Despite earning a second straight playoff berth in 2019, the Milwaukee Brewers struggled big time from a financial standpoint.

Owner Mark Attanasio explained that the Brewers -- who enter 2020 was one of the favorites to win the NL pennant --  had an operating loss last season. This was despite an 89-win season that saw them play in the NL Wild Card Game, losing to the eventual World Series champion Washington Nationals.

"Yeah, we had an operating loss last year," Attanasio said, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. "If you’re going to run a baseball team properly, you really have to look at a rolling basis how you’re doing...Franchises get into trouble when they overspend and end up with a mountain of debt and then you go into a long period of rebuild."

Given the circumstances, the Brewers had to cut back on their payroll for 2020. According to Spotrac.com, the NL Central club had a total payroll of approx. $135.889 million, which placed them 16th in the majors.  Right now, Milwaukee has a 2020 payroll of about $91.141 million, which places them all the way down to 23rd.

Milwaukee was forced to let two key players -- catcher Yasmani Grandal and slugger Mike Moustakas -- leave in free agency. The former signed a four-year, $73 million deal with the Chicago White Sox, while Moustakas signed a four-year contract worth $64 million with the Cincinnati Reds.

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The Brewers, of course, aren't the only competitive club that endures such restrictions when it comes to managing the payroll. Other small market teams like the Tampa Bay Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals have had to move on from key players, due to financial constraints.

The good news for the Brewers is that they can continue to rely on strong attendance to help the team revenue aspect. Milwaukee ranked eighth in the majors after averaging 36,090 fans (over 2.93 million on the season) per home game.

Milwaukee is only two seasons removed from an NLCS appearance, where they lost a close seven-game series to the powerhouse Los Angeles Dodgers. Despite the losses of Grandal and Moustakas, there is more than enough talent for the Brewers to seriously contend in the National League. They'll just have to get there without having to spend big dollars on expensive players.

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