The Milwaukee Brewers signed Rookie of the Year Ryan Braun to an eight-year, $45 million contract.

The contract includes this season and a seven-year extension, meaning Braun will not be eligible for free agency until after the 2015 season, general manager Doug Melvin announced Thursday.

At some point, there won't be any free agents or arbitration eligible players good enough to drive up prices.   I starting to wonder if this will change the way the union looks at the current free agent structure.  This has a real chance of actually driving down prices. If Ryan Braun is playing for $6 million a year, why should you give a free agent $20 million.  Braun's a better player!  It's only taken 30 years, but it appears the owners finally figured out how to use the system to their advantage.

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