Braun leaning toward retirement as he ponders his future

<p>PHOENIX &mdash; Ryan Braun says he’s strongly leaning toward retirement, but the Milwaukee Brewers’ home-run leader isn’t ready to make any decision regarding his future.</p>
<p>Braun visited the Brewers’ spring training site Monday and said he hasn’t picked up a bat since the end of the 2020 season. The 2011 NL MVP became a free agent when <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mlb-baseball-ryan-braun-milwaukee-640235570672257eaabce4de6b3dd279">the Brewers declined to exercise a $15 million mutual option </a> in his contract last October.</p>
<p>“I’m strongly leaning in the direction of being done as an active player,” the 37-year-old Braun said. “But I think you can always push that decision back. I’m still young enough, still working out, still in shape. If something were to change, I might as well leave that door open as long as possible.”</p>
<p>Braun has spent his entire major league career with the Brewers and said that “I can’t foresee a scenario in which I play for any other major league team.”</p>
<p>Last season, Braun batted a career-low .233 with seven homers and 27 RBIs in 39 games while dealing with a back issue. He came on strong late in the season and had a .958 OPS in September.</p>
<p>His back issues prevented him from playing in the Brewers’ <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mlb-luis-urias-new-york-yankees-san-diego-padres-los-angeles-dodgers-fea790b38ece5acade6458b39a4ea67a">first-round playoff loss</a> to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/world-series-los-angeles-dodgers-win-3f933853d5b790b87788142fc58adbd9">eventual World Series-champion Los Angeles Dodgers.</a></p>
<p>“Once the regular season starts and I’m able to watch some games, I feel like that’s when I’ll actually miss the game itself,” Braun said. “I’m kind of interested to see how I feel, what it feels like. Obviously I’ve never experienced it before. Time will tell.”</p>
<p>Braun made his debut with Milwaukee in 2007. <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIL/leaders_bat_50.shtml">His 352 homers as a Brewer are the most of anyone in franchise history. </a></p>
<p>He ranks second among all Brewers in career RBIs (1,154), extra-base hits (809), total bases (3,525) and doubles (408). He ranks third in runs (1,080), hits (1,963), triples (49), stolen bases (216) and walks (586).</p>
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