Milwaukee Brewers: Is Christian Yelich a trade target?

The Milwaukee Brewers have one of the deepest Minor League systems in all of baseball. GM David Stearns has been exploring every avenue to improve this team and has the assets to make any move he wants. Should he call about Miami Marlins outfielder Christian Yelich?

Today Miami Marlins OF Christian Yelich has reportedly demanded a trade. Outfield is arguably the Milwaukee Brewers deepest position. However, the team should at least kick the tires on Yelich.

Yelich, signed through the 2021 season with an option for 2022, will fetch a hefty price on the trade market. He’s still young, only 26, and provides premier defense in center field. He has really only just begun to scratch the surface of his potential and has the look of a superstar already.

Why would Milwaukee be interested?

Although Milwaukee Brewers have highly touted prospects Lewis Brinson and Brett Phillips ready for Big League action, Yelich is intriguing. If Milwaukee acquired Yelich, it would probably mean Brinson or Phillips is on the way out. Yelich is already established, and would shore up the middle of this defense.

Yelich instantly makes the starting lineup more potent as well. He is a career .290 hitter with good speed who can change the game in a number of different ways. He’s an on-base machine with a career .369 on-base percentage, profiling well at the top of the lineup.

However, he does strike out a lot. The only season he has had less than 100 strikeouts was his rookie season. He had 66 strikeouts is only 62 games that year. The saving grace for Yelich is that he takes his walks too.

He has averaged 76 walks a season to this point in his career, setting the table for the middle of the order. With the Milwaukee Brewers, Yelich would fill a huge need in the lead off spot. That’s a spot in the lineup Milwaukee has struggled with for years. Yelich would push this offense to another level.

The reason Yelich won’t be a Brewer

The aforementioned presence of Brinson and Phillips make this trade unlikely to happen. While Milwaukee could afford whatever cost the Marlins have in mind, parting with one of these two would be hard.

Yelich is good, possibly great, but he is not the player that puts this team into contention. The Milwaukee Brewers need to stay focused on their future and continue to develop their own players.

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Furthermore, the Brewers need pitching, not more outfielders. Milwaukee will have to trade assets better used acquiring a pitcher in any deal for Yelich. The Brewers really just aren’t a fit for Yelich, and it’s highly unlikely he’s relocating to the 414 any time soon.