Brandon Glick

I understand the hesitancy people will have in handing a proverbial crown to a guy who has made all of four appearances and pitched three and one-thirds innings this season. It's a sample size smaller than "small", and yet, my goodness. Is Trevor Megill good or what? Sure, we sort of knew this last year when Megill filled in for an ailing Devin Williams and locked down 21 saves and earned a 2.72 ERA (3.10 FIP) in 48 appearances. The team traded Williams to the Yankees this offseason precisely because it knew it had a closer in waiting, much like when they traded Josh Hader to the Padres in the summer of 2022. Much like Williams' early struggles in the Bronx right now, Hader imploded upon arriving in San Diego (though he eventually figured things out) while the Brewers anointed "The Airbender" as the most dominant closer in the bigs for the next 2.5 seasons. So, let's just revel in the new guy the Brewers have slamming the door shut in the ninth inning. He's obviously not going to keep this pace up across the whole 162-game season, but man are these numbers fun to gawk at. Let's start with the basics: Megill has allowed two hits and zero walks in his 3 1/3 innings of work, good for a 0.00 ERA and 0.600 WHIP. Not impressed? Can I offer you a literal 50% strikeout rate? Or what about a -0.60 FIP. Yes, his Fielding Independent Pitching is currently in the negatives. Teams aren't allowed to give runs back, but Megill is trying his darnedest to make it possible. He's also allowing a .333 BABIP, which is about 75 percentage points higher than last year, suggesting a bit of bad luck may even be baked into his numbers, especially when you consider he's in the top percentile in hard contact allowed. Yes, there's been some worrisome trends in the early going, including the face his fastball velocity (97.3 mph) is currently down about 1.5 mph from last season. Still, his knuckle curve is generating whiffs at the exact same 55% rate it did last year, and the fastball is actually faring far better in that realm, generating whiffs on 38.5% of swings. Plus, that curve has allowed a .319 wOBA thus far, compared to an expected .172 xwOBA. It's hard to overstate just how good of a spurt this has been. Now is the time when I encourage you to all slow your horses before banging on the drum for Megill to become the first reliever to win Cy Young since Eric Gagne did it for the Dodgers in 2003. There's a lot of season left to go, and we all know how one bad appearance can completely ruin a reliever's stats. But, for what it's worth, through eight combined appearances thus far, the difference in WAR between Megill and Williams is 0.5. It isn't supposed to be easy to move on from someone named after the Avatar, but not everyone has a Trevor Megill to fall back on.

So, that sucked. Nestor Cortes, one of two pieces returned to the Milwaukee Brewers for closer Devin Williams in an offseason trade with the New York Yankees, made his first start in a Brewers uniform against the same team that discarded him over the winter. It, uh, did not go well. On his first three pitches of the game, Cortes surrendered three consecutive home runs, setting a new, dubious MLB record. Not a great start, but don't worry — it didn't get any better from there. When all things were said and done, Cortes allowed five home runs in two innings of work, yielding eight earned runs, six hits, and five walks in total. Of course, taking Cortes out (mercifully) after just two innings didn't turn things around. His immediate relief, Connor Thomas, gave up eight more runs in his own two frames of work, though at least he only surrendered three home runs. When Oswald Peraza hit a home run against rookie Chad Patrick — making his MLB debut — to make the game 20-6, both squads set franchise records: the Yankees for home runs hit (nine), and the Brewers for home runs surrendered (miraculously, also nine). Jake Bauers was the only pitcher for the Brewers not to allow a run by virtue of his scoreless eighth inning. So, yea. This is not how the season was meant to start for the Brewers. It's one thing to fall to 0-2 against the reigning American League champions. It's another for the prized offseason acquisition in the rotation to get lit up in ways that should probably be illegal. I say, let's just toss this one out. The Yankees, despite losing Juan Soto this winter, still have a dynamic offense led by all-universe slugger Aaron Judge. Cortes was clearly amped up to face his former team, and they know his tendencies better than anyone. The southpaw loves to mess with hitter's timing and attack the strike zone early and often. It's clear that Judge informed Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger of that, and the top of the aptly named Bronx Bombers' lineup took care of the rest. Does that excuse the unsightly performance Cortes just gave the Brewers? No, but what else is there to take away from this game? He couldn't find the strike zone, and when he did, the ball went over the outfield fence. Sometimes, you just gotta collect the game tape and burn it. Major League Baseball nor Baseball Reference will wipe his stats from this game, but let's all just use the neuralyzer from Men In Black and erase Saturday's game from our collective memories. A new season for Cortes begins next week. Or, at least, I hope it does.

As the resident Chicago Cubs fan here on Brewer Fanatic (boo me all you want, I’ve seen what makes you cheer), I figured I’d graciously lend you all my knowledge about the Cubbies ahead of the 2025 season. This is part one of four in a series we’ll be doing on each of the Crew’s division rivals heading into the upcoming season. We’re starting with the Cubs because, let’s be honest, it’s probably going to be a two-horse race for the division title this season. What’s Changed Since Last Year? For those of you who have been living under a baseball-less rock, the Cubs have been busy this offseason. They made perhaps the biggest blockbuster trade of the winter, landing star right fielder Kyle Tucker for a package that cost them third baseman Isaac Paredes, pitcher Hayden Wesneski, and top prospect Cam Smith. They also acquired Houston Astros closer Ryan Pressly in a separate deal, and got agonizingly close to signing Alex Bregman. If anyone has trash cans around here, keep them away from Chicago. They’ve otherwise completely remodeled their bench from last season. Gone are Patrick Wisdom, Nick Madrigal, Christian Bethancourt, and Alexander Canario (which I am still very upset about). In are Jon Berti, Justin Turner, Vidal Bruján, Carson Kelly, and Gage Workman (yes, the Cubs seriously cut a former top outfield prospect so they could keep four infielders on their bench… Jed Hoyer remains a mysterious man). On the pitching side of things, the North Siders added Matthew Boyd, former Brewer Colin Rea, and Cody Poteet to their rotation mix. In the bullpen, they’ve secured the services of Pressly, Ryan Brasier, Caleb Thielbar, and Eli Morgan. Looking past the addition of Tucker, the Cubs did not go big fish hunting this offseason. Instead, they opted to add huge amounts of depth after dealing with numerous injuries last year. What results is a roster that lacks star power but is probably the deepest in the division. What Remains The Same? The entire starting lineup returns, save for Paredes. Seiya Suzuki will handle designated hitter duties and top prospect Matt Shaw will man third base, which just goes to show how much the addition of one star player can lengthen a lineup. What has long been a punchless heart of the order now features Ian Happ, Suzuki, Tucker, Michael Busch, and Dansby Swanson. Beyond them, Gold Glove winner Nico Hoerner is still manning second base, while all-universe defender Pete Crow-Armstrong (CF) and improving power threat Miguel Amaya (C) make up the bottom of the lineup. The top three in the Cubs’ rotation is also still intact, with co-aces Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga helming a lefty-heavy group. Jameson Taillon survived the offseason and he’ll serve as a playoff-tested No. 3. Javier Assad, Jordan Wicks, Ben Brown, and top prospects Brandon Birdsell and Cade Horton comprise a high-upside group of young arms competing for one of the back-end rotation jobs. Relievers are a volatile bunch, and most of the guys the Cubs kept around through the winter aren’t household names. Luke Little and Daniel Palencia have been hitting 100 mph in spring camp, and Porter Hodge, Tyson Miller, Keegan Thompson, and Julian Merryweather are a quartet of right-handed relievers with track records of success. Chicago really needs to hope that either Little or Thielbar has a breakout this year, because their bullpen is perilously short on lefties beyond that. Where Do The Cubs Stand in the 2025 NL Central Hierarchy? Look, as a Cubs fan writing on a Brewers site, this is going to sound insanely biased, but I genuinely believe that this is the first time since the 2021 trade deadline that the Brewers don’t have the best team in the division (which includes 2022, when all the geriatrics on the St. Louis Cardinals found the fountain of youth). According to PECOTA projections, the Cubs have an 81.6% chance to win the division, followed by the Brewers at 7.9%. According to FanGraphs projections, only Kyle Tucker and Dansby Swanson are projected to be worth at least 4.0 WAR in 2025… but a whopping eight others are above 2.0 WAR, and another six are beyond the 1.0 WAR threshold in their forecast. This isn’t a top-heavy roster like the Atlanta Braves. The Cubs are going to win games thanks to their unparalleled depth and slightly above-average contributors at every spot on the roster. Despite making marked improvements this offseason, the Cubs have also slashed their payroll by nearly $30 million since last year. Though that fact continues to draw the ire of many fans, it does mean they have a lot of financial flexibility to “go for it” at the trade deadline. They are also $26.5 million below the first luxury tax threshold, in case they want to add one of the few remaining free agents on a short-term, high-AAV deal. Chicago can’t hold a candle to the superteam in Los Angeles, and it would probably get trampled in the bloodbath that’s forming in the NL East. But in a division where the only real competition is a Devin Williams-less Brewers squad, calling them the favorites probably isn’t a stretch.

Unless you vividly remember 1969 and had a particular interest in sports in the greater Seattle region at the time, you know the Brewers for having two main ownership groups throughout their history: the Seligs and the Attanasios. Their winding history includes being one of just two teams to play in the American and National League (the Houston Astros being the other) and appearing in four different divisions—the AL West, AL Central, AL East, and NL Central—an MLB record. And, unfortunately, they remain one of just five franchises that have failed to win the World Series. If you’ve ever wanted to know how the team has performed under each of their owners or the stories behind the transfer of power between owners, you’ve come to the right place. This is a comprehensive guide to the history of Milwaukee Brewers owners. Click any link below to jump to a history of that ownership group/individual. Complete List of Milwaukee Brewers Owners 2005-Present: Mark Attanasio 1998-2004: Wendy Selig-Prieb 1970-1997: Bud Selig 1969: William R. Daley, Dewey & Max Soriano 2005-Present: Mark Attanasio Date of Sale: January 2005 Amount Paid: $223,000,000 Regular Season Record: 1628-1511 (Through End of 2024 Season) Luckily for Brewers fans, there’s been a lot of stability at the top of the organization, and the answer to the question “Who owns the Milwaukee Brewers?” isn’t very ambiguous. Mark Attanasio bought the franchise from Wendy Selig-Prieb, the daughter of former Brewers owner and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig. Attanasio made his fortune as the co-founder of Crescent Capital Group. This Los Angeles-based asset management group handles in excess of $40 billion of assets, primarily debts and securities. Suffice to say he’s done well for himself, and the Brewers represent his latest shrewd investment: after buying the team for $223 million in 2005, the franchise is now worth $1.605 billion, according to Forbes (as of March 2024). Mark Attanasio is also the son of actor Joe Attanasio (“Quiz Show”, “Sleepers”, “Fatal Instinct”) and the brother of screenwriter Paul Attanasio (“Quiz Show”, “Donnie Brasco”, “Homicide: Life on the Street”). Joe famously sang the National Anthem before every home opener at Miller Park until his death in 2015. The team has performed relatively well under Attanasio’s control, as they broke a 36-year playoff drought in his fourth year at the helm and have made the postseason in every single season but one since 2018. The team has won the NL Central five times since he took over, compared to just one division title total before his tenure. By all accounts, the small-market Brewers have been a considerable success in Attanasio’s time as owner, repeatedly outclassing bigger market division rivals like the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs. However, one big blight remains on his resume: no World Series appearances. The team hasn’t made it back to the Fall Classic since 1982, and their postseason record since 2005 is a disappointing 14-23. His unwillingness to push the payroll into even the middle tier of the league has also drawn ire from fans, as was the controversial stadium renovations plan that will cost Wisconsin taxpayers $500 million by 2050 and only run the Brewers a cool $150 million. And yet, it must also be kept in mind that he has opened up his pocketbook in the past when circumstances have demanded it, like when he gave Ryan Braun an eight-year, $105 million extension or when he rewarded Christian Yelich for a pair of MVP-caliber seasons with a contract in excess of $200 million. He also didn’t own a majority share of the team until after 2011, after which point the team has been as consistently competitive as any time in its history. Overall, Attanasio’s legacy as the predominant 21st-century owner of Milwaukee Brewers is still being written, though it’s hard to deny that the franchise earned more respect from teams and fans alike during his era. 1998-2004: Wendy Selig-Prieb Date of Takeover: 1998 Amount Paid: N/A Regular Season Record: 480-652 As the only female CEO or President of Baseball Operations during her tenure as owner of the Brewers, Wendy Selig-Prieb deserves a lot of credit for guiding Milwaukee during a difficult transition phase in its history. However, the team struggled badly under her watch, and she got into the business by being a baseball (for lack of a better term) nepotism baby. Yes, Wendy Selig-Prieb is the daughter of former baseball Commissioner and Brewers owner Bud Selig (more on him in a bit). As such, she didn’t have to buy the team; instead, she took over for her father once he was named MLB Commissioner in 1998. When she took over the team, she was routinely asked by the media about her plans to reverse the franchise’s fortunes—the team was then in the midst of a playoff drought that dated back to 1982—to which she responded: “We need to be smart, we need to have a plan, and we need not deviate when there are short-term pressures." On paper, it was a good strategy, but in practice, the Brewers were the laughingstock of the division. They never once finished higher than third in the NL Central during her tenure. During her final three seasons as owner, the team posted a record of 191-294, finishing sixth in the division in each season from 2002-2004. That feat, of course, is no longer possible now that the Astros have defected to the AL West. Selig-Prieb notably stepped down from her role as Team President at the conclusion of the 2002 season, taking over as “Board Chairman” and leaving Ulice Payne, the first black man to ever run an MLB team, in charge of the franchise on a day-to-day basis. Ultimately, her time as Brewers owner would end once she (with her father’s blessing) chose to sell the franchise to Attanasio in early 2005. 1970-1997: Bud Selig Date of Sale: March 31, 1970 Amount Paid: $10,800,000 Regular Season Record: 2,136-2,269 Robin Yount. Hank Aaron. Bob Uecker. The Union 8 ironworkers. Bud Selig. Those are the people(s) with statues outside of Miller Park, representing their contributions to the city of Milwaukee and the Brewers franchise. After failing to buy the Chicago White Sox in 1969, Selig headed a group of Milwaukee-based investors that bought out the then-bankrupt Seattle Pilots, moving them to Milwaukee within a month of the 1970 season starting. Originally an auto industry mogul in Wisconsin, Selig was the largest public shareholder of the Milwaukee Braves during the decade they spent in town between their time in Boston and now Atlanta. After the Braves left for Georgia in 1966, Selig and his group invented the “Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club, Inc.”, which petitioned the National League for an expansion franchise in Milwaukee. Once that was rejected, a long, tenuous battle took place between the American and National Leagues regarding divisional realignment and relocations, though Selig was left without a chance to acquire his own team until the Pilots went bankrupt. Selig inherited a team that finished last in the AL West with 98 losses in 1969. It wasn’t until a decade later that the team turned its fortunes around, with their first winning season coming in 1978. That began a streak of five consecutive seasons in which the team finished with greater than 85 wins (not including the strike-shortened 1981 season), including three with more than 90 wins. In 1981, the team made the playoffs for the first time in its history by finishing first in the AL East in the second half of the season after that year’s strike had concluded (the 1981 playoffs consisted of each division’s first-half and second-half winners). Though they would lose to the Yankees in the ALDS in a decisive Game 5, they returned the following year to author the best season in Brew Crew history, falling just short against the Cardinals in Game 7 in the 1982 World Series. Though the team wouldn’t make the playoffs again during his tenure, Selig is a beloved figure in Milwaukee for his unrelenting determination to bring a major league team back to the city. The Brewers were rarely great under his watch, but he did turn them into a World Series contender for a spell and kept the team competitive through the early 1990s. The franchise has been far more consistent in recent years, but it was Selig who fought tooth and nail to ensure Brewers baseball would live in Milwaukee. 1969: William R. Daley, Dewey & Max Soriano Date of Sale: N/A Amount Paid: N/A Regular Season Record: 64-98 By all accounts, the ownership of Daley and the Soriano brothers was a disaster from the start. The Seattle Pilots lasted just one season before going bankrupt, though that was the least amount of drama they had to deal with in the Pacific Northwest. They finished the 1969 season in the bottom five of attendance in the Major Leagues, yet they had one of the most expensive tickets across the league. Sick’s Stadium, their home in Seattle, was also in rough condition, though neither the ownership group nor the city of Seattle wanted to settle on a deal that would renovate and repair it. The disastrous season results can be traced back to a midsummer swoon, when the team posted a 15-42 record between July and August. That included a 1-16 skid at the end of August that all but sealed the team’s fate. After just one season, Pilots general manager Marvin Milkes dismissed the coaching staff and manager Joe Schultz. In September, Seattle Mayor Floyd Miller threatened to evict the team at the end of the season if the ownership group could not come up with $600,000 in rent and $150,000 in surety bonds. The American League eventually gave the team the money to remain in Washington, though they were still in debt and well behind on their finances. After just one season, Daley and Dewey Soriano decided to take offers on the team, eventually agreeing to sell to Selig and Co. for $9.5 million. However, the city of Seattle filed a temporary restraining order against the team to prevent it from leaving. At long last, the team filed for bankruptcy, and the sale to Selig and a move to Milwaukee was approved… on March 31. With just seven days remaining until Opening Day of the 1970 season (the Pilots were scheduled to play at home), the team was moved to Wisconsin and played at County Stadium. While the Seattle Pilots’ legacy is mostly lost to time, their existence as a franchise (and subsequent financial troubles) allowed Selig to own his own Milwaukee-based baseball team after being denied an expansion squad.