Here are the biggest contracts in Brewers history

The narrative is that too many of Milwaukee’s favorite baseball players get away.

The most painful exodus was Paul Molitor signing with Toronto after the 1992 season. Greg Vaughn, Richie Sexson, Carlos Lee and Zack Greinke all were traded before reaching free agency when it was clear the Brewers would eventually be outbid. Others who did get to free agency -- like CC Sabathia, Prince Fielder and, just this winter, Yasmani Grandal -- all out-priced Milwaukee.

Not everybody left, however. Before losing Molitor to Toronto, the Brewers managed to keep him and Robin Yount together for 15 years, breaking the bank in the winter of 1989-90 for a three-year, $9.6 million pact to keep Yount from signing with the Angels. Ryan Braun stayed for his prime years. Ben Sheets and Yovani Gallardo stuck around, too.

Now, Christian Yelich is doing the same, prompting Milwaukee-raised Brewers manager Craig Counsell to push back against the narrative.

“We can go to every franchise and name players who have left,” Counsell said. “I think ownership here even before Mark [Attanasio, the Brewers’ principal owner] has really made that -- Mr. Selig kept two Hall of Famers in uniform here for a long time. Then I think Mark kept a really good player in Ryan Braun in uniform for a really long time. I don’t think you’re ever going to bat 1.000.”

Here’s a look at how the richest deals in Brewers history panned out:

1) Christian Yelich
Nine-year, $215 million contract
Signed: TBD

It remains to be seen whether the Brewers and Yelich are tearing up the two remaining guaranteed years of his current deal and announcing a new nine-year contract, or whether they will announce a seven-year extension. Either way, it will shatter the club record. Yelich will be 36 after the final guaranteed season of the contract, which is also expected to include an option for his age-37 season in 2029.

• 'Love him': Crew ebullient about Yelich news

2) Ryan Braun
Five-year, $105 million extension
Signed: April 2011

Ken Rosenthal, the MLB Network insider who broke the news of Yelich’s extension, wrote a column for The Athletic this week in which he referred to Braun’s extension as “a mistake.” Rosenthal cited Braun’s PED suspension in 2013, and some Brewers fans get frustrated when Braun misses time with minor injuries. But Braun should get credit for remaining productive deep into his 30s while some of the players from his stellar 2005 Draft class have either faded or fallen out of baseball entirely. He has posted an OPS north of .800 in every September/October since 2014.

3) Lorenzo Cain
Five-year, $80 million free-agent contract
Signed: January 2018

Rosenthal was similarly skeptical about Lorenzo Cain’s contract, writing that it was “starting to look like trouble.” But it’s too early to say definitively whether it was a sound or unsound decision to award the richest free-agent contract in club history to a speed player going into his age-32 season.

4) Matt Garza
Four-year, $50 million free-agent contract
Signed: January 2014

The Brewers made a public relations splash by announcing an agreement with Garza during their offseason fanfest in 2014, but it proved a bust. He had a 3.64 ERA in the first season but was limited to 163 1/3 innings. In the subsequent three seasons from 2015-17, Garza was 18-31 with a 5.10 ERA.

5) Braun
Eight-year, $45 million extension
Signed: May 2008

Braun traded future earnings potential for security when he signed a contract that set an MLB record for a player with less than one year of Major League service. He was the reigning National League Rookie of the Year at the time.

6) Jeff Suppan
Four-year, $42 million free-agent contract
Signed December 2006

One of the most polarizing contracts in franchise history was finalized on Christmas Eve. Jeff Suppan was 29-36 with a 5.08 ERA in a Brewers uniform, and while he did some of his best work down the stretch in 2008 when the team was chasing its first postseason appearance in 26 years, many fans are more likely to remember a disastrous start against the Phillies in Game 4 of the NL Division Series.

Tied for 7) Ben Sheets
Four-year, $38.5 million extension
Signed April 2005

Ben Sheets showed up in shorts and a T-shirt for the press conference announcing what was at the time the richest contract in club history and a significant step for the Brewers under new owner Mark Attanasio. Injuries held Sheets back during the ensuing seasons, but when he was right, there was no one who was more fun to watch on the mound. Sheets was an All-Star in 2007 and ‘08 (he’s still the only Brewers pitcher to start an All-Star Game) and was having a fantastic season for the postseason-bound Brewers in ‘08 when he injured his elbow in September.

Tied for 7) Rickie Weeks
Four-year, $38.5 million extension
Signed: February 2011

The Brewers signed Weeks on the eve of an arbitration hearing, adding his name next to Braun, Yovani Gallardo and Corey Hart on a list of home-grown players signed to long-term contracts. Weeks was coming off his best season, a 29-homer, .830 OPS effort in 2010, when he led the Majors with 754 plate appearances. He was an All-Star in ‘11 but topped 500 at-bats in only one of the four seasons of the contract.

9) Aramis Ramirez
Three-year, $36 million free-agent contract
Signed: December 2011

The Brewers were facing Prince Fielder’s imminent departure in free agency and a potential suspension for Ryan Braun when they inked former Cubs third baseman Ramirez to a three-year guarantee that wound up being $50 million deal when the sides each exercised a mutual option for a fourth season. Ramirez made good on the deal, posting an .815 OPS in a Brewers uniform, including a 5.4 fWAR season in 2012.

10) Kyle Lohse
Three-year, $33 million free-agent contract
Signed: March 2013

There may have been an argument to pull back a bit and restock the farm system, Attanasio has since said, but his instinct was to be aggressive and bring in the 34-year-old Lohse, who gave the Brewers good production in the first two years of the deal (3.45 ERA in 30-plus starts each of 2013-14), before struggling in 2014 and winding up in the bullpen.

Other $20 million-plus deals

Yovani Gallardo
Five year, $30.1 million extension in April 2010

Randy Wolf
Three-year, $29.75 million free-agent contract in December 2009

Corey Hart
Three-year, $26.5 million extension in August 2010

Carlos Gomez
Three-year, $24 million extension in March 2013

Bill Hall
Four-year, $24 million extension in February 2007

Geoff Jenkins
Three year, $23 million extension in March 2004

Jeffrey Hammonds
Four-year, $22.2 million free-agent contract in December 2000

Avisaíl García
Two-year, $20 million free-agent contract in December 2019

Jeromy Burnitz
Two-year, $20 million extension in March 2001