'I embrace the expectations': Mark Attanasio talks playoffs, Chourio, Adames and more

This story was updated to add new information.

Just like any other baseball fan, Milwaukee Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio kept an eye on the doubleheader on Monday afternoon at Truist Park, where the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves fought it out for their postseason lives.

The Mets ended up winning the opener and the Braves the second game, meaning New York jumped on its charter plane for a flight back to Milwaukee, where they'll take on the Brewers on Tuesday at 4:32 p.m. at American Family Field in a National League wild-card matchup.

"I'm very superstitious," Attanasio said when asked if he was rooting for any particular outcome just prior to the doubleheader being played. The Brewers just beat the Mets two of three in the teams' final regular-season series over the weekend in Milwaukee.

"There's a lot of juju that goes with that," Attanasio continued. "There were actually 24 different possibilities of what could happen based on yesterday's outcome of three games. And so, it was hard to know what to root for. Of course, we have a manager that just wants to win every game, no matter what.

"Now, it's a little more narrow-cast, obviously. And I think we're just happy we're in this position today, knowing for sure that we're going to play tomorrow because of the teams involved, the only teams that know that are us and the Padres."

Attanasio spent an hour speaking to reporters about a variety of other topics regarding his club.

Here are the highlights.

Is there pressure to perform this year in the postseason?

October baseball is nothing new around these parts. But the Brewers are also 1-9 in their last 10 playoff games , with that lone win coming in Game 1 of the 2021 National League Division Series, a record that has provided a constant source of frustration for fans.

Attanasio was asked if he and the organization were, in essence, feeling the heat.

“That feeling may be different from ownership down to the front office, field staff, players,” Attanasio said. "I think we’ve only got 10 or so players this year returning to this playoff roster. For those guys on the field, it’s completely different. Whatever the team’s done in the past, they just want to get out there and play and play hard. Obviously, we all want to win. The burden of not getting to the playoffs is very different.

"That's a marathon, 26 years of not doing that, not getting where we would need to get.”

Considering the Brewers have shifted from reaching the postseason every so often to making it a yearly habit, is it fair to put higher expectations on the club, from merely qualifying to making a deep run or winning a World Series?

“I think that it’s great that our fans have high expectations,” Attanasio said. “The corollary to not having high expectations is just being morose that you’re not very good. I embrace the expectations.”

More: Predicting the Milwaukee Brewers 26-man roster for the wild card series

It appears highly unlikely Willy Adames will return

Brewers manager Pat Murphy all but admitted following Sunday’s game that shortstop Willy Adames had just played his final regular-season game as a member of the Brewers .

Naturally, the topic was presented to Attanasio, who indicated that the Brewers would like to make an effort to re-sign Adames, who is a free agent this winter. But they will be competing with big-market teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers, who just so happen to have a glaring void at shortstop.

“I was thinking about this walking over, thinking back to CC Sabathia,” he said. “I believe we made the first offer to CC (in 2008), then the Yankees jumped the offer and while we were contemplating increasing the offer, the Yankees, they jumped their offer again. They created maybe a $40 million gap.

“(Adames) and Robin (Yount) are probably the two greatest shortstops to play here. We cherish part of our history. Among other things, appreciative of everything he’s done here. He’s going to get an enormous free-agent contract and I’m very happy for him and his family, and we’ll give it our best shot. But there’s a lot deeper pockets out there.

"That’s just the reality.”

An impressive rookie season for Jackson Chourio

One of the biggest stories of the past 12 months for the Brewers has been the rise of Jackson Chourio , who in December 2023 signed an eight-year, $82 million contract that could go up to as much as 10 years and $132 million. It was the most money ever given to a player before appearing in a major-league game.

Chourio had a breakout rookie year, becoming the youngest player to have a 20-homer, 20-stolen base season and finished with a .791 OPS.

“Things like this always look easy in hindsight,” Attanasio said of the contract. “That’s a big commitment for a club like ours. If it doesn’t work, we would’ve felt it.”

What stood out to Attanasio wasn’t even necessarily the on-field performance of the 20-year-old outfielder, but the way he carried himself.

“Good process leads to good performance,” Attanasio said. “Starting with him. His attitude never wavered. For a young guy to come in with a smile everyday even though he’s hitting .200, to try hard and care what his teammates thought, he got support from all his teammates.

“And so that has been, watching that has given me as much satisfaction as the results. Because when you make an investment like that in the young player, there's a lot of uncertainty.”

Attanasio is bullish on Pat Murphy

It's members of the Baseball Writers Association of America who choose baseball's year-ending award winners, including the managers of the year in the National and American leagues.

Milwaukee's former longtime manager, Craig Counsell, finished as the runner-up in the NL in 2018, 2019 and 2021 before bolting for the Chicago Cubs last November.

Does Attanasio think his new manager, Murphy, deserves to win the award this year ?

"Most services had us right ahead of the Pirates, at the bottom of the division," said Attanasio, referring to preseason predictions. "We've all reviewed all the challenges we've had this year. We had 93 wins this year. And, to show you how competitive Murph is, he's watching the Yankees-Pirates yesterday. I know he just loves baseball, he knows players in every organization, and then the Yankees take the lead. He's like, 'Damn!' I'm like, 'What, you want the Pirates to win?' He said, 'No, I wanted to have the third-best record in baseball.' Talk about being competitive.

"You walk around our clubhouse, and you can't look in any direction where it doesn't say, 'Win tonight.' I think he's brought that demeanor and edge to the team. You can look at all the different teams with that record, and by far we had the most challenges and have the lowest payroll.

"So to me, it's an easy decision. But the writers will decide."

Where are the Brewers headed with their TV broadcasts?

The Brewers are officially free agents when it comes to their TV broadcast rights.

Bally Sports Wisconsin is one of the regional offshoots of the Diamond Sports Group, which remains in bankruptcy court seemingly with no resolution in sight.

The Brewers reside in the smallest media market in the majors, but they also rank in the top three in terms of ratings, so there is definitely interest in their games as well as a need to figure out what will work best for both the organization and consumers moving forward.

"I believe there's three options," he said. "You can re-up with Diamond; MLB Media already houses three teams (Rockies, Diamondbacks, Padres). There are other teams out of contract. That number could go up, including us. Or, you could 'DIY.' DIY, I would say, is the one thing that's not under consideration, doing it ourselves. That's a heavy lift.

"I think we're more inclined to look hard at MLB Media. And, if you see what's been happening in the NBA, you could ultimately get a big group of teams doing it."

Attanasio acknowledged baseball needs to do a better job in general of getting its games out to the masses.

"Trying to take a step back from a macro standpoint, we need to be able to get our games out to a much larger percentage of the addressable market right now," he said. "Only 20% of our television territory can watch our games, so that's not great. And (20-35%) is probably about average for all major-league teams. So, if we do something with MLB Media, it's going to be likely you handle things as a group for some of it, and then you try to piece other things together.

"Of course, not even as a revenue matter but as a branding matter and being fan-friendly, we want to get our games to as many of our fans as we can. We think the more people we can engage, the more that will come to the ballpark."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 'I embrace the expectations': Mark Attanasio talks playoffs, Chourio, Adames and more