I do not understand why so many think that $19 or $20 million to Braun per year isn't going to affect other deals, trades, acquisitions. That kind of money will surely put the dampers on spending big money for a free agent TOR pitcher when we get closer to a player like that being a difference maker. 20 million may not be a lot to large market teams, but to us, that is 1/5 of our total salary. Right now, this season, yes, that money means nothing, but if it comes down to signing a big time free agent on a multi year contract as soon as next season, you can bet that 20 million is going to factor into those kind of decisions. That 20 million could go to a player to get us over the hump, but having it tied up in an aging decrepit Ryan Braun has to hurt our chances. Without owing that kind of dead money to Braun, it could also stop us from signing 2 TOR pitchers, and may limit us to only one. 20 million is a ton of money to us, I just don't understand how anyone thinks owing that kind of money to an often DL bound player won't strap us.