Leading OFF
Jan. 25: The day that changed Brewers’ present and future
Long before the Milwaukee Brewers made their first serious trade proposal to the Miami Marlins last January, Christian Yelich had been coveted by general manager David Stearns and his staff.
“He’s a player we probably talked about within the first three weeks of my arrival,” said Stearns, who replaced Doug Melvin as Brewers general manager after the 2015 season as part of the team’s large-scale rebuilding initiative.
“He’s a player who had been on our minds for quite some time. He was already a pretty good player in 2015. But I don’t think we’re unique in targeting players like that. There were plenty of other teams that had a similar high level of interest in him, and probably dated back a number of years as well.”
Indeed, those of Yelich’s ilk almost always make the lists of players whom teams would like to acquire. Young and under control for years. Talented, productive and still developing. A contract that would not break the bank.
The Marlins, who selected the left-handed-hitting outfielder in the first round of the 2010 draft out of Westlake (California) High School, knew a good thing when they saw one. After Yelich’s first full season in the majors in 2014, the club signed him to a seven-year, $49.75 million extension with a 2022 club option for an additional $15 million.
Miami certainly didn’t sign Yelich to a long extension with the intent of trading him. But when new ownership bought the club after the 2017 season and decided a fire sale was in order to get finances straightened out, Yelich no longer was an absolute keeper.
After the Marlins traded stars Dee Gordon, Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna, the die was cast. Yelich’s agent, Joe Longo, stated in a national interview in mid-January that the relationship between Yelich and the team was “irretrievably broken.”
For public consumption, Marlins President Michael Hill insisted Yelich’s feelings would play no role in a possible trade, but word was disseminated to other clubs he was available. Realizing the bidding would be brisk, the Brewers pounced and made what they considered a strong offer.
Stearns put his No. 1 prospect on the table, outfielder Lewis Brinson, as well as two others from his top 10, outfielder Monte Harrison and infielder Isan Diaz, and developing young pitcher Jordan Yamamoto.
On Jan. 25, the Marlins agreed to the trade.
“We were fortunate that we had players that Miami liked, that we had a deep enough system that we felt comfortable dealing from,” Stearns said.
Not that the deal was accomplished overnight. Once the Marlins made clear their intention to cut payroll and reboot their roster, Stearns kept in touch on Yelich. In the early weeks of the offseason, however, he wasn’t certain Miami would part with a 26-year-old player with contractual control for five more years.
“The Marlins had a lot they were trying to accomplish over the course of the offseason,” Stearns said. “We did our best to stay as persistent as we possibly could.
“Negotiations go through stages. You need to find some common ground. At the front end of any particular negotiation, sometimes the common ground seems farther apart. We stayed persistent; the Marlins stayed persistent.”
Uncertain if the Yelich talks would result in an agreement, the Brewers were conducting a parallel pursuit of free agent outfielder Lorenzo Cain, who began his career with Milwaukee but developed into an allstar in Kansas City after being dealt to the Royals in December 2010 in the Zack Greinke trade. In the early stages, Stearns was more optimistic about a positive result with Cain than with Yelich.
“We didn’t know whether we were going to be able to accomplish either or both,” Stearns recalled. “Once I got a feeling that we might be able to get one, it encouraged me to get the other. Those were different kinds of negotiations.”
Much to the surprise of the Brewers, the Yelich and Cain negotiations reached the finish line almost simultaneously. Within an hour of announcing they traded for Yelich, news broke that Cain agreed to a fiveyear, $80 million deal. The Brewers didn’t confirm it until the next day because Cain had to pass a physical exam, but the 1-2 outfield punch was the talk of the baseball world in an otherwise quiet month for major acquisitions.
Stearns would like to say he’s good enough to orchestrate the completion of two significant acquisitions in concert with each other but admitted it was more coincidence than anything.
“It certainly was not planned,” he said. “I do think on that day we recognized, for better or worse, that we had just made a fairly significant investment in the franchise’s future. We recognized that the success of this team and the next couple of years were going to be largely dependent on the success of these moves.”
The additions of Yelich, who can play all three outfield spots, and Cain, a natural center fielder who specializes in getting on base, have been an unqualified success in 2018. Cain continued to be one of the most wellrounded players in the majors, making contributions in the field and at the plate almost daily while making a tightknit clubhouse even stronger with his affable, unassuming demeanor.
A huge second half pushed Yelich among the leaders in every important offensive category, making him a legitimate candidate for National League MVP as the Brewers entered the week fighting for an NL wild-card spot and with an outside shot at an NL Central title.
“Both of these players have exceeded expectations,” Stearns said. “We knew these were talented players, but they have been about as good as it gets.”