MLB Now | How have the Milwaukee Brewers become a $115M “powerhouse?” – Brian Kenny debate

MLB Now | How have the Milwaukee Brewers become a $115M “powerhouse?” – Brian Kenny debate

All right, back with you here on MLB Now. I’m Brian Kenny. Uh, this is on ESPN.com. Jesse Rogers put this out last week. It’s an outstanding article. How the Brewers have built a 155 million MLB powerhouse. By the way, 115 million uh gets you 24th in payroll out of the 30 clubs. Brewers, uh, again, they’re a remarkable story. Jesse Rogers of ESPN joins us now. Jesse, it’s Brian Kenny. Great piece. I really enjoyed it. It was like an old school deep dive. Uh, thanks for coming on today. Appreciate the uh the comments, Brian. You know, uh access to a team is a little bit easier when they’re the best team in the league. So, I appreciated them letting me in their front door and uh it was it was it was great to do a deep dive on on the best team in baseball that really not a lot of people saw coming. Yeah, I I saw them coming. I wouldn’t think this good. I loved them. Uh but it turns out I liked them. I didn’t love them as much as I should have. How much time did you spend with them and Pat Murphy? Well, it’s great. I’m based in Chicago and they played a fivegame series in Chicago. One game was a rain out. So, we had all sorts of access before and after games and I I go up to Milwaukee often being based in Chicago. So, I’ve been around this team a lot. I did their sideline reporting uh last couple years in the playoffs in the first round. So, really gotten to know these guys and I I love what Christian Yoich said to me. It’s like Milwaukee Community College around here. Of course, Pat Murphy made his name in the college ranks. Wouldn’t necessarily work everywhere. I think they’d all admit that, but it’s working in Milwaukee. There’s an accountability that you really want to see at every level, but this team in particular does that very well. I I don’t I I don’t, you know, I have to clean up some of the imagery, but it’s like you didn’t get a bunt down. Okay, now pretend like your life is on the line or your livelihood is on the line. Are you are you going to get the bunt down now? So, here’s the best way. Yeah, this is the best way I can describe it, Brian. We talk about like the 99th percentile performance out of a player in a given year. Right. Right. Well, that’s the way I describe this organization this season. They’re performing as an organization at the 99th percentile. Uh development trades, Quinn Pester, Vaughn, minor league rule five guy, Isaac Collins, uh Stalwarts like Freddy Peralta, Woodri coming back from injury. It’s one thing after another after another. Uh operating at peak performance. You know what else? Because again, um there’s a lot of ways of looking at it. We try to look at on this program holistically, uh analytically. Uh there is something to being tough to beat on the field. That that’s what they are. They’re tough to actually beat on the field. You led with that, you talked about the check system. Uh explain what is the check system. Just a way of keeping everybody’s ego in check. And very important for a small market team. Basically, it’s like if you brag about yourself, you get a check. And if you defend yourself about that, you get a check. Anything can be a check, Brian. It became a a very exaggerated game. If uh GM Matt Arnold, who used to work in Tampa, would say something like, “Oh, yeah, we drafted him in Tampa.” That’s a check. So, it’s a way to check your egos and and it extend and and it’s really important in a lot of ways in the locker room. Obviously, Yelich is no different than Isaac Collins in that respect. But when you talk about the front office, what manner has worked really hard at is bringing the groups together. That’s obvious. But I’m talking about analytics in uniform. The the the guy in the back of the room has a say. Has a say. And he he he better not brag about anything. But in the same token, Pat Murphy’s not allowed to brag about anything either, although he’s the checkmaster. So this is what I this is what I talk about operating at sort of the 99th percentile. Egos are checked. The fundamentals are are are performed. I mean, we’re talking about first in stone bases, first and first to thirds, first and second to home, first in defense rolling over the last three years. They certainly have leaned into the new rules. And by the way, Brian, they’re 15th in home runs. They’re not like dead last. They’re middle of the pack. Just enough just enough to keep them at the top of the top of the heat. Second in runs scored. You know, we spoke to Pat Murphy a while back as well. This was after he benched a number of players. I asked him, I want you to listen to this. I wondered how like that played with, you know, the modern athlete, the modern generation. Take a listen. How does the modern player take that when you have the conversation? How do they take that? I don’t know what the modern player is, you know? I I just know players and winning players understand like, hey, the intent is to get better and to progress. And sometimes you’re criticized, sometimes you’re called out, sometimes you’re you’re talked to in a critical way. Um, you know, I don’t need more people on my my phone list. You know what I mean? I got a lot of friends on my phone list and I’m getting older now. So, you don’t need to add to it. You know, it’s it’s all about trying to be impactful if you can. It’s funny cuz he he benched a bunch of guys, Jesse. I can’t like it took uh a full four months before Aaron Boon would bench his one guy that he needed to bench, right? Anthony Vulpi. What What about that? What you just heard? Yeah, it’s so interesting. He He doesn’t need new friends. He’s 66. This is going to be his only chance at something special and he’s going for it. I mean, Christian Yelich and other players, Erin Savali used to be there tells me tell me stories about when Murphy talks to you. You don’t know if he’s serious or not. I mean, he mentioned tasing Sal Frillic when he got picked off third. We know he’s we know he’s kidding, but he delivers it with a straight face. Everything is delivered with a straight face. Craig Council mentioned that as well. You don’t know if he’s about to lay down the hammer on you or or give you that pat on the back. That’s part of his expertise. And let’s be clear, it certainly works with a younger team. It might not work with the New York Yankees of today, but it certainly is working in Milwaukee, right? Well, we we could debate that, too. I just last week, remember we had the Blue Jays and the Brewers head-to-head, the two best records, and I said, “Hey, World Series preview.” Immediately, everyone jumps to, “Oh, no, it’d be so bad for baseball. What will that do to the ratings? Why are we like that?” And like what what are your thoughts on that? Like say we did have Toronto and Milwaukee in the World Series. What are the effects of that? That’s a great great point because I I’m always like why do I care if my neighbors watching? I’m watching cuz I love baseball. Why what do I care? Now I understand it revenues and things like that, but that has nothing to do with you and I as fans. So I’m all for Milwaukee. I’m all for Toron. I’m all for untraditional World Series. The league may not. Fox may not. You know, who knows, right? But um and here’s the thing, Brian. We all know everything resets October 1st. Everything Milwaukee’s done, and they know this better than anyone can change October 1st. But here’s the difference. For the first time in years, it looks like they’re going to get the buy. And as Yelich said to me, the buy is this. You’ve just won a playoff series for free. That’s what the buy gives you. So, who knows? With the buy and home field advantage, they have a a better shot, you would think, than in the past. But this is going to be fascinating. We we we could we could make a case for 12 teams to win the World Series. We we really could. Yeah. The top tier. Absolutely. Yeah. Now, I love that you could have some different teams headto-head. The competition would be great. I maintain people would watch a great series for the Padres’s. Yeah. They’re still very deep. The bull pen already 3.11. They have the guys to get there. Suarez is still closing. Miller roams high leverage, but there were they were so deep. It was it was a super weapon in the playoffs. It’s not quite the weapon it was now. No, obviously not. And uh this was the way they’re going to try to beat the Dodgers. They saw the Dodgers do it to him last year when the Dodgers had the best bullpen at least statistically in October last year and they were hoping to do that. They still may. I I think Suarez is terrific. Uh Miller is obviously extremely talented. Estrada strikeout artists. They still have the best bullpen, but certainly this diminishes it a bit. Also should be aware as we go down the stretch. Here’s some players that were just picked up recently that were DFA, cut loose, and now they’ve been picked up. So they join new teams September 1st. Uh Walker Buer going to the Phillies, picked up by the Phillies. A minor league deal. Andrew Heeney is interesting. First 13 starts for Pittsburgh. He had a 3-3 erra. So it looks bad. Hassan Kim, that’s for next year. He goes to the Braves. IKF going to the Blue Jays and Carlos Santana going to the Cubs. Again, he’s a quality on base guy. Who stands out to you, John? Well, to me, for this year, it’s it’s Buer. I mean, the guy’s got a terrific postseason record. And I think I said that on Twitter and then somebody pointed out that his array is not that great over the last I mean he shut down the Yankees at the end of the World Series. Pitched the key inning of the World Series and even before that if you look at his postseason records it’s fantastic. It’s a bit of a flyer. He obviously was not pitching well with Boston. But look, Dumbrossski knows what he’s doing. If this guy can pitch like he has pitched in the past in October, this could be huge. See, I see I see the Dodgers getting heated and I go, I know they’re up to something. this guy’s he’s going to be pitching these like fifth and sixth innings in these playoff games like you know Landon Knack last year like suddenly where did this guy come from he could be a quality guy he could be and he’s look he’s going back to a familiar team he had a really good you know spur to 70 something with the Dodgers they obviously see something and that’s why you pick these players up it’s not like a he’s out there let’s just go ahead looker I’m with you on that one because I feel like when Walker Buler’s got his back against the wall a little bit that’s when he when he comes out and and does some good things and you can throw him in the in the bullpen Again, fresh set of eyes. But I think for Andrew Heene, 100% there’s going to be something there, some kind of role he’s going to void. He’s going to fill. I didn’t write it down, but I know off the top of my head like he did what, 70 innings or something. 2022. The Dodgers. He I’m talking about he had like a 100 strikeouts, like 18 walks. There’s 110 strikeouts, 19 walks. Thank you. I got the information in my ear. I mean, the Dod, you go to the Dodgers and suddenly, oh, he’s a whole new guy. Yeah. And and look, it happens. I mean, Chris Taylor’s a good example on the hitting side for them. he was with the Mariners, you know, going into that and then all of a sudden he had that run with the Dodgers. So again, that’s just not because it’s the LA Dodgers. Sometimes when you get around some familiar voices or some face, they lab you up, Brian. You go in there, you go into a lab, you come out completely brainwashed individual coming out like some Superman. They’re not disappointing. Their baseball ops is not a test. Oh, it’s outstanding.

MLB Now | How have the Milwaukee Brewers become a $115M “powerhouse?” – Brian Kenny debate

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