Busy day for Brewers: decisions made on three players

The Brewers made decisions Friday on the contracts of three key players from recent Brewers teams.

The team decided to pick up the contract option for 2015 for starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo. They'll pay the 28-year-old $13 million next season. Gallardo is now the franchise's all-time leader in strikeouts, and his 89 career wins ranks fifth in Brewers history. Gallardo had several seasons with 200 or more strikeouts earlier in his career, but has seen his velocity and strikeout totals decline the last few seasons.

Rickie Weeks' Brewers career has ended after the team declined his 2015 option, which would have been worth $14.5 million. Weeks is 32 and made an All-Star team in his career, but has suffered through three straight years of offensive futility and was relegated to a part time role behind Scooter Gennett in 2014. Weeks has been with the Brewers franchise since they made him the second overall selection in the 2003 draft.

Aramis Ramirez has his own decision to make after the Brewers picked up their part of a mutual 2015 option for $14 million. Ramirez has three days to exercise his option and stay with the team, or decline and become a free agent. Injuries and advancing age have cut into the third baseman's production the last two seasons - he hit 27 homers in 2012 but has hit just 27 in the two years since - but Ramirez remains an asset with the bat and the glove at age 36, and he was named a National League All-Star in 2014 after a strong first half.