Brewers Owner Mark Attanasio yesterday "repeated his comments from the off season that he is on board" with the front office’s long-term plan "to build the team with drafted and acquired younger players," according to Rich Kirchen of the MILWAUKEE BUSINESS JOURNAL. Attanasio and GM David Stearns said that fans so far "have told them they are okay with rebuilding." Stearns said that he "doesn’t want to set a timeline for a return to the playoffs." He said, “I’m not going to put any limits on any team any year including this team this year." When asked for his message to fans, Stearns said that they "can look to the successes of playoff teams from last year that built much of their rosters from within over several years," including the Cubs, Royals, Mets and Astros. Kirchen noted the Brewers' payroll "is down this year due to the plethora of young and inexperienced talent." However, Attanasio said that he "won’t hold back on spending more when the time is right to pay more for retaining or attracting talent" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 4/4). In Milwaukee, Tom Haudricourt noted the Brewers’ actual payroll is about $56.5M but will be listed around $63M "for accounting purposes because of deferred money, bonuses, etc." That is down from more than $100M last season. Attanasio said, "At the time we are ready to compete again or compete very seriously again, ... any dollars that we save now can be used then.” Asked about a report that the Brewers’ operating revenue has increased, Attanasio said, “Baseball accounting is somewhat arcane, so I don’t know that even if they had access to numbers they would present it correctly, though maybe they did. ... I don’t pay a terrible amount of attention to the operating numbers. I kind of look at our debt numbers" (JSONLINE.com, 4/4).
ROCKIES' ROAD: In Denver, Nick Groke notes the Rockies are taking the opposite approach of the Brewers. Rockies GM Jeff Bridich yesterday reiterated that his plan for the club "is to win now," and there "will be no tanking or overhauling on his watch in the future." Groke notes the Rockies "are dragging through their worst five-year stretch in the 24-year history of the club," but a multiyear rebuilding similar to what the Astros have utilized "is not the path preferred by the Rockies." Bridich: "That has never crossed our mind." The team's Opening Day 25-man payroll came in at less than $90M "for the first time in three years" (DENVER POST, 4/5).
