Monday, April 25, 2011

Game Twenty Two: Reds 9, Brewers 5

Box Score

Jeepers creepers. I'm tempted to take back every nice thing I've written about Chris Narveson, but considering the Reds own the Brewers I'll give him a pass. For those of you keeping score at home, Cincinnati has won 19 of their last 22 against Milwaukee. We're on the brink of this rivalry becoming the NL Central's version of the Harlem Globetrotters and Washington Generals.

Not much to say about the game. You tend to lose when you give up 7 runs in the first three innings and tonight was no exception. So instead of writing about the game I have a quick thought on the Ryan Braun extension.

There are some voices of dissent around the extension. You can read some counterpoints here and here. The gist of the dissent is as follows: Ryan Braun will not be a free agent until after 2015, so why extend him now? Extending him now exposes you to the risk of injury. If Braun's body breaks down between now and 2015, you're stuck with an albatross of a contract. So why take the risk?

My counter: Braun approached the Brewers with the idea of an extension; that's why. For the Brewers to respond by essentially saying "Let's talk about this in 2014" would make it easier to re-sign Braun and it would not help the Brewers sign/re-sign other players. This is a much greater risk than injury. Even if this extension turns out to be a total disaster, I would rather the Brewers' management be able to work with players rather than estrange them to the point where they can't wait to leave.

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