Report: Yelich, Brewers close on $200M-plus deal

The Milwaukee Brewers and the 2018 National League MVP Christian Yelich are close to an agreement on a new contract worth more than $200 million, major league sources

tell

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

The deal is reportedly for seven years and an announcement is anticipated for Friday at the Brewers spring-training facility in Maryvale, Arizona.

It is not clear whether the new contract will supersede the remaining two guaranteed years and club option left on Yelich's current deal, whether it will amount to an extension further extending the Brewers' control, or whether it will combine elements of both concepts, according to Rosenthal.

Yelich, 28, currently is owed $12.5 million this season and $14 million next season with a $15 million club option. His new deal would figure to put him among the game's highest-paid players,with an average annual salary in the $30 million to $35 million range.

His new contract almost certainly will dwarf the largest previous contract in Brewers history, outfielder Ryan Braun's five-year, $105 million deal that runs through the end of the upcoming season.

The Brewers cut payroll in the off season, in part due to the losses of Yasmani Grandal, who signed a four-year, $73 million contract with the Chicago White Sox, and Mike Moustakas, who signed a four-year, $64 million deal with the Cincinnati Reds.

They instead will build around Yelich, who will be their centerpiece not just in the near future, but long-term as well.