The Milwaukee Brewers relocation threat further proves that MLB is nothing more than a criminal syndicate. Rob Manfred and team owners are simply trying to shakedown the city for $448 million to cover stadium upgrades. This isn’t to say American Family Field is in perfect working order, but to play the “we might move” card some seven years before the franchise’s lease expires is a joke.
Let’s not forget, they were the chosen team when Bud Selig was alive. That has seemingly changed. As he is wont to do, Rob Manfred has demanded nearly half a billion dollars in public funds to fix up American Family Field–a ballpark he called great a few months earlier. And if state and city officials don’t come up with the cash, the franchise’s time in the city has dried up.
Here’s the deal. American Family Field does need some care. For starters, ballparks must be up to public health and safety codes. We can’t have Bernie Brewer falling through his slide. The stadium has been around for 20+ years and work will be needed after all these years. Plus, Miller Park opted for some really poor design choices that have only been taped over.
Additionally, the owner of the facility is required to provide upgrades under the terms of the Brewers’ lease. It is reasonable for the team to expect these to be provided per contract terms. If your landlord says they will fix something when you sign a rental agreement, you expect it to get fixed. That’s not unreasonable. Besides, both team and government officials agree on what’s needed for the renovation project.
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Where did the the Milwaukee Brewers relocation threat come from?
So, how do we get from that to the Milwaukee Brewers relocation threat? It is just Manfred trying to throw his weight around like a mafia heavy. Instead of letting the situation resolve itself, he interjected in the messiest and dumbest way imaginable.
There is a time and place for everything. And this was not the time or the place for MLB to threaten Milwaukee with moving their baseball team. Why? Because it seemed as if funding for the renovations was going to be approved in due course.
Yes, Wisconsin lawmakers already derailed one proposal that would make this problem a thing of the past. Fun fact, Republicans are responsible for this. All of those conservatives who blamed Oakland’s liberal, Democrat-led government for the Oakland A’s relocation are painfully silent right now. You got to love that hypocrisy.
It is important to make one thing very clear here. This is not a pressing matter. The team’s lease runs until 2030. There are years to get this over the line. Creating a false sense of urgency is why the Milwaukee Brewers relocation threat is a baseball shakedown. Everything is built on an already disproven premise.
Years or weeks for MLB relocation?
Those within the Brewers organization claimed it takes years to explore and implement relocation which is why the threat has been made now. Let’s state that again just to make it clear. The team claims years are required to explore and implement relocation.
Hmm. Does it? Because the Oakland A’s are trying to push through relocation after doing a few days of work. And that is a generous characterization. Athletics’ leadership seemingly never looked at a map of Las Vegas until April 2023 and has fought to push through their efforts in a matter of weeks. Not years, but weeks.
Someone here is lying. The process can’t take years to accomplish when someone else is allowed to do the same exact thing in months. Either Brewers ownership or A’s ownership is not being truthful, and the MLB is covering for it. That is not cool.
At this point, I don’t even care who is forced to admit to lying. But someone needs to come clean about this. The MLB relocation process needs years to execute or can be done in a few months. Don’t sit here and demand public money when you can’t even get your own story straight.
By the way, maybe fans and government officials would be more sympathetic to the Brewers’ self-perceived plight if ownership wasn’t pocketing millions of dollars in income annually. Forget about schools, roads and other services to help the public; Rob Manfred and team owner Mark Attanasio want those funds so they can make even more money.
This is why so many people are fed up with baseball. The Milwaukee Brewers relocation threat is just another shakedown. But this one is particularly infuriating because it’s so entirely superfluous. Those in the state were seemingly working towards getting this done, and it would already be done if it wasn’t for conservatives’ desire to grandstand instead of doing their jobs. But that’s another can of worms.
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Baseball’s bad message
Some have claimed Manfred is sending a message to other cities about not playing around when it comes to stadiums. But there is an unspoken element that he and MLB team owners are too dense to understand.
What they are really telling fans is, “Don’t invest in us because we are not to be trusted.” Let’s say that quiet part out loud. It is becoming increasingly difficult to invest in and build relationships with these franchises that don’t act in good faith. Why support an entity that cares not about the community but only on getting what they want from others? That is the definition of an abusive relationship.
What’s worse about all this is the fact that we end up back in this very spot 20 years down the road. In 2043, the Milwaukee Brewers will make another relocation threat as part of another shakedown despite their ownership having made millions of dollars. It’s all so avoidably cyclical.
Sports is a business. I get that. But it doesn’t have to be a shitty one. We all know the Milwaukee Brewers shouldn’t leave the city. And they won’t. It doesn’t make any sense. So, why make the threat in the first place? That’s not the right way to treat those who make it possible for baseball to exist.
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