.
Q. Matt, what did you see in Quinn Priester early in the season what made you think he'd be a good fit in this rotation? How have you been able to kind of unlock that in him?
MATT ARNOLD: Yeah, he's certainly a talented player. Had identified him years ago frankly through the draft process. He was a high pedigreed draft pick. I had followed him for years. Obviously when guys come up to the Big Leagues, especially as pitchers, they don't always have success immediately, but we thought there were some really good ingredients there.
So teaming up with our guys, we felt like especially in the moment, we were obviously very thin with pitching, felt like he was somebody that was in Triple-A for the Red Sox and we thought could help us.
Again, huge credit to Quinn for what he's been able to become and a credit to our staff for tapping into him. He's done a great job.
Q. Mark, I'm wondering if you could tell us your thoughts when the Cubs got the final out yesterday and this matchup materialized.
MARK ATTANASIO: I should have anticipated that question.
Q. I'm wondering if you have anything to say to Brewers fans who may have some offers on their tickets that are pretty lucrative. Do you want to put out -- is the club going to put out any message to try to keep this a home-field advantage?
MARK ATTANASIO: So I'll just take the questions in order. I actually was watching the game with Bud Selig yesterday, last several innings, and you're having a mixed emotion, right, because we're so used to hoping that the Cubs don't win, obviously, and likewise, I'm sure they feel that way about us.
Yet this is a great matchup for our fans and all the fans of baseball. These playoffs, National League, you have the four teams with the most wins in it. That's special. And here you have two teams who know each other really well, so it should be great baseball.
We look forward to the challenge and the opportunity, and I'm sure they do, too.
Look, when you have a little -- you have an expectancy and you also have anxiety, and on both sides. That should make a very good series.
Our fans have been terrific supporters, for the second question, of the team all season. I think we were 11th or 12th in attendance. By the way, on viewership I think we were second -- we had one more win than the Phillies and they had a slightly higher media point than we did.
We had the second-most watched team in baseball this year behind the Phillies, so we expect our fans will bring the energy. They always do, and be very supportive.
Cubs fans want to come see their team, I'm sure they'll figure out how to do that, and I'm sure how fans will figure out how to go to Wrigley Field.
Q. I was actually going to ask you about attendance and TV ratings. I had talked to Rick yesterday. We hear all about the market size in Milwaukee. You guys finished 12th in average attendance with this market and ratings are up. From a business standpoint, the consistent success on the field and off the field, just how proud are you of both of those things?
MARK ATTANASIO: Extremely proud. It's a total team and community effort, organization effort and team to get that type of attendance.
When I was looking at, it's hard to believe, 21 seasons ago purchasing the team, I looked at the tradition of baseball in Milwaukee, actually even predating the Braves to the American Association team.
So this community has always loved baseball. It doesn't surprise me that when you have a good product on the field that they'll support to a very high level.
We've had a three-peat here. I think Pat Riley here, who I've now had the pleasure of getting to know a little bit, has the trademark on that. More importantly, we've had five division titles since 2018, and that model of consistency, I think Matt and his whole baseball ops staff and Murph and the coaching staff and of course the players, they all get the credit for that.
Q. Matt, when did you have an indication with this team that it had a special quality to it and just was able to win a division and get in the playoffs and maybe make something special happen?
MATT ARNOLD: Yeah, good question. I don't know if there was like a specific date. I think back to where we were in New York and where we weren't at the moment, and we were going through a lot of things with injuries and obviously the torpedo bats that week, and we came home and we weren't great there, either. Pretty dark spot at the moment.
But I'll tell you what, I didn't feel doubt from the group. I think that was the thing that got us through that. Again, that's a credit to the people in that room that compete every single day, and I really felt like we had a really special group early on when we were able to weather that early part of the season and for us to come out the other side of that and then start really clicking kind of in the second half along the way.
There's certainly some special moments along the way that were great, but it really has been a strong group really since we left Arizona. Credit to that group and to Murph and all the coaches as well.
MARK ATTANASIO: William Contreras started piecing the -- I think they call it the Players Tribune. He credited Unidad. That clubhouse is as unified as any clubhouse we've had. 2008 was similar; very unified clubhouse, and I think that has a lot to do with the results that you see.
Q. At the trade deadline fans were clamoring for a blockbuster deal. You pretty much stood pat and now you come into the playoffs with the best record in baseball. Do you feel vindicated that you had a sense this was the team that could play in October and you weren't going to make any major moves?
MATT ARNOLD: Yeah, look, I think every move is sort of in isolation to some degree, but it's about the whole unit. Certainly we were tapped into all the different opportunities that were out there, and we felt like we had the right people in the mix.
I think sometimes when you want to subtract a piece or add a piece that can change the dynamic in the clubhouse certainly, and that was a big factor for us.
A lot of it had to do with who we had at the moment and the other part is kind of what you're giving up for future, and I think that's been a big part of this, is continue to support the pipeline that we have currently, which we are very excited about.
But that's not why we're here today. We're here today because of the group in that room, and really that was just a vote of confidence for the guys in that room, because again, they've done just an incredible job to get us to this point.
Q. You mentioned special moments through the year. What are some of those special moments that you're going to look back on?
MATT ARNOLD: Man, there's some huge comebacks. We could spend a long time talking about them. Not all of them are on the field, honestly. I think about the day we celebrated Bob Uecker, to be honest, was a special day for all of us. I want to continue celebrating his life as long as I'm here. He meant a lot to a lot of people, so I felt like that was certainly a highlight for me to see Judy and obviously all the history of the team and the Brewers and what Mark has been able to build here and that family type of culture.
That's what I think makes this place really special, and days like that certainly resonate for me.
Q. One of the things I think is interesting, and who knows when things flip, but Jackson Chourio made a great catch in center field and we started winning, I think it was against the Twins, we started winning after that. It's interesting, if that was the inflection point, that it was a defensive play, Matt and his group have really focused on run prevention and defense, I think that's one of the many reasons we're here is defense, right?
MATT ARNOLD: Yeah, absolutely.
Q. Mark, the fans have made their opinions on Craig pretty clear the last couple years. I'm sure we'll hear it this weekend and I'm sure you knew this question was coming for you at some point, but when he first announced that he was going to the Cubs, you had some pretty clear statements on how you felt at the time. I'm curious if you still feel burned a little bit by Craig going to the rivals?
MARK ATTANASIO: I don't think I said I felt burned. I think I said that -- look, we lost the manager that still has the most wins in our history and may forever. He did an unbelievable job here for nine seasons.
I talked about losing the community, and I think this community is really special in so many ways. So I think that was more the comment than -- everybody has to do what they have to do for themselves and their family.
Q. Anybody that watched the Brewers this year watched Matt keep bringing up new players each week and perform, and they're saying, where do they get these guys. Did you make a focused effort over the years in terms of building your scouting department, either the size or the scope or those kinds of things?
MARK ATTANASIO: I think Matt should answer. From an ownership level, we just try to find really gifted, talented executives, and of course they then find talented players and talented field staff. So I think Matt should really answer that because he built an incredible baseball ops organization here.
MATT ARNOLD: We could talk about scouting for a long time if you want because I love it.
Yeah, we've been fortunate to have incredible sport from Mark to build that group. Scouting comes in a lot of different forms these days. There's video and there's analytics and there's the human element and getting to know all the kids.
Like I said, we could spend a lot of time talking about it, but it really does take a big group of people coming together on those evaluations, and then once you get those players, you have to have the right player development coaches, all the support behind that, and again, Mark has been incredible supporting us both on the scouting side and on the player development side, so it really takes a team effort to get those guys once they're here and playing on TV.
Q. Matt, I wanted to ask you, how have you seen Murph grow into the job since he's taken over, and how has he imparted his sensibility and personality on to this group?
MATT ARNOLD: I mean, what you see is what you get from Murph. It's every day is what he brings. He brings an intensity. He brings a relentless approach. He cares so much about the people in the room and winning that it's infectious. It really is.
I think it's been tremendous because it's become part of our fabric. Even when we go through tough parts of our season like we did at the start, Murph was there continuing to challenge the group, and I think that means a lot. There are a lot of teams, I think, that could have potentially gone the other direction, and again, a huge credit to Murph for keeping us on the right path.
Q. I have a business related question for you. Wondering if you could speak to the financial impact of the postseason on the Brewers' franchise, specifically what is the fiscal impact on the Brewers for each playoff home game?
MARK ATTANASIO: I think really the financial impact, the deeper you get in the postseason, the better you do. There's a real financial reward for getting to the World Series just the way the math works with not only ticketing but media, and from our standpoint we're 100 percent focused on winning just for the sake of winning.
That's something that everybody is completely dedicated to. I'm really proud that in 21 seasons, we have nine playoff appearances. We've got to get to the World Series, and that's everybody's focus.
But we're winning for the banner, for the ring, not for the financial.
Q. The roster that you guys finished the regular season with is quite a bit different than the one you guys took to New York. There was a little bit of turnover throughout the year. How much do you think having the depth and the adaptability to kind of reshuffle the deck chairs a little bit throughout the season, how much do you think that helps a team find its identity and have the success that you guys have ended up having this year?
MATT ARNOLD: Yeah, I think that's a really good point, and I think you're right. When you go through a season, there's obviously going to be a lot of turnover, and what you thought about a certain player at the start of the year can certainly evolve. We're not always right on those guys, and I love being proven wrong in a lot of cases.
But you have to find out. So I think the big thing is just building up a number of players that have ingredients that you like and then hopefully that can come together with the coaching that we have and try to get the most out of those players.
You're right, yeah, a lot of it is trial and error over the course of a long season and we have to stay nimble constantly throughout the season with our roster to find out.
Q. You mentioned you like talking about scouting and player evaluation. I wanted to ask you, when you identify somebody like Andrew Vaughn who may have struggled at his previous spot but has shown glimpses and flashes of improved play, what is it about your front office group that's able to identify those types of players and get the most out of them, seeing them have their best ball with you guys?
MATT ARNOLD: Yeah, I don't know if it's any one thing. I think it's a combination of the work the guys, the combination of different perspectives that we have involved. Then it's the environment. You have to put the people in the right environment, and we have incredible support from Mark to create that environment, and then it's on us to try to mix and match the profiles that work best.
Yeah, I think there's always some silver lining with all these players, especially when they've struggled, and that's an opportunity I look at to try to bring in somebody like Andrew Vaughn. And again, credit to him for what he's been able to do since we got him.
Q. Matt, Murph shared with us that Woody will not pitch in the first round and you'll see from there. Obviously there was a lot of thought that went into what the club would announce here. Can you describe some of those conversations and what your level of optimism is that this is possible or is this door open just a tiny crack or is it open pretty wide?
MATT ARNOLD: Yeah, I think we'll see. Obviously when you talk about somebody who means as much to our franchise as Brandon Woodruff, you want to see that all the way through. So certainly there's an opportunity for him to potentially come back. We just don't know what that is. It's day-to-day. It's not his shoulder, which is a really good thing. There's nothing structural wrong with his shoulder.
It's a lat injury. So we treat those oftentimes like a hamstring, and that can be potentially a couple days, maybe even a couple weeks, we just don't know.
What we do know is Woody is a tremendous competitor and he wants to be a big part of it and he's going to continue to work to be a part of this and even if he's not doing it on the feel, he's going to do it in the clubhouse for sure.
Q. I'm curious about sort of the culture around the organization. When I was playing I always felt like each team had a style or a preference, so for example, I always thought the Brewers, everybody was like 5'9", 5'10", had a goatee and could play first base. It was like a style. How would you describe a Brewers player in that context, and how do you avoid being too myopic about it because that sort of fits into the culture?
MARK ATTANASIO: By the way, you should plug that into your model, 5'9", 5'10", goatee.
MATT ARNOLD: Yeah, we could plug that in. If you want to --
MARK ATTANASIO: No, I think -- look, Matt and the group have a variety of things they look at. We talked about how ownership can support the group. We try to never say no. We try to give them the best working environment so that they can assess -- I don't know if you look for a pure -- there are different qualities you're looking for from players, but I don't know if it's only one type.
MATT ARNOLD: No, definitely. I think the important part is staying nimble. I remember a couple years ago we had the big-boy infield. Remember, it was like Moustakas and Shaw and Aguilar and Schoop and Kratz. It's like the biggest infield ever and now we have the opposite of that.
But I think there's some ingredients of those guys that are similar in terms of makeup if that's what you're asking and makeup matters; that's what's important to us and kind of who they are. Regardless of the size of the guy, whether it was a couple years ago or now, we've had success with both.
Again, that's, I think, a big credit to our scouting staff and the people that are out there trying to get information on the players that we acquire.
Q. You mentioned how much it would mean to the organization to go to the World Series, and I'm curious from your perspective how you weigh the success you guys have had in the regular season during this stretch where you've built yourself into a perennial contender against the disappointment you've experienced in October?
MARK ATTANASIO: That's a key question when I bought the club 21 seasons ago. I laid out four mandates or things that we looked to build on, and one was to always be sustainably competitive. That was the first one. If you're not competitive, you can't be there.
We're all very mindful that the club has only been to one World Series, in 1982, so those sort of go hand in hand. When I bought the team we had 12 losing seasons in a row so it was hard to say the goal is to get to a World Series.
In fact, that year when I first -- actually I was sitting over there, there was a guy from ESPN in the front who said to me, well, when you have lost another 12 years in a row and haven't been to a playoff game in over 20 years, you won't be so cheery. He sort of turned that around.
But that said, of course that's the goal for the organization, for the community. Nothing would be more special.
But right now in our league there's three other teams that have done everything to get there and four in the American League, and watching the playoff games, these are all really good teams. I know you want to get to a World Series.
MATT ARNOLD: Absolutely. Yeah, I have a JV ring; I don't have a varsity ring, so I would like to get a big one.
Q. Just in the conversations you guys have had this week and in weeks past about the roster for this series, with Miz specifically, what light could you shed before the roster is announced on the roles you guys have talked about, how those conversations have gone, roster him, not roster him?
MATT ARNOLD: Yeah, in terms of the roster, we put in a lot of hours talking about it and I think in some cases we can justify a lot of different permutations of that roster. I think with Miz in particular, look, I think what we're looking at is Game 1 Freddy, and then beyond that it's just pretty much all hands on deck. I think Miz will certainly be part of that.
But obviously he's going to have to go out there and perform just like everybody else, and I think his role is still to be determined. I think a lot of that has to do with the matchup and the situation and all those things involved.
But that's been a great part of our team is that we just have so many guys that are just willing to say, hey, just give me the ball whatever it takes and I'm going to get the ball done. I think he's certainly going to get that opportunity.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports