Putting Red Sox Nation and my Yankee hatred aside for a moment to focus on one of Baseball’s young superstars, Ryan Braun. On Thursday, the Milwaukee Brewers added five more years to Braun’s contract, making him the face of the team until the year 2020.
The Brewer’s which gave us Hall of Famers, Robin Yount and Paul Molitor, now have Braun as their franchise locked in place for years to come. Braun’s new contract will have him being paid $145m until his contract expires in 2020. Consider this a hometown discount as such. Compare his contract to those of recent free agents, Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Jayson Werth signed this off season and you will agree that Milwaukee got their man at the right price at the right time. Imagine what the contracts will be in 2015, the year his contract was originally scheduled to expire.
Braun chose loyalty over greed, a virtue that is sorely missing in the world of sports today. The three time Silver Slugger said “From here on out the only thing that really matters is winning.” The NL Central is going to be a very competitive division this year. I for one will be rooting for Braun and his Milwaukee Brewers to capture their first Division title since C.C. Sabathia‘s 2008 season.
Good guys do finish first once in a while. Congratulations to the Brewer’s fan who benefit the most from this extension.
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