility as one of the finest in MLB to optimize the fan experience.” The team this year “undertook three major upgrades to Miller Park.” The Dew Deck, a “seating area above the right-field bleachers, was renovated during the off-season to include a 25-foot high rock-climbing wall in the shape of a can of Mountain Dew.” The SKYY Lounge was “totally renovated this winter and now includes an expanded line of high-end concessions.” The Miller Lite Party Deck, situated “above the Miller Park right-field loge bleachers, is a new feature of Miller Park.” It includes “a fixed bar, buffet counter, flat-panel televisions and two levels of seating, and is available for groups at select Brewers home games” (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/1).
FOLLOW THE SIGNS: In Wisconsin, Scott Venci noted it “remains to be seen if the Brewers’ signing of Lohse was a wise move, especially since the team had to surrender its first-round pick -- the 17th overall -- in order to get him.” But acquiring Lohse was “another sign that Attanasio wants to have a consistently competitive team, and he’s willing to commit some serious money to help make it happen.” The team won a “franchise-record 96 games in 2011 and have drawn more than 3 million fans in three of the past five seasons after never drawing that many in any of the first 39 years of the franchise.” The Brewers have $73.8M "committed for next season,” but President of Baseball Operations & GM Doug Melvin “sounds like his team will be able to add payroll if it is able to make a playoff push both this season and in the future” (Appleton POST-CRESCENT, 3/31).
