Brewers owner Mark Attanasio told Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the club needs to improve its pitching. Based on recent history, Attanasio seems more inclined to improve the team's pitching through trades than free agency.
After signing Randy Wolf to a three-year, $29.75MM contract and Doug Davis to a one-year, $5.25MM pact (including the $1MM buyout), the Brewers went on to own the third-worst ERA in the National League. According to Walker, "that experience made Attanasio reconsider whether signing free agent pitchers works." Of course, the last time that Attanasio signed off on a trade for a star pitcher, the results were very different.
"When you look at all of the trades, CC [Sabathia] was a once-in-a-decade trade for any team," the owner said. "Very few of these deadline trades actually make a difference. You can look at the record on that and see what they do."
Attanasio also said that it is a "foregone conclusion" that the club will lose money this year after experiencing a 9.2% drop in attendance, the second biggest decline in the NL next to the Mets. It will be even more difficult for the club to reach agreement with Prince Fielder on a contract extension with such a hit to the bottom line.
