Pat Murphy Rips Yankees During Brewers' World Series Celebration

There was a really wholesome moment before the Milwaukee Brewers returned to their clubhouse on Wednesday night after they defeated the Tampa Bay Rays to win their organization’s first World Series.

Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers brought the final out ball to Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy, who used the moment to lob a grenade at the New York Yankees.

“You’re gonna be a rich fcker,” Murphy told Bauers. “Just remember when you’re on that horse sht Yankee team and you’re all playing for yourselves….just remember this is the way we used to do it.”

Yikes.

What was supposed to be been a really cool moment ended up being a brutal reminder of how awkward these next few months are going to be for baseball, which will be heading into a lockout due to the ongoing competitive balance stalemate in collective bargaining negotiations.

Bauers is a free agent, and that could’ve actually been his final game with the Brewers. The 31-year-old put together a nice season at the plate and was tremendously clutch for the Brewers in October. He’s exactly the type of player that deserves a significant pay day this winter. Of course, the Yankees have been a notorious big market spender, and could be a destination for any talented contributor that could sell New York fans on October hope.

In his entire career, Bauers has made just under $10 million. This season with Murphy’s Brewers could realistically make him up to $60 million on his next deal–even if it’s not in Milwaukee.

If you take it for what it was worth, the moment between Bauers and Murphy was cool. This Brewers team played together from the spring when they adopted a clubhouse tortoise named Bobby Jr. to become the team’s unofficial mascot. They won an MLB-best 103 games and swept the big, bad Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.

Certainly, Bauers and Murphy will cherish this season, and Wednesday night’s celebration, for the rest of their lives.

But baseball is a business, not a fairytale.

And even if the MLB adds a salary cap or floor, there’s still a realistic world where Bauers will move on from Milwaukee to secure generational wealth for his family.

Maybe his new organization will handle their business like Murphy’s Brewers, and maybe they won’t. There’s plenty of good organizations in baseball, like the Dodgers as a big market example or the Cleveland Guardians as another small market example. But there are a lot of bad organizations as well. The ones who will blindly throw money at problems while disregarding development and culture.

We know how Murphy feels about the Yankees, and boy wouldn’t it be awkward if Bauers ends up signing there in a few months.