House That Hank Built
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Atlanta Braves: How have recent MVPs produced after age 34

By Seth Carter

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 23: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Atlanta Braves singles against the Washington Nationals during the second inning at Nationals Park on June 23, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 23: Josh Donaldson #20 of the Atlanta Braves singles against the Washington Nationals during the second inning at Nationals Park on June 23, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /
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Ryan Braun (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

Ryan Braun

Won an MVP at age 28 in 2012. He led the league with 108 runs and slashed .319/.391/.595.  He smashed 41 homers and added 30 stolen bases.

35 and Beyond – Braun played his age-35 season in 2019. He played in 144 games and slashed .285/.343/.505. He had 22 homers and 31 doubles in 459 at-bats. Even at his advanced age he still stole 11 bags and was only caught once.

Compare and Contrast- While his numbers were still very solid, his .285/.343/.505 were all below his career marks of .298/.360/.533.

Braun earned a fairly reasonable $19 million last year. If he’s still slugging .505 at age 35, you have to be pleased. 2019 was his highest rWAR of his past three seasons. Braun’s 144 appearances were his most since his age-28 MVP season.

The problem the Braves face is they aren’t getting away with paying Donaldson $19 million. Recent reports have the number between $25-30 million per year.

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Josh Hamilton (Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images) /

Josh Hamilton

Josh Hamilton won the MVP in 2010. He played his last Major League game at age 34 in 2015.

Knee injuries derailed his career and 2017 he reinjured his knee while attempting to come back from reconstructive surgery. His knees had endured too many surgeries at that point, and his career was over.

Hamilton had a total of 11 surgeries on his knee by February of 2017. The last season he played more than 90 games was in 2013.

In 2016 and 2017 he still collected $28,410,000 million each season…without playing Major League baseball. When his comeback bid ended for good in 2017, he was still the highest-paid player on the Angels despite not playing a game for them since 2014.

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