Oh, man. That rumor the other night about the Brewers being close on a deal in their outfield? Well, I hope it isn’t (1) still active, and (2) this:
Source : Brewers have put together a trade offer & have shown strong interest Marlins OF Christian Yelich. Other teams remain in the mix.
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) January 23, 2018
The Brewers, who already have an overload in their outfield (but could use some of that talent in other deals), would stand to benefit as much as any team out there by adding a player like Yelich, who is not only a quality outfielder with a leadoff-caliber bat, he’s also on a deal that provides cheap team control for the next half-decade. Oh, and he’s 26.
To be sure, any package the Brewers send the Marlins for Yelich would be substantial. But the Brewers have such a strong farm system that they can absorb that loss, and they could do so in a way that continues their build-up of competitiveness, which kicked off last year.
In other words, I can’t imagine a version of a Yelich-to-Milwaukee trade that doesn’t significantly improve the Brewers’ chances in the NL Central in 2018 (and beyond). Moreover, by adding a top position player like Yelich who doesn’t carry a big salary, the Brewers may be even more incentivized to go big on a pitcher like Yu Darvish. They could also shop other outfielder(s), if not included in the Yelich deal, to pick up a pitcher.
Anyone else suddenly feel like the dramatic uptick in Brewers-related rumors this week are all kinda interrelated?
Not that anything is a done deal here, as Mish, himself notes that other teams are still involved. During the Giancarlo Stanton trade saga, Mish was pretty plugged in, so you’re gonna want to give his reporting on this some credence.
If the Brewers were to pull something off with Yelich, it would be the second stud outfielder sent into the NL Central this winter by the Marlins, who already traded Marcell Ozuna to the Cardinals (for a song).