"We've got to think big," Melvin said recently. "The one thing with Mark, Mark wants to think big. I think we've done that, and I think we started that in 2008 when we got CC."
Now facing an NL division series matchup with the Arizona Diamondbacks beginning Saturday afternoon at Miller Park, the Brewers are out to prove they have some staying power.
Slugger Ryan Braun said the Brewers wouldn't be where they are if they hadn't moved for Greinke and another starter, Shaun Marcum, in the offseason.
"I think that's been the key to our success," Braun said. "I think that's been the biggest reason for our turnaround from last year to this year is going out there and acquiring Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum."
It's an ambitious attitude for a team that has to get by on a fraction of the local media revenue its big-city rivals rake in. But the Brewers don't particularly like the term small market, and don't use it as a crutch.
"We know who we are," Melvin said. "And you have to be able to find any way you can to procure players. ... We have a very extensive pro scouting staff, too - larger than maybe some teams."
They also have Attanasio's blessing to pursue big-name players - helped, no doubt, by a surge in attendance that exceeded three million this season.
"They certainly have put together a great team, which we've seen this year," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said of Attanasio and Melvin. "They're never satisfied with it, they're always looking to improve."
