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You play to win the game.

That is the most-famous quote spoken by former NFL coach Herm Edwards, taken from a 2002 press conference. It is oft-mocked, though it did become the title of his memoir and is the ultimate distillation of why we play sports: It’s fun, it keeps us fit, but a game is a competition. Someone wins, someone loses, and when you compete, you try to win.

Therefore, if a team admits that it will not win in its coming season, and perhaps not for several seasons to come, all because of a plan to win a lot closer to a decade from now, you may experience cognitive dissonance. The Milwaukee Brewers are hoping you accept that they are not playing to win their games ... for the time being, anyway.

Until the past few months, Milwaukee never really considered the “bottom-out” approach to their team: trading away somewhat-talented veterans for many good prospects, then hoping the law of averages leads to enough succeeding in the majors to make the team top-notch. David Stearns, the Brewers’ new general manager, changed that.

For much of the franchise’s history, the Brewers seemed to be playing to win, only they were never good enough to do so. During the bulk of the 1970s, and most years from the mid-’80s to mid-’00s, the Brew Crew would draft and sign and trade and end up losing most of the time. They’d try again next year and get largely the same result. Occasionally, a general manager like Harry Dalton or Doug Melvin displayed savviness and put together a winner, but those seasons can be counted on a hand-and-a-half.

Until the past few months, Milwaukee never really considered the “bottom-out” approach to their team: trading away somewhat-talented veterans for many good prospects, then hoping the law of averages leads to enough succeeding in the majors to make the team top-notch. They were like the latter-Kohl-era Bucks, only without the regular eighth seed in the playoffs dangling within grasp, justifying holding on to enough of the current team on the grounds that perhaps a postseason run could be had.

David Stearns, the Brewers’ new general manager, changed that. A whiz in his early 30s, Stearns came from an organization that did decide losing a lot was good in the long run: the Houston Astros, are now a solid playoff team. As of this writing, Stearns has been involved in nine trades during the off-season, with many a minor leaguer now at his choosing to eventually rise to the Brewers. Suddenly, the farm system is among the most talented in all of baseball, and you can see how the 2020 Brewers might be a World Series contender. But what about this year, or the next, or the next?

The selling point this season might be the increased wearing of the classic UW-Eau Claire student-designed ball/glove logo – that, and patience that a smart plan is being executed. The aforementioned Astros tried it, and succeeded; so did last year’s World Series champion Kansas City Royals. Yet, would you drive nearly four hours and buy a ticket to watch a loss and make that a regular occurrence the rest of this decade?

Tanking has become a concern in baseball, that too many teams are following the Houston/K.C. model and playing mostly raw, young talent for several seasons, with all the ensuing short-term losing. Some of these teams’ projects will fail, and the losing will result in more rebuilding, even while the team makes revenue from broadcasting, tickets, and more. If that’s the only approach to long-term winning, how can fans be mollified?

A caller to my sports talk show suggested splitting the Major League season in half like the Northwoods League does. Considering the recent slow starts by the Eau Claire Express, which evolved into second-half playoff chases, such an approach might give a team like the Brewers a chance to assemble a winning streak for a Cinderella postseason run, all while staying on track for the future. Alas, a first-half winner in the Northwoods League only need coast for a month after clinching a playoff spot, while a Major League team would have to go into three months of rest mode, so this will not happen.

Are the Brewers tanking? I advocated this “bottom-out” approach while looking at their divisional competition, which is likely to be playoff-caliber for a few years. You might as well surrender for now if the players exist to eventually reach that higher level on a regular basis. The Brewers are playing to win the game – by playing the long game.