April 21st, 2011 is a significant date in the history of the Milwaukee Brewers. On that day, it was announced that Ryan Braun had agreed to a five-year, $105 mil contract extension, the richest outlay ever made by the team on an individual player. Braun, who was 27 at the time, still had four years remaining on the pre-arbitration extension that he had inked in 2008, meaning that he had committed to spending more than a decade in baseball’s smallest media market.
Last week, Braun’s deal that was signed so long ago came to an unceremonious end when the Brewers declined their half of the 2021 mutual option, opting instead to pay a $4 mil buyout.