Franchise icon Ryan Braun is entering the final guaranteed season of the contract extension he signed with the Brewers nearly a decade ago. Now 36, the former MVP is nearing the end of a storied career. In fact, it’s not out of the question that 2020 could prove to be his final season, he acknowledged to reporters (including Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) today at Fan Fest.
“I don’t take for granted this could be my last year playing baseball,” Braun told reporters. “It’s definitely a possibility,” he elaborated when asked if he would contemplate retirement after the 2020 season. “We’ll see how the year goes, see where I’m at physically. Obviously, my family’s always my top priority, so we’ll see how everything’s going then.”
Needless to say, that’s hardly a declaration that he’ll certainly hang up the spikes. He added that he doesn’t anticipate making a final decision until after this season, when he can reevaluate his health and family situation as well as the team’s outlook. Braun’s contract does come with a $15MM mutual option for 2021, but mutual options are rarely exercised. Typically, the price point is either high enough that the team would prefer to buy the player out or low enough that the player would rather explore free agency. In Braun’s case, it seems likely the Brewers would buy Braun out for $4MM rather than exercise their end.
That’s not to say, however, that Braun won’t be a key factor on Milwaukee’s 2020 outlook. He’s coming off a strong 2019 effort, in which he hit .285/.343/.505 (117 wRC+) in 508 plate appearances. The club anticipates him taking a similar number of plate appearances this season, he told reporters today. The longtime corner outfielder confirmed that some of that work figures to come at first base, where he’s played just 18 career games (all in 2018). Milwaukee’s corner outfield mix is crowded, with offseason signee Avisaíl García joining MVP candidate Christian Yelich and Ben Gamel. Yelich, notably, is at full strength for spring training after a knee injury ended his 2019 season in September, he told reporters today (including Haudricourt).
Today’s comments from Braun are perhaps unsurprising; that a 36-year-old player may at least entertain thoughts of retirement after the season won’t raise many eyebrows. Nevertheless, it’s notable to hear Braun verbalize the possibility. He is, as mentioned, still a productive hitter. In all fourteen of his MLB seasons, he’s been above-average at the dish by measure of wRC+. He’s certainly unlikely to return to the vaunted offensive force he was in his prime, but Braun still figures to be a valuable player in 2020. Should he again produce at the plate, he’d no doubt draw interest from teams next offseason, if he chooses to keep playing.
“Now 36, the former MVP is nearing the end of a storied career.”
You misspelled steroid..
Original….
As original as the story about an MLB employee who magically produced steroid-positive urine out of thin air
PED’s dont make players better at baseball, period. No evidence whatsoever. Anyone who claims there is, is lying. They only help great players stay healthy, so we can see them when we pay too much to watch a baseball game live.
Sure. Whatever you say.
That’s why they call them Performance Ending Drugs, eh S4?
Yeah this is nonsense. Guys start hitting 73 home runs and then it stops when drug testing starts. Get outta here with this steroids doesn’t help baseball bs.
Bonds stopped hitting 73 homeruns because he was 40 and blacklisted from baseball.
PED’s allow athletes to recover quicker, in turn, allowing them to train at 100% more frequently. Therefore, while PED’s don’t have a direct impact on their results. They do have a direct impact on their training. And training dictates results.
Take that for why you will.
They are illegal.
Why? Because the league arbitrarily puts them on and removes them from a list? It’s not a question of legality, it’s the archaic league failing yet again to get with the times and catch up with the science.
1. I used steroids. Definitely changed who I was as a player. All of a sudden I could hit 480 foot home runs. I It absolutely, 100%, without a doubt makes you worlds better.
2. Jose Canseco is somehow the only guy that tells the truth about the effects of steroids.
3. Strength is directly related to bat speed.
4. Just go look at Ken caminiti’s career and try to tell me you can’t pinpoint when he started using steroids
That being said. I don’t care who has or hasn’t used. It’s still rampant in the league and won’t ever go away.
Bonds played for six years after he hit 73.
Strike4.
Absolutely untrue. All steroids allow people to work out harder and more often. Most key on the development of fast twitch muscle fibers. The strength gained and improved firing of muscle fibers allow a hitter to let a pitch get closer to the plate before deciding to swing. Those extra milliseconds combined with the added swing velocity give a huge competitive advantage.
Some steroids lean a person out. More strength with less bulk can help a player in the field and on the bases.
Again, none of that equates to being better at baseball.
Only illegal in MLB and no other sport though.
Being able to let a pitch travel 5 extra feet before deciding whether or not to swing absolutey makes you better at baseball.
It’s a game of milliseconds. Every one gained is an advantage.
@pplama
Lies, lies, lies.
Baseball is a skill game, having the quick twitch is useless if you don’t have the batted ball skillset. There’s been plenty of bodybuilder-types who fail at the game, meanwhile, Tony Gwynn mashed every single day as his body went from fit to fat. Proof PEDs are meaningless if you don’t have the skill to begin with.
@Netflix&RichHil reported for spam. shut up.
dynamite, you’re living under a rock if you think ‘none of that equates to being better at baseball.”
Serious question. Have you ever stepped foot on a competitive field in ANY sport? Chocolate shakes after little league games don’t count.
You must have your horseblinders on If you don’t think roids helped Bonds and Sosa!
Enhancing the skillset all ML hitters posess is the “E” in PED, S4.
To not realize the advantage of being able to wait an extra 3-5 feet of pitch travel is crazy. It doesn’t just allow them to discern balls from strikes, but pinpoints the spot where the ball wil cross the plate, allowing far more accurate contact. .
NFL, Tour de France, Olympics, among others.
Huh? So they should allow it? Interesting take.
But steroids help if you do have the batted ball skill set. Like Bonds…? Come on dude… Really? You think all those numbers from that era would have happened without roids?? Get out of here. You often post nonsense but this is below your credibility level.
Look at the players involved in the big home chase at the time. McGuire and Sosa to see who would break the Maris record first. Then Bonds hitting 73 in a season. Just look at pictures of Bonds with the Pirates and Bonds with the Giants. You can bulk up with weight training, but his size increase was abnormal to not be using steroids.
What do you smoke before going on these forums? You always spew random nonsense each time. PEDs make players advanced past their bodies limitations. It’s banned for health reasons (numerous cardiac and respiratory problems as proven through doctors. You know, people with PHDs.), and it’s unfair advantage that it provides. You’re a clown dude, say no to drugs.
Bro do you know how steroids even work? They just help you recover faster and build muscle faster, they don’t automatically turn you into the hulk
@ strike four
I like the cut of your jib
Strike Five
Nice!
brilliant
LOL
+1
You can’t spell steroid without Sosa
Me no habla, english
I also believe Braun tested positive for a PED related more to injury recovery than to strength enhancing. It was a PED on the list restricted by baseball but I don’t believe it was necessarily a steroid. Still bad judgement in his part, but it was something he used to recover from an injury to put him back on the field faster during a Penant race. Not condoning what he did, but the worst he did was lie about it.
Roid baby.
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Does his future entail more throwing innocent people under the bus to save himself for being busted for cheating?
HGH son
@ Anthony Franko, A serious question: When was the last time a mutual option was exercised?
*Franco
Interesting question! I’m not sure of a way to query for this beyond a simple Google search, so it’s certainly possible I’m missing some. Most recent I could find was Aramis Ramírez with Milwaukee in 2014, though.
… Matt Kemp in 2011.
Thanks 30 Parks!
He is the real MVP.
He’s likely to be a sub-2WAR player in 2020, and he hasn’t broken 2WAR since 2016. Realistically, he won’t be worth $15M to anyone in 2021. So he has to decide whether it’s worth playing for substantially lower paycheck in a lesser role. He’s not making the HOF, and other than 2000 hits, there are no milestone for him to play for. I guess the question is whether he still enjoys the game, and whether someone would be willing to take him on, given the prior baggage.
If he hits 20 HR this year he will be 36 away from 400. Id call that a major milestone.
He wouldn’t get that in 2021. Maybe 2022, but could be 2023 if his playing time erodes.
Oh I agree it would take at least until 2022 that’s if he averaged 19 per season the next 3 years. I could see a team giving him a run for 400 AB’s in the AL though. Plug him in at DH and you don’t have to worry as much about his health either
If there is a 4 million buyout that means it’s basically a 1 year 11 million dollar deal, the 4 million is a sunk cost. He could be worth that if he keeps hitting like he has the last few years and is relatively healthy.
Just write him a check for 2020 and buyout and say bye.
I really wouldn’t call this guy an icon.
He’s more of an emoji.
*Syringe emoji
Cheater.
Scumbag.
cheater
If the NL had a DH then he’d get to be a 20 year same-team player, but instead it remains the only league on the planet using 1800s rules.
Oh well.
But mah tradishun!!!!
no need for this Nelson Cruz foil to stick around any longer.
Because we sooo need more options for unathletic sluggers to stick around well past their prime. Keep the DH as far away from the NL as possible.
This isn’t 1995 anymore. The DH spot isn’t reserved for lumbering Balboni’s anymore. It can be strategically utilized to get players off days in the field, juggle the lineup in more creative ways and to get bench players more ABs.
But sure, tell me more about pitchers botching sac bunts and #8 hitters getting intentionally walked. Riveting.
I dont see what the issue is with slightly different play styles between the two leagues.
Watching a manager actually manage is pretty fun to watch though. double switches and weighing to use a pinch hitter or not is more fun. AL is boring.
I’m sorry, did you just tell me watching the manager do double switches is fun?
Slightly?
I truly do not understand people in favor of the DH arguing for it in the National League. You got it in the AL league, where there is zero strategies and it not being a rea lineup of players. A whole lot of us don’t want to see baseball where not everyone bats. Keep it on your side of the fence please.
I would prefer to watch a pitcher botch a sac bunt and a #8 hitter get intentionally walked every single day and twice on Sundays than some random guy batting for my pitcher. I like the see double shifts, pinch hitters, sacrificing a bullpen arm for a chance at a run, sac bunts, and the rest than the softball that is the American Leauge.
“Some random guy” = every mlb player player
It could be similar to the NHL, one conference can do 2 line passes and the other cant
Or
How about in the NBA where we have a 3pt line for the eastern conference but not for the west.
Or
In the NFL, if they Absorbed the CFL would it be ok to let CFL clubs to use a bigger feild and have only 3 Downs?
I feel they should have uniform rules for the entire league
Either give the NL a DH or remove it from the AL.
Tradition only takes you so far before it becomes silly
@dynamite actually in this situation we’re talking about Braun being able to continue his career with the Brewers so that’s about as close to a 1995 lumbering steroid injecting past his prime balboni as there is. Plus we’re not that far removed from David Ortiz, so don’t act like if there was a 300 pound steroid slug that could rake that he wouldn’t be a permanent fixture at DH.
So you’d rather see the pitcher hit than David Ortiz, one of the most clutch and exciting sluggers in recent memory who hit 48 doubles in his age 40 season [hows that for lumbering?]
Oh and show me the evidence that Ortiz used steroids? Oh , there is none? It’s just because you don’t like him because he’s not a white guy who keeps his mouth shut? I see.
He was named in one of reports so yes he’s tainted and yes I’d rather see a pitcher hit than watch Ortiz try to run the bases.
S4, you are a very negative person. Is everything OK in your world? Seriously. Wanna talk about it?
S4 thinks players can do no wrong and owners can do no right.
And I quote “doesn’t make you a better ball player”… SMDH Strike Four… How do you figure? PED use makes you 1. Stronger 2. Able to recover from soreness faster. 3. Sustain a higher lever of energy…. So… Ya it DOES make you a better ballplayer because you dont get as run down as the other players over the course of 162…. Literally have to be joking right? I swear, people should have to take some kind of test before they are allowed to post….
None of what you just said has been scientifically proven.
You read a lot of scientific journals dynamite?
Yes.
Ask Lenny Dykstra what he thinks of PEDs. Oops, I mean, Vitamins.
It literally has. Just google “what do steroids do” and there you go 5 billion articles.
Ah yes, Google. The paragon of trusted peer reviewed science.
I would guess that MLB has lots of people who have read lots of peer-reviewed publications, and they’ve chosen to ban certain drugs because they enhance performance. So has the NFL, and so have the Olympics, as well as the Tour de France and almost every other major international sports association.
Google is your friend, it’s just up to you to parse the information to find the viable articles that speak truth.
@CardsFan77 so explain to me how over 75% of players busted for PEDs don’t have long careers in MLB?
PEDs only help you if you are good at the game. And if you are good at the game, the fans want to see you play, not see you be Ken Griffey Jr on the Reds.
This is the time where I point out that after stopping using steroids, muscle and ligament strains are a problem. Check out Junior’s injuries right after steroid testing was implemented.
Twins fans also don’t like it when it is mentioned that glaucoma and an increased risk of stroke are possible side effects of past steroid use.
And what percentage of players not busted for PEDs have long careers in MLB?
The “long career” itself is extremely rare, a feat some HOF players didn’t even get to accomplish.
The average career length about 14 years ago (most recent I could find in a quick search) was 5.6 years.
A more recent study by BP shows that just under 25% of MLB players never see a second season
baseballprospectus.com/news/article/23041/attritio…
No mention of Lorenzo Cain
If he hits .285 again and winds up hitting closer to/actually hitting 30 HRs – which granted may be a bit of a longshot but not out of the question… I could see the Brewers taking the $15M option as opposed to the $4M buyout. idk I guess it’s unlikely BUT this article makes it seem a foregone conclusion that it won’t be exercised and I just feel like it’s a little bit more plausible than that. I mean .285/.343 and 22 HRs is probably close to a $15M salary on the open market. So had he gotten closer to 600ABs (vs the 500 or so he did get) he easily could have hit 27/28 HRs — at which point a $15M option doesn’t look so bad… especially when the alternative is still $4M buyout so it essentially comes down to a 1/$11M decision. Idk it may not be likely but I just think he could wind up playing his way into the conversation of it being exercised on MIL’s part — and in which case I would think he’d accept give his age and history with the team. We’ll see… it’s also possible he reverts back to a .250 hitter with 16/17 HRs in which case the $4M buyout obviously looks like a bargain! haha
I can also envision the option being picked up as a “thank you” of sorts before he retires. I think the idea of retiring having only played for one team appeals to him.
I think the brewers just run out of room on the roster for him, no matter how he performs. Can only play 2 games out of every series in the outfield at this point
What team hasn’t had a player caught? Hilarious that cub fans (Sosa), Giants fans ( Bonds) etc still booo him
A lot of fans ire w it comes to Braun isn’t so much the usage, it’s the way he handled it.
Braves I think. We just get wife beaters.
Nah, the Yankees, Phillies and Cubs get those too.
Yasmani Grandal was busted too. At some point a great majority of the league will have served a 50 gamer for drinking an energy drink that every other pro sports league except MLB says is ok. PEDs are meaningless. Period. They do not make bad players good.
PEDs make a player better, and that might be enough to put him ahead of another player who might otherwise be better than him, cost said player a job or maybe a better paycheck. If you are upset about Houston cheating then you should be upset about players using PEDs. It gives them an unfair advantage against their peers.
If PEDs are meaningless, why do players risk penalties like suspensions, etc. by taking them? You are not just naive, Strike Four, you are flat-out stupid. PED’s benefit people physically. To say they have no effect and are “meaningless” is asinine. It is simply common sense that PED’s enhance performance. Continue to broadcast your idiocy and make yourself look like a fool, though. You do it well regularly on this site.
Anthony, just flagging a typo:
> storied career
should be “steroid career”
(Anagrams can happen to anyone.)
50 or so comments late here, boss
It would actually be an $11m commitment from the Brewers; the $4m is a sunk cost. It wouldn’t surprise me to see this option happen if Braun can reproduce last season’s numbers and wants to play next year. It seems he likes to play for Milwaukee.
I’m still PO’d at how Braun handled his PED use (not “steroids”), but it always puzzles me to see the vitriol he generates compared to other guys that were caught (Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon, Yasmani Grandal, Nelson Cruz, Dee Gordon, Starling Marte, Robinson Cano, et al).
It’s especially funny when it happens at away games where that team has had a well known steriod/hgh user. I mean, boo him but only if you were booing your roided up guy(s). I think Braun embraces being the villain on the road though.
We don’t boo Braun because he used PED’s, we boo him because he’s a lying scumbag,
Hey! A 135 OPS+ for his career!
HOF here we come!
Right?
MVPee in a cup
Him and Frank Howard who is at 142 OPS+…..
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, ya bum.
Sarcasm alert!
Failed a drug test and then lied about it over and over and over…
It’s the strident, righteous indignation to the lying that is the worst part. Just man up and admit it. Then we can all move on.
Cheated Matt Kemp out of his MVP. Kemp should be bitter.
GTFO Braun
It seems to me quite likely that there are plenty of baseball players that are still lying about their PED use…they just weren’t caught. Are they less culpable than Braun? And there are several that are getting close to the Hall of Fame that have been implicated but never admitted it.
Braun’s legal team’s challenge on the grounds of improper handling by the tester was legitimate, and probably would have gotten his case dismissed in a court of law. His ‘strident, righteous indignation’ was the most bothersome thing to me.
He can be a drug dealer. He knows all about illegal substances. Scumbag.
He would be just now hitting his peak if they didn’t test him so much and he could use PEDs. He’s not just a cheater. Recall that he lied and ruined a person’s career. Hopefully that guys sued him.
They met and talked about it. The guy did screw up.
The guy followed the protocol he’d been given. He probably shouldn’t have collected the sample at 5:00pm on a Friday, but he didn’t mishandle the sample. Braun was a scumbag and totally impugned the guy’s character.
“There were a lot of things that we learned about the collector, about the collection process, about the way that the entire thing worked, that made us very concerned and very suspicious about what could have actually happened.”
And then he got caught again after. Did u forget that part Eddie?
This dude cheated and lied , idk how he wasn’t banned for life
Again…there are most likely guys that have done the same things as Braun, and probably worse, that were never caught. They have served no penalty..
So you’re defending Braun because “…there are most likely guys that have done the same things as Braun, and probably worse, that were never caught.”
Tell that to Dino Laurenzi.
Scumbag.
Braun got caught twice. Once an idiot and cheat, twice a piece of trash.
The party over the cubs and Steven Souza must have ended. I see all their fans are here hypocriting about Braun’s PED scandal from over 8 years ago.
The current article is about Braun, so…
Hey, Steve Garvey is my dad. Why won’t someone pay attention to me?
“Needless to say, that’s hardly a declaration that he’ll certainly” is a hilarious way to start a sentence…
Confucius say “Man who cheat have tiny pencil.”
Now in all fairness never forget one urine test on Braun was tossed do to ” stale urine ” not tested in time. We all know that fresh urine is the best.
Right letters, but it should be steroid career instead of storied career.