Milwaukee Brewers: Rickie Weeks Signs Multi-Year Extension with The Brew Crew

The Milwaukee Brewers aren't done making headlines yet.

Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that Rickie Weeks has agreed to a multi-year extension with the Milwaukee Brewers.

According to early reports, the contract is estimated at five years for $50 million with the fifth year (2015) being an option year.

Weeks was scheduled for an arbitration case on Thursday and filed for $7.2 million, while the Brewers offered $4.85 million. Early estimates suggest that the first year of the contract would pay Weeks $6 million, or somewhere around the midpoint of each side's initial offer.

The contract puts Weeks amongst the elite second basemen in the league in terms of salary, with only Dan Uggla, Chase Utley, Brian Roberts and Dustin Pedroia scheduled to make more in the 2011 MLB season.

Of the five, only Weeks, Uggla and Pedroia have contracts extending past the 2013 season.

Rickie Weeks has had an up-and-down career to this point, due in large part to injuries. Prior to the 2010 season, Weeks had never played in more than 129 games in a season, while playing in an average of 95 games over his first five full seasons.

Weeks finally put his talent on display for a full season in 2010, when he posted a .269 BA, .464 SLG, 112 R, 29 HR, 83 RBI and 11 SB from the leadoff position.

The Milwaukee Brewers are hoping to see more of the same from Weeks throughout the extent of the contract.

If Weeks is able to consistently perform at his 2010 levels or better, the extension will go down as an absolute steal for the team, as Dan Uggla just signed a five-year extension with the Atlanta Braves for $62 million.

While Uggla has certainly been more consistent than Weeks, he is three years older and plays the majority of his games at Turner Field.

Multi-year extensions prior to free agency are becoming a trend for the Milwaukee Brewers. In 2008, the team signed Ryan Braun to an eight-year, $45 million contract, and in 2010, they signed both Corey Hart and Yovani Gallardo to extensions.

With the Weeks deal completed, the Milwaukee Brewers have all of their core players signed for the 2011 MLB season and are now in prime position to compete for the NL Central.