In sight of losing Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers add Aramis Ramirez with three-year deal -MLB Update
The Milwaukee Brewers had it all going wrong by not being able to add any big names during the 2011 Major League Baseball (MLB) offseason and when they learned about potentially losing their National League MVP, Ryan Braun, to a 50 game suspension due to
a reported positive drug test, they had to do something fast.
Milwaukee could not wait any longer and signed on rival team free agent, former third baseman of the Chicago Cubs, Aramis Ramirez, to a mega three-year contract worth an estimated $36 million on Monday, December 12, 2011.
"We've been talking about him for some time," said Brewers general manager, Doug Melvin. "He had a couple of other opportunities, but we stayed with it. We met again with Kinzer at the winter meetings (last week in Dallas)."
Ryan Braun, their superstar pitcher, is set to defend himself in a hearing scheduled for later on in January but is preparation for the worst; he could also be facing a 50 game suspension for a positive drug test which he says is entirely untrue.
The Brewers also had the face the reality of possibly losing one of their top first baseman, Prince Fielder, who is at the moment a free agent and is looking for an agreement around the league with a number of teams and is not expected to return to Milwaukee
for the next season.
Aramis Ramirez is a smart one, something which he proved through his agent after the signing, Paul Kinzer, by describing his decision to sign on with Milwaukee one which was based on where the team would be headed next season and with whom he would stand
out the most.
''That was one of his criteria,'' Kinzer said. ''There were about four teams that he liked that were contenders, and Milwaukee was at the top of his list.''
Now that Ramirez is booked on the Milwaukee team for the next three-years, he can now focus on further developing himself as a better player to be more noticeable in the upcoming seasons and could potentially take the Brewers to the next level.
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