Mark Attanasio discusses future of Craig Counsell as Brewers manager; ballpark funding
With the Milwaukee Brewers currently in first place in the National League Central Division and sporting a season-high-tying winning streak of six games entering Saturday's matchup with the San Diego Padres at American Family Field, the excitement surrounding a possible return to the postseason is palpable.
That said, there remain a couple of major issues lingering in the background that are of major concern to the franchise.
On the field, what is the future of manager Craig Counsell?
Playing out the final year of his contract at his insistence, Counsell is in his ninth season at the helm of his hometown team.
He signed a three-year extension on Jan. 8, 2020, and since then has become Milwaukee's winningest manager with his 687-612 mark entering Sunday equating to a .529 winning percentage while becoming the senior skipper in the National League as well as the third-longest-tenured manager in all the major leagues.
Then off the field, there's the ever-looming topic of ballpark funding.
Earlier this month, the Journal Sentinel reported the Brewers could begin looking for a new home this fall if state and local officials fail to come together on a funding package for improvements to the now 22-year-old ballpark.
Team principal owner Mark Attanasio, in town this weekend to celebrate the induction of pitcher Ben Sheets into the team's Walk of Fame, discussed these topics as well as his thoughts about how the team is playing, in a conversation with local media.
Here's what Attanasio had to say, point by point:
What does the future hold for Craig Counsell as manager of the team?
Attanasio: "Relative to Craig's future, we actually met yesterday and decided that all the focus is going to be on the field. Everything's going so well that we'll get together after the season's over and talk about it."
Do you have any sense as to which way things might go?
Attanasio: "It's up to Craig. We'd love to have him here, obviously, for a jillion reasons."
With regard to the ballpark funding issue, where do those talks stand currently?
Attanasio: "Rick Schlesinger (president of business operations for the Brewers) is here, and I don't know if we'd call it middle innings, late innings or extra innings right now."
Schlesinger: "Probably the middle innings."
Attanasio: "We're in the sixth inning and things are going well. We feel like we have a good bullpen with Rick Schlesinger and (chief operating officer) Marti Wronski and Tyler Barnes (senior vice president of communications). Success has many fathers. We talk about clubhouse chemistry, and we have very good chemistry with the politicians in terms of having a shared goal. And the goal is to keep the team here for another generation -- whether that's 2040 or, now, frankly, they're talking about 2050. Which, great by me. Ben (Sheets) was looking around here and said, 'The stadium looks great.' And so, we want to keep it looking this great and keep making this a wonderful place for the community to gather. So, I'm optimistic, and we just have to get the three constituencies -- which would be the Governor, the Assembly and the Senate -- to come together."
If somebody were to ask you why the taxpayers should fund the improvements, how would you explain it?
Attanasio: "I'll tell you one of the things a politician made a point of. Let's say you had a major airline that wanted to come in and have a hub here, or even let's say the center of the government in Madison. Would the state build an airport to have a major hub here? Of course they would. So, we've had a really successful public-private partnership for 20 years -- by any measure successful -- and we're saying, 'Let's figure out how to continue that, including us definitely sharing our sense of responsibility and what we need to do to continue to make American Family Field great.'"
Do you want to comment on the report the team would consider moving if this isn't hammered out?
Attanasio: "Look, me, Debbie, our family, we very much want to stay. That's all I've considered at this point. We have to face the fact that while the ballpark looks beautiful -- I mean, it is beautiful -- the infrastructure is 20-plus years old. Even the scoreboard, which is great, the parts get obsolete so fast and the simple fact is the District is going to run out of money in the next couple of years. And so, we're trying to address the future of the ballpark before it runs out of money. And not in a Band-Aid kind of way. And so, whatever speculation, my goal is to is to be here. The politicians say 2050? I say great, until 2050."
Commissioner Rob Manfred had some strong words earlier in the season about the need to make these improvements with the move of the Oakland A's to Las Vegas in the headlines at the time. Is there a comparison to be made?
Attanasio: "It's just coincidence I'm on the relocation committee (as the chair). The commissioner has had a really hard time with that situation. You look at this (ballpark), and this is so great. You don't want it to become (Oakland's dilapidated ballpark, Oakland-Alameda County Stadium). It's not like this ballpark is anything close to Oakland's. The state of this ballpark isn't close. But you have to look forward and plan so that it doesn't deteriorate over time. I can't believe I've been here 19 years. The money runs out in two years with the Stadium District according to our budgets and the lease runs out in 2030, and it takes years to plan. So, I think just the timetable is such that we have to have these types of discussions."
How do you think the team is playing currently?
Attanasio: "I was talking to (Christian Yelich) and the Reds game was on and he's not looking at it and I'm not looking at it, either. Because until September, we've seen -- we have 30-some games left, so I'm trying not to get too high, although we're playing really well. What I do like, we have a really good clubhouse this year. Some of that -- maybe a lot of that -- is from bringing in the young players with terrific energy. We heard from Ben today and the group of players that were all young that were in that run (to 2008), and really to go from 2004 and the team winning 60 games and guys in August had their golf clubs. It was more about their golf games, to within a few short years, we were a really tough playoff team. Maybe if Mike Cameron doesn't slip in the first game in Philadelphia, it's a different result there. You see that with this group of players -- we're hoping -- and we have more coming. I talked about this last night on the broadcast that we have a top-five farm system and Baseball America just put us second. Now, we don't get to hang a banner out there that says, 'Baseball America's second-best farm system.' But we're hoping that this influx of young players keeps our competitive window open for a while here."
The Chicago Cubs have surprised and are right on the Brewers' heels, and the Cincinnati Reds were in first for a while this season as well. How do you view the race in the NL Central?
Attanasio: "I have to remind myself that in the baseball league meetings I keep saying we need to have competitive balance. We've got competitive balance. The other thing that's interesting is that you've got three teams in our division above .500. I didn't check yesterday but there was a day this week where the Brewers, Cubs and Reds would have all been in the playoffs. Everybody says, 'Oh, the Central is soft.' You've got three playoff teams in the division. It's not a weak division, and it's great. Looking forward, you know the Cardinals are going to be back -- frankly, probably next year -- and the Pirates are good. So, it'll be fun baseball for the next few years."
More: Ben Sheets humble, funny as he's inducted to Brewers' Walk of Fame. 'It’s very emotional.'
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Mark Attanasio discusses Craig Counsell with Brewers; ballpark funding
