Brewers History: Milwaukee lands franchise player and future MVP

January 25th, 2018 may, without exaggeration, be one of the most important dates in Milwaukee Brewers franchise history. It is the day that can be pointed to as kickstarting what may go down as be referred to as the "Golden Age" of Brewers baseball. It is the day that the Brewers acquired one of the faces of the franchise, the man who would go on to win the 2018 NL MVP Award, Christian Yelich.

At the time, the Brewers were coming off a very fun 2017 season, one that saw the team back in the playoff hunt. Just a few years prior, after a colossal collapse at the end of the 2014 season, and disastrous start to the 2015 campaign, Milwaukee fired manager Ron Roenicke, who had managed the Brewers to the 2011 NLCS before falling short to the eventual World Series champs. The team hired former player and (then) fan favorite, Craig Counsell, to lead the rebuilding efforts, and effectively traded just about anyone who was anyone outside of Ryan Braun. Milwaukee surprised the league in 2017, contending for a playoff spot all the way until the final weekend of the season, before ultimately coming up one game shy of the Colorado Rockies for the NL Wild Card.

Still, many of they pieces were in place. Eric Thames and Jesus Aguilar took turns belting homeruns from the 1B position. Orlando Arcia was coming into his own after being one of the top prospects in all of baseball. Milwaukee also had the Mayor of Ding Dong City, Travis Shaw at 3rd, and Eric Sogard playing just about everywhere. Ryan Braun led the way for an otherwise very young Brewers outfield, headlined by Brett Phillips, Keon Broxton, and Domingo Santana. As for pitching, Chase Anderson and Zach Davies led a scrappy rotation that was backended with a loaded bullpen with the emergence of Josh Hader, Corey Knebel, and Jeremy Jeffress.

As the calendar turned to 2018, the only move the team had made was trading Dylan Baker to the Dodgers for cash. Brewers on Deck was scheduled for January 28th, 2018, and fans were wondering what the team would do to bolster the lineup and return to the postseason. January 25th proved to provide all the answers.

On this day seven years ago, the Brewers acquired Christian Yelich

First was the blockbuster deal that sent Lewis Brinson, Isan Diaz, Monte Harrison, and Jordan Yamamoto to the Miami Marlins in return for budding superstar Christian Yelich. Yelich had been one of the standouts on the 2017 Team USA World Baseball Classic roster that won gold, and had previously won a Gold Glove in 2014 and a Silver Slugger in 2016.

Then, just hours later, the team brought Lorenzo Cain back home from Kansas City, after having traded him to the Royals in 2011 for the services of Zack Grienke. Between stints, Cain became one of the league's elite defenders, and was a core piece on the Royals teams that made consecutive World Series appearances in 2014 and 2015, winning the latter.

The rest is history. To that point the Milwaukee Brewers had only made the MLB Postseason 4 times in its 49 years in the league, with back to back appearances in 1981 and 1982 in the American League, a 2008 National League Wild Card winner, and the NL Central champs in 2011. Since making the trade, the Brewers have only missed the postseason once, coming up a game shy of the final Wild Card spot in 2022.

Lorenzo Cain was instrumental in the first couple years of his deal, providing energy, veteran leadership, while receiving MVP votes in that initial 2018 season and a Gold Glove in 2019. Unfortunately injuries, opting out of the 2020 COVID shortened season would, and age would lead the Brewers to releasing him in the 2022 season before retiring with the Royals in March of 2023.

Yelich soared as the new face of the Brew Crew. After receiving an All Star nod in 2018, Christian Yelich hit new heights in the second half of the season, hitting for the cycle twice, winning the batting title, and winning the 2018 MVP. He also lead Milwaukee all the way to the 2018 NLCS before falling one game shy of the World Series.

In 2019, Yelich returned to the MLB All Star, won the batting title again, and another Silver Slugger, before an injury derailed what likely would have been a back to back MVP season. Milwaukee would return to the postseason without Yelich but fell short in Wild Card game against the Nationals.

While injuries would plague the next few seasons, they were not without highlights. Yelich hit for the cycle again in 2022, coincidentally against the Reds once again. In 2023, Yelich posted his best batting average since the injury, finding power along with it.

2024 was another All Star campaign for Yeli, hitting for a .315 average, 11 home runs, and an OPS of .909 in just 73 games. Yelich will be returning in 2025 as one of the stars, along with fellow outfielder Jackson Chourio.

Some will say the "Golden Era" was the 1982 season, when Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Rollie Fingers led the team to the 1982 World Series. This is a fine opinion, but for my money. the ability to compete year in and year out, while having significantly less payroll than many other teams. Make no mistake about it, the Yelich trade was one of the most important days in Brewers history.

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