My partner is a CFO for a company up here in Green Bay, and has meetings every month with a group of other executives in the area to discuss business stuff. Anyway, none of that matters. What matters is that once in a while they invite a guest speaker to the meetings to do a speech and a Q & A. So when he told me that Schlesinger (someone please correct my spelling) was going to be that speaker this time, i decided to be his plus one. This was last night by the way. He was actually a lot more open than I figured he would be. A few things that were interesting was talking about Braun, the budget, the new TV deal, extensions for two pitchers (who could that be...lol), the minors, and the payroll. As far as Braun, he said that the hearing was taking place today (which was thursday), but other than that the team basically stays completely out of the process and lets the player, the union, and the league handle everything. Didn't say anything really, other than the team is behind him 100%. One moron actually said that if he's guilty, the team should try to trade him, or void his contract. He seemed very angry when he said it. Rick chuckled, and said Braun is one of the best players to ever play the game and has one of the most team friendly deals in the history of the league. No way in hell do the Brewers try to get rid of him. He likes the new TV deal. Says it's not the best, but it gives them more flexibility. He also said that the deal fluctuates based on ratings, so it helps to motivate the team to continue to be good. Since it does change based on ratings, he encouraged fans to watch the games and DVR em so the ratings go up. He said that talks have occurred about extending Marcum and Greinke, but they are very early. Moving forward he admitted it would be difficult to sign both, but they are confident that, if the budget allows they could find a way. It depends on the player too though. It also goes along with payroll. He said that K-Rod signing was unexpected, but not unplanned for. Their payroll going forward right now is projected at about 108 - 112 million, which would be the highest in franchise history, but he said was a doable payroll for the team. It doesn't leave as much flexibility as they would like though, so the team we see now is probably going to be what we get, unless trades happen. He said that minor league system was a concern last year, but he likes how they have developed since then. He said that our system was very position player heavy, but it has switched to a pitcher heavy system now. I asked about Mike Fiers, because he's my favorite minor leaguer for a few seasons now, and he told me that he has a real shot this year of breaking camp with the club. He might have just been trying to make me happy, but hell, I'll take it. Lastly, one guy asked about signing Fielder, and Rick was honest and said it's not going to happen. With the payroll the way it is right now, many moves would have to be made to do it, and they feel that all the necessary scenarios would only weaken the team. He said that it is Gamels job to lose, and they are confident in him. The same guy pressed the issue a little bit (same guy who said they should trade Braun) and Rick had a funny line. He said the odds of signing Fielder would be about the same as getting struck by lightening three times, while getting mauled by a family of polar bears, with the winning powerball ticket in your back pocket. I'm paraphrasing, but I liked it.