Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun believes that the club is more likely to land Jose Reyes in free agency than re-sign Prince Fielder, writes Mike Puma of the New York Post.
Braun assumes that Fielder will likely command upwards of $150MM this winter whereas Reyes can be had for around $120MM. The four-time All-Star was quick to admit that he's a huge fan of Reyes.
"[Reyes] is dynamic, man — he is one of the most exciting players in the game," the 27-year-old said. "He plays with a lot of energy and a lot of emotion and I enjoy watching him play. He's one of my favorite players to watch. Whenever their games are on, I love watching him, man. He always plays the game the right way. He always plays hard. He runs everything out."
The Brewers can easily make room at shortstop this winter as they hold a $6MM club option on Yuniesky Betancourt's deal with a $2MM buyout.
Imagine if they got both, they would be absolutely ridiculous.
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no, the yankees aren’t getting felix. enough already
Braun’s comments were kind of a middle finger to Betancourt! lol
Betancourt’s play is a middle finger to Betancourt.
With whose payroll?
not a timely comment by ryan. but with yuniesky at short all year i can see why he’d be hopeful/desperate
I think he simply means the Crew could afford Reyes better than Fielder.
Yeah, I assume that’s what he means, but it’s still a strange time to say it. They’re in the ALCS and Fielder is still on the team. Go win it all and then figure out that stuff later.
Edit: NLCS
They’re not in the ALCS
Haha, looks like I slipped and showed where my loyalties lay. It’s early Sunday morning, right?
Point still stands.
Really?? When did the Brewers leave the AL?
1998.
uhh….
Haha…you make a good straight man
they wont bet both, no way in hell
why not especially if they win the world series
the way I figure it the team that I thought would win it all was eliminated by the cardinals so all bets are off now.
They can’t afford both
if they win the world series?
2 words
deferred payments
two words
not happening
Reyes is not represented by Boras, in fact, he turned him down during the year if you’ll recall.
Who wrote this? Neither is a boras client
Fielder is a Boras client.
It was in the original article, apparently it’s since been corrected.
Reyes is NOT represented by Boras
When did Reyes retain Boras as his agent?
I don’t see how this makes sense to be honest. $150mm and $120mm are pretty much the same thing at the end of the day. If it’s a 6 year deal to either player, that’s a difference of $5mm per year. If you can afford $120mm, you can afford $150mm in my opinion.
“$150mm and $120mm are pretty much the same thing at the end of the day” except for the 30mm difference…. 30mm is pretty significant to most teams.
So you mean to tell me, that the Brewers would be in for Reyes at $120mm and pass on Fielder the guy they raised, a perfect fit and a perfect combo of Braun/Fielder in the line-up and they’ll pass on that for perhaps only $5mm more per year?
“30mm is pretty significant to most teams.” Yeah, the Tampa Rays and you’re looking at it the wrong way. It’s not like $30mm per year in addition, which that I’ll admit, would be significant.
Newsflash: Braun sucks at playing the OF and needs to move to 1B anyway.
time for another extension!
Yeah, he’s no Lance Berkman or Matt Holliday out there.
The brewers are a small market team, so it could be significant to them. 5 mil dollars would help a lot toward getting another decent sp or upgrading elsewhere. That said, I do think it was idiotic of Braun to publicly speculate on this before the playoffs are over.
Wow, Reyes and Rickie Weeks would be one heck of an infield tandem!
Those 2 would tear up the DL together!
Not as much as they would tear up their hamstrings….
Damn, that’s the most “likes” I’ve seen here in awhile. Kudos to you.
Thank you. That is a pretty insane amount of likes.
“He always plays the game the right way.” Like taking himself out of the lineup to secure the batting title…
haha, that’s exactly what I was thinking too. “He runs everything out”…except his last three or four at-bats.
That phrase is entirely redundant in itself because no player ever plays the game the wrong way, such as running to 3rd instead of 1st, using a french loaf as a bat or the catcher running with the ball after a pitch is thrown.
I was watching a tv special about Jose Tabata and in his country, they said the other players would run the bases the wrong way but Jose ran in the right direction. I immediately thought of this and “playing the right way” when I heard that.
And pouting and running to Bernazard when Randolph dared to put him in his place.
I always wonder why writers feel the need to ask the players what they think will happen in the off season, as if they have any say in what the front office is doing.
meh
Also there’s that thing about Braun being the crappiest defender known to man who needs to be at 1B to limit the damage. The Crew signing Reyes would be a masterstroke.
You should watch Braun play once before weighing in.
I don’t get why he’d even talk about something like this. Milwaukee is a very good team, but they don’t know how to handle being deep into the playoffs, if they did, he would just refuse to comment on something like this…
Why not wait and see if Scutaro’s option is picked up or not, and try to sign him and perhaps make a serious run to hold onto Fielder, although, they might be able to replace most of that production with a lower cost option as well.
This might be the first time I’ve seen a player on another team compliment Reyes.
man… sounds like… braun REALLY likes reyes.
Yeah. And REALLY doesn’t mind shipping Fielder off somewhere else.
Way to throw your teammate under the bus, Braun. Read between the lines: he’d rather have Reyes than Fielder.
Read what he actually says….Fielder has said himself he doesn’t think he’s coming back…being teammates I would think Ryan and Prince have talked and in private and I would guess that Braun KNOWS Fielder wants a “payday” and won’t be returning….so he is making a push for a new player to fill a necessary hole(production)
I don’t see this as a big deal him saying this at this time b/c he was most likely just asked a question by a reporter and he answered it….I blame the media for asking the question at this time not him answering it….they(the media) REGULARLY ask inappropriate questions at the wrong time…..
I hear what you’re saying, but it wasn’t just the fact that he claims a Reyes signing would be more likely, it’s that he goes on to say what energy he would bring to the clubhouse and I felt that was a veiled knock at Fielder.
personally I think you read too much into that….I think it was more geared to Reyes who has taken a lot of heat for the final game stunt and Ryan saying he knows whats up and would have Jose’s back….he is pumping up Reyes to join the team more then knocking Prince on the way out
Braun has a hard-on for Reyes. I guess Fielder didn’t do it for him.
just not a fan of fatties
Braun is about as close to Mark Attanasio as any player in the game is to any owner. He understands the Brewers situation from both sides. He knows that Attanasio is very appreciative of the outstanding fan support this team has received since he took over the team and that Attanasio feels obligated to reward those fans. He’s not going to give up Fielder without at least making a respectable offer in hopes that Fielder will listen to his heart and not his agent. He and Braun understand that this is a longshot. But his offer will be sincere, and to prove it, he may just take that money that Fielder (re: Boras) turns down and offer it to Reyes.
It’s not a shot at Betancourt that Reyes would be a target. Betancourt’s been a lot better than his detractors like to admit. He’s very well liked by his teammates including Braun and he’s gotten key hits in the postseason. They could do a lot worse than bringing back Betancourt. But Betancourt has a $6 million option. Brewers might be amenable to bringing him back for less than that but why not explore a dynamic player like Reyes in the meantime?
Keep in mind too that Brewers already announced a fairly significant rise in ticket prices for next season in the middle of a bad economy. Attanasio is well aware that fans will be much more willing to accept an increase if Fielder is still around or Reyes is brought in.
I think that both would be great but if I had to pick one I would pick prince but Jose would be good to