The Brewers and Rickie Weeks are discussing an extension that would buy out at least two of the second baseman's free agent seasons, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The deal would be for three to five years and would eliminate the need for Thursday's scheduled arbitration hearing.
As MLBTR's Arb Tracker shows, Weeks is one of four arbitration eligible players who don't have contracts for 2011. Kelly Johnson, a top comparable for Weeks, settled for $5.85MM earlier today. That's below the midpoint for Weeks and the Brewers, but today's agreement doesn't necessarily hurt Weeks, who was working from a higher base salary ($2.75MM) than Johnson.
Next winter's crop of free agent second basemen will become a little less interesting if Weeks signs long-term. He is scheduled to hit free agency after the 2011 season. The Brewers picked up negotiations with Weeks last week after setting talks aside for a while.
