Ryan Braun

As of February, free-agent outfielder Ryan Braun said he wasn’t interested in continuing his playing career. That still seems to be the case, as Braun stated in a radio interview Monday that he hasn’t touched a baseball or a bat since last season ended, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com tweets. Braun also revealed that he’s “strongly leaning” toward retirement, though he’s not ready to commit to a decision yet.

If the 37-year-old Braun does continue his career, it appears it will have to be with the Brewers – the only organization he has known since he went fifth overall in the 2015 draft. Braun admitted that he “can’t foresee a scenario in which I play for any other major league team,” per Will Sammon of The Athletic.

In the event it’s Brewers or bust for Braun, then the longtime left fielder probably is done. After all, the club already has Lorenzo Cain, Christian Yelich, the newly signed Jackie Bradley Jr. and Avisail Garcia as its top four outfielders. Braun has a bit of first base experience on his resume, but the Brewers are committed to Keston Hiura at that position. It would be easier to envision a Braun-Brewers reunion had the National League kept the designated hitter for 2021, but that’s not happening.

If Braun is done, he’ll exit as a six-time All-Star and a onetime MVP in his league. Braun owns a stellar .296/.358/.,532 line with 352 home runs and 216 stolen bases in 7,340 plate appearances, though he batted a career-worst .233/.281/.488 with eight HRs and one steal over 141 PA last year.

Longtime Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun’s future has been in question since the club declined his 2021 option at the start of the offseason. While the Brewers and Braun have been in contact since then, no deal appears imminent, and retirement seems like a legitimate possibility for the 37-year-old.

Longtime Brewers stalwart Ryan Braun isn’t in the lineup for their Game 2 matchup against the Dodgers on Thursday. Braun explained why, telling Adam McCalvy of MLB.com and other reporters that he has been dealing with a strained left oblique since Sunday.

Not only could this injury end Braun’s season (especially with the Brewers facing elimination against what looks like the majors’ best team), but it might conclude his career in Milwaukee. The 36-year-old outfielder/designated hitter has a $15MM mutual option for 2021, but the Brewers are likely to buy it out for $4MM on the heels of a regular season in which he slashed a career-worst .233/.281/.488 with eight home runs in 141 plate appearances.

If this is the last we’ve seen of Braun as a Brewer, it’ll go down as a memorable tenure. The 2005 first-round pick is one of the most productive players in franchise history, having batted .296/.358/.532 with 352 homers and 216 steals across 7,340 PA. Braun has also won a Rookie of the Year, gone to the All-Star Game six times and taken home an NL MVP as a Brewer, though many see his MVP victory as tainted because of a failed drug test that led to a 65-game suspension in 2013.

Regardless of opinions over Braun’s career, and no matter if he’s a Brewer in 2021, it seems he wants to keep playing next season. Braun stated in July he’s “more likely” than not to continue his career.

2020 is the final guaranteed year of Ryan Braun’s contract, and the longtime Brewers slugger hinted last January that he could potentially retire at season’s end.  However, in comments today to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak and other reporters Braun said “I feel like it’s more likely that I play another year than I anticipated a few months back.”

Both the shorter 60-game schedule and the ability to serve as a designated hitter are contributing to Braun’s mindset.  “For me personally, playing a smaller number of games is something that’s beneficial,” Braun said, and “where I’m at in my career, it’s very appealing to me to have the option to DH for a decent percentage of my at-bats.”  Though no decision has been made about whether or not the DH will remain in the National League beyond the 2020 season, it has been widely speculated that MLB could adopt the DH across both leagues in 2021 pending another single-year deal between the owners and players, and then from 2022 and beyond depending on the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

A universal DH would obviously be a boon to older players like Braun, who turns 37 in November.  An outfielder for much of his career, Braun has missed his share of time to the injured list due to back and leg injuries, and was originally slated for part-time first base duty (as well as some time in the outfield) for the Brew Crew back when the 2020 season was expected to proceed as scheduled.

Now, Braun projects to get the bulk of Milwaukee’s DH at-bats, which could perhaps lead to a late-career surge.  While Braun’s injuries have somewhat limited his production over the last three seasons, he has still been an above-average bat (111 wRC+, 112 OPS+) over 1380 PA from 2017-19, hitting .270/.331/.488 with 59 home runs.

If Braun does want to play next year, of course, the next hurdle could be in finding a team.  Braun and the Brewers share a $15MM mutual option on his services for 2021 and, like most mutual options, it is a near-certainty to be declined.  While the Brewers wouldn’t want Braun at a $15MM price tag, however, Rosiak notes that the two sides could work out a less expensive one-year contract for Braun to return for his 15th Major League season.  The x-factor is the complete unknown that is the 2020-21 free agent class, as it remains to be seen how teams will operate in the wake of a season that saw such a massive decline in revenues, and whether non-superstar free agents will see a real squeeze on contracts.