5 Highest Brewers payrolls of the Mark Attanasio era

2. 2019

Opening Day payroll: $122,530,400
League rank: 17th

Year end payroll: $132,645,682
League rank: 17th

Coming off a remarkable run to Game 7 of the NLCS in 2018, Attanasio pushed the Brewers payroll much higher in 2019. Extra revenue from a deep playoff run and the success of the team encouraged investment into a core that was building to be something special.

Key among those additions to the payroll was Yasmani Grandal, signed to a one year, $18.25MM deal with an opt out. He was the top catcher on the free agent market. Mike Moustakas also re-signed on a one year, $10MM deal after being acquired as a rental during the 2018 Trade Deadline.

The highest paid players on the 2019 Brewers were Ryan Braun ($19MM), Grandal ($16MM), Lorenzo Cain ($15MM), and Christian Yelich ($9.75MM).

The results of the increased investment weren't quite as good as hoped. They finished with an 89-73 record, earning a playoff berth as the second Wild Card team. That meant they had to travel on the road to the Nationals to play in the win-or-go-home Wild Card game. They were in position to win until a Juan Soto single got by Trent Grisham late and heartbreak struck yet again as the Brewers were eliminated in the Wild Card.