Christian Yelich was the 2018 National League MVP, and he finished second in the race last year. He’s 27 years old, and he had two years $27.75 million remaining on his contract before he hit free agency. Because the Milwaukee Brewers stepped up, Yelich will not reach free agency.

After his back-to-back MVP caliber seasons, Yelich and the Brewers agreed to a seven year $190 million contract extension. That voids the existing buyout on his current deal meaning Yelich is now signed for nine years $215 million. That is an AAV of $23.9 million on the total deal and $27.1 million on the extension. Notably, there are deferrals.

Quite arguably, the 28 year old Yelich is the best left fielder in the game. Over the past two seasons, he has averaged a 7.3 WAR, and he has a 171 OPS+. His cumulative WAR is the fourth best in the game over the last two years, and his OPS+ is second to just Mike Trout.

Apparently, the value of that is $27.1 million per year. At least on an extension. In terms of a free agent deal, we can reasonably anticipate Mookie Betts will eclipse that. For his part, Betts has won an American League MVP award, and given the applicable two year window, his WAR surpasses Yelich and is second only to Trout.

This is very pertinent information for the New York Mets as Michael Conforto will be a free agent in two years much like how Yelich could’ve been.

Conforto is a year younger than Yelich, and he has not been making quite the same money as Yelich as he never negotiated a contract buying out his arbitration years. That is not surprising as that is not how his agent, Scott Boras, typically does business.

Over the past two years, Conforto has been worth 6.4 WAR total, which is less than the 7.3 WAR Yelich averaged. Part of that is Conforto’s returning from shoulder surgery a little too soon. Part of that is Conforto being a different hitter against left-handed pitchers. Both are factors in Conforto having a 125 OPS+ to Yelich’s 171.

The difference in ballparks also are part of the equation, and there is something to be said about the rumors circling around the Brewers.

Overall, when you look at the two players, Yelich has been the better and more complete hitter so far in his career. Of course, when both were in the National League East, Conforto was the better hitter and more complete player.

Conforto is still a good defender with a 5 OAA in 2018 and a 6 OAA in 2019 . For his part, Yelich was at a 4 OAA in 2018 and a -4 in 2019. That could also be an indicator of how each player is going to age.

All told, Yelich signed an extension where he is getting paid roughly $3.7 million per WAR he has put up on average as a member of the Brewers. If a similar offer was made to Conforto, using just his 3.5 WAR in 2019, he could receive a deal worth roughly $13 million per year. Honestly, that feels light even if you were talking a 10 year $130 million deal, which you doubt either side would do.

It’s also noteworthy the $3.7 million per WAR is less than the roughly $8+ million 1.0 WAR is worth on the free agent market. But that’s just the way it goes. Typically speaking, players who sign extensions usually sign at a discount, especially top end players like Yelich.

At $8 million per WAR, Conforto would receive a deal worth $28 million per year. That would put him ahead of the AAV Yelich received. While that may not sound right, it is likely in the neighborhood of what Conforto COULD receive if he has a big 2020, and he was a free agent.

In the end, it appears a seven year extension, buying out two of Conforto’s arbitration years, could be achieved if it is somewhere in the range of the $15 – $28 million per year. Perhaps, you could see a deal staggered across the spectrum to reach an AAV withing those parameters and/or with a player opt out.

Given his agent and the indications he may age better than Yelich, it is very reasonable to assume an extension for Conforto would look very similar to the one Yelich just signed. If Conforto is the leader and star we have seen him be at times during his Mets tenure, this could be a deal which works for both sides. Time will tell if that is something which can be accomplished.