Brewers are getting bang for their bucks

Milwaukee has lowest payroll among LCS teams

In terms of player payroll among the four teams that advanced to League Championship Series play this season, there is one definite outlier.

That would be the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Brewers had by far the lowest opening day payroll of the teams still playing baseball in October. They opened with a payroll just north of $90 million, which has increased to about $110 million with late-season acquisitions, call-ups, etc.

Compare that to the team the Brewers are playing in the NLCS: the Los Angeles Dodgers, who trimmed their payroll greatly from 2017 to avoid paying the luxury tax. The Dodgers began the season at about $187 million, giving them twice the funds to field their team as the Brewers spent.

The really big spenders are the Boston Red Sox, who are squaring off against Houston in the ALCS. Boston led all 30 teams at the start of the season with a payroll above $233 million, easily No. 1.

The defending World Series champion Astros also are among the top 10 spenders in the majors with a payroll just below $173 million.

So, in terms of getting the most bang for their bucks, the Brewers are the overachievers in MLB's Final Four. The most successful postseason participants in terms of getting the most from their payrolls were the AL wild-card Oakland Athletics, last among the 30 teams with a $62.6 million payroll, and NL East champion Atlanta, which began the year ranked 27th at just over $83 million.

The Brewers boosted their payroll about 50% from 2017, when they ranked at the bottom of the majors after stripping down their roster during a large-scale rebuilding process. When that team fared much better than expected, falling just one game shy of the playoffs, team owner Mark Attanasio and general manager David Stearns decided it was time to spend for the likes of Lorenzo Cain, Christian Yelich and Jhoulys Chacín, among others, moves that paid off handsomely.

“It gives us immense satisfaction to be one of the four finalists,” Attanasio said Thursday before his team’s workout at Miller Park prior to Game 1 on Friday night. “But we have not said to ourselves, ‘Hey, we did it with less money.’ Our job is to do it; our job is to get here.”

Which is all well and good but the fact remains that the Brewers, playing in the smallest market in the majors with the lowest television/radio revenues, operate under a budget that other teams dwarf. The Chicago Cubs, the team the Brewers beat on the road in game No. 163 to clinch the NL Central title, spent twice as much on player payroll thanks to immense revenue streams.

Attanasio noted that when the Brewers played with a $60 million payroll last year, they could have gone higher, or lower for that matter, but the plan they used to rebuild put them at that figure.

“We’ll never be at the top of the payroll lists,” Attanasio said. “But it’s more about the process rather than trying to get to a certain number. We’re very pleased with how our process has worked. For us, it’s always been about process and methodology.”

Beyond having more money to spend on talent, the teams with bigger budgets also can afford to make mistakes without crippling the team. As an example, it handicapped the Brewers when pitcher Matt Garza never lived up to the four-year, $50 million freeagent deal that expired after last season.

“The obvious concern is you can’t make mistakes,” Attanasio said. “As you're competing, the more relevant concern is making decisions that get the mix right. It’s really wonderful what David and (manager) Craig (Counsell) have done. They got the mix right.”

So, call it David vs. Goliath or whatever designation you prefer. But when the NLCS begins, the Brewers and the Dodgers won’t be comparing paychecks to determine a winner.

“My uncle always said, ‘It’s not the best team. It’s the team that plays the best that night,’” said Mike Moustakas, who went to consecutive World Series with the small-market Kansas City Royals. “Nobody feels like an underdog in the LCS. Both teams deserve to be here; all four teams deserve to be here.

“It’s just the team that has the best series that wins. We’re going to do everything we can to get a ‘W’ every night. At the end of the series, we’ll see where we’re at.”