When does Arnold start to receive some criticism

[Jopal78]

On 5/18/2025 at 8:55 AM, BrewerFan said:

To point A-Who said that means the Brewers are generating double what it was 20 years ago? I'd guess we probably ARE generating close to double what we were 20 years ago, but...that's not the point. The difference is now the top teams are spending 4X at much as they were then. You have 4 teams over 270 in payroll and there was one team spending a ton in 2005(the Yankees) and then MAYBE you'd have Boston spending over 100M and everyone else was under 100M. The Dodgers are probably paying 5-6X more when you include the luxury tax. Hell, they paid more last year just in the luxury tax than everyone BUT the Yankees 20 years ago. So yeah...I think the inflation of the top players salaries and the inflation of TV deals have caused the gap.

You made the claim the Brewers have NEVER been able to pay more than one player and then cited the Yount, Molitor days...and they were able to field a financially competitive team. They WERE able to pay 4-5 players among the top in the league at their position. Maybe not all at the VERY top, but it'd be like having 4-5 guys making 25-35M in this era. That's a pretty stark contrast.

A top 5 payroll right now would mean we'd have ~150M more to spend. A stark contrast.

20 years ago we also weren't spending tens of millions of dollars in Latin America or in a new AZ facility that's helped us become one of the best teams at maximizing the pitching talent we have.

 

I don't know how the last CBA "kills teams like the Brewers." If rewards them with draft picks if they have rookies who hit bench marks, it pools money to pre-arby players...it adds playoffs spots, it added the DH so Jimmy Nelson would have pitched at possibly an elite level for a period of time with Woody, Burnes and Peralta if we had that, but...that's not Brewers-centric.

The ONE thing it did was take the teams like the Mets and the Dodgers and penalize them even MORE for their insane spending...which gets spread out. 9 teams last year were in the luxury tax. That benefits the Brewers.

 

What part "kills" the Brewers?

 

AS for the Brewers doing a terrible job, that's...I'm not even going to bother responding to that. I find it to be ridiculous and...I'm not sure what you're looking for, but no fan base in Baseball supports it's team at a PER CAPITA level like the Brewers. So...yeah, I don't care about Jersey's or anything else. I like going and watching the Brewers play. I like the things they're doing at the park. I'm not sure where you're getting that they're terrible at branding and have no heritage and I can't debate such a...subjective opinion, so I won't.

 

I will say it seems like some people are so incessantly negative...it feels like you could look 90 minutes South and find a team that...they've got a whole Wrigleyville, they have "Heritage," I guess. And that's not me saying, 'why don't you go be a fan of the Cubs,' it's just me just not understanding how people can be so relentlessly negative about seemingly EVERY aspect of the Brewers organization.

 

Kinda feels like they've been doing something right.

Hate to tell you; it’s market size. There are only so many eyeballs in the state of Wisconsin. The high spending teams have their own television networks the Brewers don’t because there would be no money to be made there given the costs associated with starting one up. That is why other teams revenue has gone up. The Milwaukee metro area and state population is relatively stagnant and I think it’s pretty safe to say the Brewers have tapped just about every viable source of revenue they can from their market. 
 

I’m okay with that. There are people that accuse the Brewers of being cheap for not keeping up with the big dogs and those people are seemingly naive to how finance/business work.

Secondly, if you don’t think the CBA ratified in 2022 hurts teams like the Brewers you haven’t been paying attention. The luxury tax thresholds went up (which means average annual value also go up) and the revenue sharing provisions weren’t equally improved. The draft lottery might diminish tanking but also softens rebuilding because a poor finish doesn’t mean a team gets first crack at elite amateur talent. Expanded playoffs keeps more teams alive but seemingly rewards depth (teams that have money for deep benches) over efficiency. The pre-arb bonus pool makes young talented players even more expensive and operates to further funnels talent from the have nots to the haves, and pressures teams to bring their minor league talent to the majors as quick as possible instead of strategic planning to bring a group of players to the majors at or around the same time.

Marketing and branding? Nike produces scores of cheaply made poor quality shoes and they continue to fly off shelves. It’s marketing and branding: they’re selling an image and a vibe. Ask yourself with a dozen uniforms and mascots what is the vibe Rick Schlesinger is trying to sell you?

[Playing Catch]

2 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

Marketing and branding? Nike produces scores of cheaply made poor quality shoes and they continue to fly off shelves. It’s marketing and branding: they’re selling an image and a vibe. Ask yourself with a dozen uniforms and mascots what is the vibe Rick Schlesinger is trying to sell you?

Not sure what you are arguing, here. You are lauding Nike for selling a vibe instead of quality. Well, what vibe is Walmart selling? Marketing is more than selling a "vibe".

Rick Schlesinger is selling to a much broader market than Nike. It isn't a national or global brand, no. But it is a brand that appeals to 7-year-olds (sliding sausages), 17-year olds (City Connect) and 70-year olds (Cribbage Boards) in equal measure. Uecker embodied the market the Brewers are trying to capitalize on, which is anyone who loves the Brewers, and anyone whose "vibe" is an AmFam tailgate.

Multiple uniforms are a problem? There is a slice of Brewer fan that LOVES the 1994 Motre Bame logo. I'm guessing they were about 7 years old at the time, just like the fans that love the '82 logo, the Barrelman logo, or heck, even Milwaukee Braves designs.

I think the strength of the marketing is its inclusiveness, like one big family living together with a portrait of great grand-pappy Uecker above the mantel. Grandchildren, children, moms, dads, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents, neighbors. They are all in the Brewers family, and the marketing reflects that mélange.

[Underachiever]

11 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

I coached a lot of 1B. Believe me, there's an art to yelling "BACK!!!"😁

Hey, it's tough out there. I ended up in the emergency room from an incident that happened while coaching first base in a U12 girls softball game. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, Underachiever said:

Hey, it's tough out there. I ended up in the emergency room from an incident that happened while coaching first base in a U12 girls softball game. 

The best I could do was taking a ball to the face during pregame. 

Don't ask...........

[Jim French Stepstool]

12 hours ago, sveumrules said:

They have the youngest position players on the Arizona Complex League. They lead the league in OPS by 76 points.

They have the youngest position players in the Carolina League. The lead the league in OPS by 61 points.

They have the youngest position players in the Southern League. They lead the league in OPS by 48 points.

 

Sure, but as they advance to a higher level, the spread that they lead by shrinks.

Way to sugarcoat.☺️

[Jopal78]

3 hours ago, Playing Catch said:

Not sure what you are arguing, here. You are lauding Nike for selling a vibe instead of quality. Well, what vibe is Walmart selling? Marketing is more than selling a "vibe".

Rick Schlesinger is selling to a much broader market than Nike. It isn't a national or global brand, no. But it is a brand that appeals to 7-year-olds (sliding sausages), 17-year olds (City Connect) and 70-year olds (Cribbage Boards) in equal measure. Uecker embodied the market the Brewers are trying to capitalize on, which is anyone who loves the Brewers, and anyone whose "vibe" is an AmFam tailgate.

Multiple uniforms are a problem? There is a slice of Brewer fan that LOVES the 1994 Motre Bame logo. I'm guessing they were about 7 years old at the time, just like the fans that love the '82 logo, the Barrelman logo, or heck, even Milwaukee Braves designs.

I think the strength of the marketing is its inclusiveness, like one big family living together with a portrait of great grand-pappy Uecker above the mantel. Grandchildren, children, moms, dads, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents, neighbors. They are all in the Brewers family, and the marketing reflects that mélange.

When a baseball team like the Brewers has exhausted traditional revenue-tickets, media rights, merchandise, sponsorships- it has to look beyond the game itself to grow. It’s not about selling more jersey with a grill logo on the sleeve,  it is about redefining the brand’s cultural value. 
 

Meaning positioning the team not just as entertainment, but as a symbol of heritage, authenticity and timeless cool. Instead of cheap gimmicks it’s leaning into the real stuff, the history of the team, the ritual of the season, etc. Done right, it resonates with people who may not watch every inning but want to be part of something classic and quietly iconic.

This shift leads the team tap into new audiences- those who respond to story, style and identity. In a saturated market, the final untapped revenue is relevance. Not louder, but truer

[Fear The Chorizo]

13 hours ago, sveumrules said:

They have the youngest position players on the Arizona Complex League. They lead the league in OPS by 76 points.

They have the youngest position players in the Carolina League. The lead the league in OPS by 61 points.

They have the youngest position players in the Southern League. They lead the league in OPS by 48 points.

I'm not saying it's all bad - maybe those people need to be promoted to the upper levels/majors  where that progression has seemingly stalled all too often when facing more advanced pitching.

Such a big part of the major league angst with the Brewer offense right now is the mix of Yelich ( horrible start, concerns of being washed as an impact hitter), Chourio (extended slump with getting himself out with poor pitch selection), and a stable of defense first middle infielders who need to string 3+ hits an inning to score surrounding them.

[Playing Catch]

15 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

When a baseball team like the Brewers has exhausted traditional revenue-tickets, media rights, merchandise, sponsorships- it has to look beyond the game itself to grow. It’s not about selling more jersey with a grill logo on the sleeve,  it is about redefining the brand’s cultural value. 
 

Meaning positioning the team not just as entertainment, but as a symbol of heritage, authenticity and timeless cool. Instead of cheap gimmicks it’s leaning into the real stuff, the history of the team, the ritual of the season, etc. Done right, it resonates with people who may not watch every inning but want to be part of something classic and quietly iconic.

This shift leads the team tap into new audiences- those who respond to story, style and identity. In a saturated market, the final untapped revenue is relevance. Not louder, but truer

I guess it seems to me that they've done a nice job of that, over time. They "modernized" the old ball-in-glove logo as a connection with the team's heritage. The smell of the Usingers and/or Klements or Johnsonville brats grilling in the Molitor Lot while listening to Ueck on your car's radio with your grandpa. Integrating Bernie's slide into the "new" ballpark. I mean, it was called Miller Park, and American Family Field. Very strong national brands that recognize the "M" and the "B" in the old hat's logo.

[Jopal78]

7 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

I guess it seems to me that they've done a nice job of that, over time. They "modernized" the old ball-in-glove logo as a connection with the team's heritage. The smell of the Usingers and/or Klements or Johnsonville brats grilling in the Molitor Lot while listening to Ueck on your car's radio with your grandpa. Integrating Bernie's slide into the "new" ballpark. I mean, it was called Miller Park, and American Family Field. Very strong national brands that recognize the "M" and the "B" in the old hat's logo.

The ball glove was a good idea, ancient times now, but they should have never dropped it in the first place.

Uecker is dead, so the only announcers people are listening to in the parking lots are the current group of bozos 

[BrewerFan]

8 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

Hate to tell you; it’s market size. There are only so many eyeballs in the state of Wisconsin. The high spending teams have their own television networks the Brewers don’t because there would be no money to be made there given the costs associated with starting one up. That is why other teams revenue has gone up. The Milwaukee metro area and state population is relatively stagnant and I think it’s pretty safe to say the Brewers have tapped just about every viable source of revenue they can from their market. 

Oh my! WHAAAT! We're in a small market! No!!!!! 

Has this EVER been disputed on this board by anyone?

Everyone on this board has already acknowledged this and was having a bit more of a nuanced discussion about the spending in Baseball and how it's grown from the Yount, Molitor days when you claimed the Brewers also couldn't spend on more than 1 or 2 players(but they could) and the inflation in salaries that you said...didn't exist. 

I'm not even sure what you're saying right now other than the sky appears to be blue. Of course it's a small market. 

Green Bay is also a small market. 

8 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

Secondly, if you don’t think the CBA ratified in 2022 hurts teams like the Brewers you haven’t been paying attention.

Right...or I fundamentally disagree with you. 

8 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

The draft lottery might diminish tanking but also softens rebuilding because a poor finish doesn’t mean a team gets first crack at elite amateur talent. Expanded playoffs keeps more teams alive but seemingly rewards depth (teams that have money for deep benches) over efficiency. The pre-arb bonus pool makes young talented players even more expensive and operates to further funnels talent from the have nots to the haves, and pressures teams to bring their minor league talent to the majors as quick as possible instead of strategic planning to bring a group of players to the majors at or around the same time.

Yeah...no.

Starting backwards, the 50M dollar pool that each team pays 1.67M dollars into is what you're claiming raises the "salaries" of young players and funnels talent from the have nots to the haves? THEY'RE GETTING PAID OUT OF THE POOl. It's not doing ANY of that.

Expanded playoffs are BAD...because depth is more important and as such...teams with money benefit?

You're clearly arriving at a conclusion and working backwards. 

Here is the FULL extent of the argument that can be made that the 2022 CBA "Hurt" small market teams(if you're paying attention). 
 

The large market teams who pay into revenue sharing... each team contributes 48% of its local revenues—such as income from regional television contracts, ticket sales, and local sponsorships and they pool that money and distribute it.

Those teams were complaining that there were other teams who were not spending that money and the luxury tax jumped up from 210 to 230 and then small increments. 233, 236...etc...

They ALSO added two more thresholds to penaltize the top spending teams including the "Cohen" Tax, but that's the full extent of it. 

 

Trying to add on "higher salaries for pre-arbitration players," is...either you don't know where the money was coming from or you were being intellectually dishonest. The MOST it can cost a team is...again, 1.67M and it's not "funneling" young talent from the "haves to the have nots."

 

Softening rebuilds with a lottery has nothing to do with large or small markets. It's a draft lottery. It's trying to get rid of tanking. 

 

8 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

Marketing and branding? Nike produces scores of cheaply made poor quality shoes and they continue to fly off shelves. It’s marketing and branding: they’re selling an image and a vibe. Ask yourself with a dozen uniforms and mascots what is the vibe Rick Schlesinger is trying to sell you?

Yeah, I don't need to ask myself why the Brewers and literally every other team in pro sports are trying to generate revenue via jersey sales.

It's self explanatory and in absolutely no way addresses how the Brewers are "horrible" at marketing and have no heritage. 

As I said, that's such a silly thing to zero in on that it's not even worth debating, but NOW you're asking me why the Brewers try and sell different Jersey's? So is that them being horrible at their job or not?

 

So...I guess they shouldn't be trying to sell jersey's because... I don't know, I've lost your point in here. It's a bad thing to try and sell 12 different uniforms, something you apparently believe is unique to the Brewers but also, they've exhausted all avenues to make money(which would infer they're doing a good job, but again, I'm just trying to follow this argument here). 

 

I'm honestly not sure what point you're making at the end of this. 

[BigWoo53]

On 5/11/2025 at 8:20 PM, BeerSlide said:

I think the Shane Smith fiasco has been talked about ad nauseam and he deservedly is already getting criticism for that.

I think it's WAY too early to even begin to judge the Priester trade. Has he come out like gangbusters in the first 1/4 of year 1? Of course not! But how many more years of control do we have? Into the 2030s? Who's to say that he can't be an average or slightly above average picture in one or more of those seasons? And if he does that that might be enough because the assets we gave up for him could become something, but there's also a good a chance that none of them even make the major leagues. I still think the Brewers have at least a 50/50 chance of winning that trade, Just too much TBD to say one way or another right now IMO. 

I also can't fault him too much for not filling holes he likely wasn't given the resources to fill. Now if it later comes out that ownership wanted to solidify third base coming into this year but Arnold declined because he didn't feel it was necessary and that we had enough? Then yes, I'll criticize him for that too. No doubt.

I think the acute disappointment in this year's ~.500 clib is largely in part to how he's helped us overachieve in previous seasons. I think the earliest there's any widespread criticism would be 2027 if there is continued stumbling and obvious missteps.

I think the issue I have is that it was an overpay either way, not for the prospects but the $3M slot comp pick. I also don't understand it with options like Henderson, Mis, CRod (fine with a handful of starts when in need). They had options where they didn't need to overpay for Priester. So it would be great if he works out to be a 3-4 type pitcher but either way it was an overpay. 

[Jopal78]

18 hours ago, BrewerFan said:

Oh my! WHAAAT! We're in a small market! No!!!!! 

Has this EVER been disputed on this board by anyone?

Everyone on this board has already acknowledged this and was having a bit more of a nuanced discussion about the spending in Baseball and how it's grown from the Yount, Molitor days when you claimed the Brewers also couldn't spend on more than 1 or 2 players(but they could) and the inflation in salaries that you said...didn't exist. 

I'm not even sure what you're saying right now other than the sky appears to be blue. Of course it's a small market. 

Green Bay is also a small market. 

Right...or I fundamentally disagree with you. 

Yeah...no.

Starting backwards, the 50M dollar pool that each team pays 1.67M dollars into is what you're claiming raises the "salaries" of young players and funnels talent from the have nots to the haves? THEY'RE GETTING PAID OUT OF THE POOl. It's not doing ANY of that.

Expanded playoffs are BAD...because depth is more important and as such...teams with money benefit?

You're clearly arriving at a conclusion and working backwards. 

Here is the FULL extent of the argument that can be made that the 2022 CBA "Hurt" small market teams(if you're paying attention). 
 

The large market teams who pay into revenue sharing... each team contributes 48% of its local revenues—such as income from regional television contracts, ticket sales, and local sponsorships and they pool that money and distribute it.

Those teams were complaining that there were other teams who were not spending that money and the luxury tax jumped up from 210 to 230 and then small increments. 233, 236...etc...

They ALSO added two more thresholds to penaltize the top spending teams including the "Cohen" Tax, but that's the full extent of it. 

 

Trying to add on "higher salaries for pre-arbitration players," is...either you don't know where the money was coming from or you were being intellectually dishonest. The MOST it can cost a team is...again, 1.67M and it's not "funneling" young talent from the "haves to the have nots."

 

Softening rebuilds with a lottery has nothing to do with large or small markets. It's a draft lottery. It's trying to get rid of tanking. 

 

Yeah, I don't need to ask myself why the Brewers and literally every other team in pro sports are trying to generate revenue via jersey sales.

It's self explanatory and in absolutely no way addresses how the Brewers are "horrible" at marketing and have no heritage. 

As I said, that's such a silly thing to zero in on that it's not even worth debating, but NOW you're asking me why the Brewers try and sell different Jersey's? So is that them being horrible at their job or not?

 

So...I guess they shouldn't be trying to sell jersey's because... I don't know, I've lost your point in here. It's a bad thing to try and sell 12 different uniforms, something you apparently believe is unique to the Brewers but also, they've exhausted all avenues to make money(which would infer they're doing a good job, but again, I'm just trying to follow this argument here). 

 

I'm honestly not sure what point you're making at the end of this. 

You do you then. 
 

Baseball salaries grow exponentially: what you’re failing to realize a player who gets a pre-arbitration bonus now has a higher floor and when they eventually reach arbitration will undoubtedly file for a larger number based upon that floor in addition to other factors. So yes, it does hurt teams with limited payroll. 
 

Yeah baseball salaries have exploded since 1990 when Yount was MLB’s highest paid player. If that’s the “nuanced discussion” I’m sorry I thought that was pretty obvious 20 years ago and old news by now.

Sure, teams want to sell hats and jerseys, which his why the Brewers have a half dozen different uniforms.  The point you’re missing is there are only so many customers that want a hat and or jersey, and most of those people have a saturation point when they have bought enough hats and or jerseys. My point is in identifying additional ways to generate revenue when, like the Brewers, they have reached the saturation point for ticket sales, media rights, and merchandise and licensing, they are bad at it. But hey they’ll probably be rolling out the Cervaceros jerseys soon for those who have another $150 to burn in the Team Store.

[brewers888]

No one could have seen Yelich not being a functional player anymore or Ortiz becoming a zero with the bat but everyone other than this front office knew third base was going to be a black hole. Arnold has to take the blame for that as well as not having a competent hitting coach.

Chourio as talented as he is needs the right instruction and instead of hiring a good hitting coach with experience like Seitzer the team brught in Labeauf who has never coached at this level.

Stearns deserves a lot of the blame as this organizations philosophy under him was up the middle athletes even if the bats were not up to the task. Arnold has traded for Ortiz who has fallen apart and Durbin who just doesn't have the talent to be an everyday player and certainly not the arm for third base. Good for him that they have drafted more robust hitters and that should help in the near future but this team is not a contender for the playoffs mostly due to a lineup that doesn't have nearly enough power and way too many guys without the ability to even consistently hit the ball hard much less with power. 

[BrewerFan]

1 minute ago, Jopal78 said:

Baseball salaries grow exponentially: what you’re failing to realize a player who gets a pre-arbitration bonus now has a higher floor and when they eventually reach arbitration will undoubtedly file for a larger number based upon that floor in addition to other factors. So yes, it does hurt teams with limited payroll. 

Seriously? This is now the argument? You were talking about how it made PRE-arbitration players more expensive. Now it's about how the best players in pre-arbitration will make more money when they get to arbitration(as if that...hasn't ALWAYS been the case).

But no, that money does NOT impact their contracts or their arbitration timelines. It's just a bonus pool handed out to players who win awards or perform the best from that year. It doesn't change anything once you get to arbitration...

If a player wins an MVP in the first three years, he's going to start arbitration higher. Now under the current system, he's going to get money from the bonus pool. That's not costing the Brewers more money than it would have otherwise(beyond the 1.67M they pay into the pool).

10 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

Yeah baseball salaries have exploded since 1990 when Yount was MLB’s highest paid player. If that’s the “nuanced discussion” I’m sorry I thought that was pretty obvious 20 years ago and old news by now.

Ok...so then it DOES have something to do with the inflation of the top players salaries?

Odd that you argued that point initially, but...there we go. We agree now.

 

18 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

Sure, teams want to sell hats and jerseys, which his why the Brewers have a half dozen different uniforms.  The point you’re missing is there are only so many customers that want a hat and or jersey, and most of those people have a saturation point when they have bought enough hats and or jerseys.

Yup. I'm...apparently missing that because I'm not upset about the variety?

That makes absolutely no sense, but sure. And if they DIDN'T offer that variety, you'd bemoan the lack of effort to generate revenue. I don't even know what point you're attempting to make here.

People go to the games, they sell things every game. What's the problem? What on Earth are you ACTUALLY complaining about?

 

20 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

My point is in identifying additional ways to generate revenue when, like the Brewers, they have reached the saturation point for ticket sales, media rights, and merchandise and licensing, they are bad at it.

Then prey-tell, why don't you share your revenue generating ideas?

 

22 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

But hey they’ll probably be rolling out the Cervaceros jerseys soon for those who have another $150 to burn in the Team Store.

I can see why this would be upsetting to you😉

23 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

You do you then.

And by that do you mean NOT spend time making contradicting arguments while bemoaning the market size that will invariably limit the Brewers revenue compared to the top teams?

 

Yeah...I....I guess I will keep doing that.

[BeerSlide]

On 5/21/2025 at 11:54 PM, BigWoo53 said:

I think the issue I have is that it was an overpay either way, not for the prospects but the $3M slot comp pick. I also don't understand it with options like Henderson, Mis, CRod (fine with a handful of starts when in need). They had options where they didn't need to overpay for Priester. So it would be great if he works out to be a 3-4 type pitcher but either way it was an overpay. 

Just so I understand you correctly, are you saying that no matter what happens in the remaining 5 2/3 years of this contract with Priester, even if he fulfills the best case scenario of what the Brewers saw in him, that the Brewers will have given up too much? Or that it was an overpay based on knowing that Boston would have given him up for less if Arnold had negotiated better? My issue is making definitive statements about the calculus of this whole thing when one side of the equation hasn't even been filled in yet. 

Don't misunderstand me, I don't think it was a great trade, I'd preferred they hadn't made it. I just balk at all the talk at this being some sort of clearly done deal.

[brewers888]

After the job that Arnold has done the last six months I am quickly losing confidence in him. I hope he can keep the scouting staff intact as that is the best part of the organization. I am very curious and concerned to see what he does this trade deadline as the last few moves (Devin trade, rule 5 debacle and the Burnes deal the offseason prior} look quite bad at the moment.

[brewmann04]

He has more minus than plies so far let’s see what he does when we become sellers

[Brian]

7 hours ago, brewers888 said:

After the job that Arnold has done the last six months I am quickly losing confidence in him. I hope he can keep the scouting staff intact as that is the best part of the organization. I am very curious and concerned to see what he does this trade deadline as the last few moves (Devin trade, rule 5 debacle and the Burnes deal the offseason prior} look quite bad at the moment.

Getting rid of Devin was OK with me, always said he was a head case but the Corbin Burns trade hurt. 

[SF70]

11 hours ago, brewers888 said:

After the job that Arnold has done the last six months I am quickly losing confidence in him. I hope he can keep the scouting staff intact as that is the best part of the organization. I am very curious and concerned to see what he does this trade deadline as the last few moves (Devin trade, rule 5 debacle and the Burnes deal the offseason prior} look quite bad at the moment.

Williams & Burnes trades are wayyyyyyyy too early to judge and the Smith “debacle” , while likely a mistake, it’s one EVERY team makes and fortunately for MKE, they have as deep a group of young starter arms as there is in the game.

Arnold is the best GM this team has ever had. He took what his predecessor did and kicked it up a notch. The Infrastructure rebuild he completed that he and Stearns started back in 2016 is now the envy of MLB teams across the league. His last 4 prospect classes have been franchise-altering and given the team their deepest farm system in their 55+ year history. 

All of us just need a little more patience because we are in good hands with Matt Arnold. Fortunately, I believe Attanasio knows this and my wish is for him to give him an extension that shows the confidence he has in him to lead this team to great things ahead.

Obviously, this is only an opinion, but I’m extremely confident I’m right.

[BigWoo53]

On 5/17/2025 at 1:00 PM, Brian said:

But the ball flyes out of Colorado. 

and the guy McMahon that so many on here wanted plays half his games there and has never had an average season offensively. He is anemic on the road. 

[wallus]

The Brewers play well and OP vanishes. A tale as old as time.

[liveforoctober]

2 hours ago, wallus said:

The Brewers play well and OP vanishes. A tale as old as time.

I'm not convinced certain people are actually Brewers fans. You can look at profiles and see all past posts... and when the posting history goes back into May and there isn't a single positive thing that has been said about any aspect of the organization... It leaves it hard to take any opinion as unbiased.

[LouisEly]

Whoo.... haven't read this thread since mid-May.  Some of the takes then were... a bit premature.  

The Brewers would have to give COL $$ to take Yelich for McMahon?  Yeah, the other way around.  

McMahon: .216/.318/.387, 32% K

McMahon (road): .180/.267/.311,  66 sOPS+

[sveumrules]

Since Arnold took over in 2023 the Brewers have the third most wins in baseball.

Here’s some things they’ve been the very best at…

Limiting Runs (89 ERA-)
Limiting Hits (94 AVG+)
Stranding Runners (105 LOB+) 
Outs Above Average (91 OAA)
ERA-FIP Gap (-0.45 runs)
Bullpen Leverage (+25.79 WPA)
Base Running (+37.5 BsR)
Rookie Position Players (13.7 WAR)
Rookies Combined (22.1 WAR)

That two weeks of lousy play in May were enough to spark this thread really speaks to how good of a job Arnold has done since taking the reins.

Sure, it would be nice to still have Shane Smith in the system, but since April 1st the Brewers rotation has a 79 ERA- (1st), +5.73 WPA (3rd), and 10.3 rWAR (4th) so they’ve been quite alright without him.

Complaints about the returns on Williams / Burnes (4.0 combined WAR) are starting to fall victim to math as well with Ortiz, Durbin, Hall and Cortes already at 4.4 WAR with like 15 years of team control remaining.

[Thurston Fluff]

12 hours ago, liveforoctober said:

I'm not convinced certain people are actually Brewers fans. You can look at profiles and see all past posts... and when the posting history goes back into May and there isn't a single positive thing that has been said about any aspect of the organization... It leaves it hard to take any opinion as unbiased.

I think some fans, in all sports and every team tend to be negative unless the team is clearly the top team in the league. Every season that doesn't end in a title is a waste and people need to lose their jobs. It's just the way some people deal with the ups and downs of season. That doesn't make them less of a fan. They still care about the team. They just let their emotions lead them to a negative place. While I can't see the enjoyment of that, there are enough who do to continue to follow the team they bag on continuously for their entire lives. I also think there are some who use forums like this purely to vent when they get frustrated with their team. That would tend to skew our perception of them.