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Report indicates Brewers plan on cutting payroll in 2020, but David Stearns says team will remain competitive

Brewers plan to once again be in contention for the playoffs next season.

MLB: St. Louis Cardinals at Milwaukee Brewers Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports

The Milwaukee Brewers have reportedly set out to cut payroll in 2020, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

Nightengale followed up his tweet by writing shortly after that that rival executives indicated the Milwaukee Brewers would be operating at a reduced payroll in 2020.

With so much turnover occurring and reports like the one above, it would be normal for any Brewers fan to be concerned. While not speaking to the reporting done by Nightengale, David Stearns addressed those concerns to the media.

David Stearns is articulating intention to be competitive and an intention to fill up the 40-man roster with quality players. While Milwaukee was liberal in non tendering players, they are not the only team to use the non-tender deadline to pare down their roster. Per Jeff Passan, 13 more players were non-tendered on deadline day across MLB than were in 2018.

In failing to re-sign their biggest free agents, non-tendering five players from the roster, trading away long-term rotational cogs Chase Anderson and Zach Davies, and declining Eric Thames’ 2020 option, the Milwaukee Brewers are in jeopardy of having a vastly different team on the field for Opening Day next spring. But that does not necessarily mean they will have a bad team or embark on another rebuild. With so much room to play with in the payroll, might Stearns and Company be preparing for something substantial? On the other hand, will the front office brain trust try to put together a “competitive” team on the cheap?

Only time will tell.