Milwaukee absolutely looks like the bad guy here, and Burnes' gripes are completely justified, but I do wonder how much of this is performance and strategy on his part. Maybe they could have used more tact, but it feels like he might have already made up his mind that he doesn't want to pitch in Milwaukee anymore and is maneuvering his way out. Not a bad strategy to make himself look like the good guy if that's the case, though as a fan of a small market team (who, like Milwaukee, could definitely spend more than they do but are still at a disadvantage in baseball's economy system), I'm not sure I care for it. Arbitration can always be tricky, but I think this split was coming no matter what.
Milwaukee absolutely looks like the bad guy here, and Burnes' gripes are completely justified, but I do wonder how much of this is performance and strategy on his part. Maybe they could have used more tact, but it feels like he might have already made up his mind that he doesn't want to pitch in Milwaukee anymore and is maneuvering his way out. Not a bad strategy to make himself look like the good guy if that's the case, though as a fan of a small market team (who, like Milwaukee, could definitely spend more than they do but are still at a disadvantage in baseball's economy system), I'm not sure I care for it. Arbitration can always be tricky, but I think this split was coming no matter what.