Wow, pretty heavy assessment, but it's hard to disagree! He so botched that presser last month that it's hard to trust him to have anything close to a reasonable, rational approach to much going forward. Beyond all that, though, I think his strategy in the near term will be to weigh "win window" with perceived readiness of prospects who might replace the big money guys (shades of a decade ago, but only a little!) to determine just how far he opens his wallet.

Well, taxes, investments, etc are way above my pay grade! Any word, in Brewer land, from the man himself on why he did it this way? We all seem to be making inferences and guesses, and I'd love to hear from Yelich, first-hand! Keep in mind, Christian has scads of other revenue streams, particularly from endorsements (shoes, gloves, bats, ball cards, etc), and only Milwaukee residents know how many local and regional commercials he's on!

I appreciate your input, and in no way was I implying YOU didn't read the article---I just know my experience, in general, here on reddit, and I just wanted to make sure we were having a conversation where both participants had read more than eight words.

All your points are certainly valid, and I can't argue against any of them. I think we still come back to why Christian did this, against popular thought, financial stability, MLBPA's understood agenda, etc. While not there when pen hit paper, I think it's safe to say no one held a gun (however figuratively) to Christian's head to do this.

While the Brewer deal may not, ultimately, be a widespread blueprint, as it were, it'll be interesting to see if ANY other player goes Christian's route, for one, some, or many of his personal reasons, whatever they may be.

After all, a week ago, we couldn't have foreseen ANY player doing this, including and even especially Yelich. As George said in the piece, "Time will tell"!

It's not against the player's interest if the player agrees to the deferment. If you read the article (and not just the title, as I've noticed many, if not most, redditors do---before, of course, down-voting the piece!), you'll see that I addressed the notion that in Christian's scenario, the Brewers, now, get the chance to invest this player's salary for 22 years. Christian doesn't seem to have a problem with that, hence his signature on the contract.

I liken it to a "hometown discount" a player might sign. No argument that it's "not in the player's interest," but there's no law saying the player absolutely HAS to take the absolute HIGHEST salary each and EVERY time. It, then, is the player signalling his desire to stay in the community, thanking the fans, if not the team, for that little "break."

He could actually be both. I know nothing of his heritage or lineage, and far be it from me to guess! But, point taken.