President & CEO Payne, done?

In a story that broke Tuesday evening, Ulice Payne Jr. may just be days away from being fired or forced to step down as President & CEO of the Milwaukee Brewers. Apparently, Ulice has been openly critical of the Brewers payroll situation in which it will continue its slide south to the $30 Million or less range. This last slide could put the Brewers as the lowest payroll in MLB.

Ulice is apparently unhappy with the payroll because he feels that lowering the payroll gives less back to the city of Milwaukee. If anyone remembers, when construction on Miller Park began in the mid 90's, the Brewers verbally promised that the team would field a competitive team within three years. Next season, 2004, will be the fourth year in Miller Park.

The situation has gotten so bad two state legislators want the Milwaukee Brewers to open their books for a public audit. Obviously, the money is going somewhere, and it is not going toward putting a winner on the field.

Ulice wanted to make one thing clear through Wednesday Night, "I haven't been fired, I'm still the President of this club." If this problem doesn't go away, the club will either buy out his contract, or he will simply step down.

The word is, that this whole situation started in a Payne interview early in the week. He was asked about the cap situation, and expressed his displeasure with the Board of Directors which is headed by Wendy Selig-Prieb, daughter of owner and Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. Payne says he didn't try to start a feud by talking to a reporter. He says he was asked a question and believes in being up front and honest with the fans and the media.

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker is demanding the Brewers keep Ulice Payne as president of the baseball team. Walker sent a letter to the team's board Wednesday asking them to keep Payne and re-evaluate their business plan. Walker says the letter is designed to put pressure on the Brewers to keep the promises they made to tax payers more than a decade ago. Bud Selig, the former owner of the team, promised if taxpayers help finance a new stadium, management would invest in a championship team. The Brewers have had eleven losing seasons.

My View:

A couple of different ways to look at this situation.

1) The Milwaukee Brewers Board of Directors are not very popular people. From top to bottom, they have all been blamed at one time or another for the Brewers failing at doing what they promised. Once a popular guy like Ulice comes in and makes a change, which Ulice did in hiring GM Doug Melvin, who helped the Brewers improve by 12 games over the 2002 campaign, he gets fired shortly after. It takes "yes" men like Sal Bando and Dean Taylor who will do whatever Wendy Selig wants without questioning it.

2) Ulice, signed off on the 2004 payroll, so he should have kept his mouth shut. If he had a problem with it, he shouldn't have signed on it, and he could have spoke his mind. It's a bit hypocritical for him to agree to it, sign it, and then stab the club in the back by running his mouth and getting himself in trouble. This whole problem could have been avoided in doing so.

Updates will come as more information becomes available