Yelich to the Brewers in exchange for Brinson, Isan Diaz, M. Harrison and Yamamoto

[MrTPlush]

Christian Yelich - Miami Marlins - 643 Games - 59 HRs

 

Christian Yelich - Milwaukee Brewers - 211 Games - 62 HRs

 

This is something I've thought about for a while now. How much credit/blame goes to the new club for that change? Miami might just not have the same level of scouting, coaching or analytics the Brewers have so the players involved might not perform the same as if they had been with the original club. Would Brinson have struggled the same here as he has there for example? That to me is the one thing we can't know when assessing the success of a trade. Obviously Miami has had success in developing top talent players but how much success has the Jeter era really had?

 

Specifically with Yelich it is important to note he really started tinkering with his swing/stance when he came over here because he was in a new park (and division foe parks) that offered a lot more power potential for him. Increasing his launch angle and power would probably not have had much in the way of insane results in Marlin's Park. I am not sure how much the Brewers truly had to do with that. The odds they were trying to toy with Yelich's batting is really unlikely considering he was already an AS level player etc.

 

Regarding Brinson...yah I think he would have sucked here too.

[Thurston Fluff]

Didn't Yelich specifically say he wasn't going to tinker with his swing? From an article on Brew crew ball I read he actually hasn't changed his swing as much as the timing of his swing. That could just be coincidence or it could be something the Brewers do that spotted it that Miami doesn't. I do think though that there has to be something to all this new stuff the Brewers are doing that changed from what they used to do. Or what other teams who aren't having as much success do.

[OnTheBlack]

Given how skeptical people were of Hiura (a much higher rated prospect than any of Diaz, Yamamoto, Harrison) I find it pretty amusing that suddenly all three are a shoo-in to be significant MLB contributors. I'd bet on all 4 combined prospects not reaching 25 career WAR. It's way to early to be throwing around some of the recent comments off of one Jordan Yamamoto start. The Brewers almost assuredly fleeced the Marlins. Not because they didn't give up quality prospects but because no one thought Yelich was going to turn into prime Barry Bonds.

 

 

Hardly anyone was skeptical of Hiura, and no one thinks those three are shoo-ins to be anything.

 

 

That was pretty much what I was thinking. Who are all the people who are skeptical of Hiura? The ONLY questions I saw about him was if he would rake this year or if he would start raking next year. Pretty much everyone I saw thought he'd develop into a middle of the order bat at 2nd.

 

I still like Brinson for the record. I said at the time of the trade and I still believe he's the type of guy who's going to take a long time to develop, similar to how it took Gomez a while to figure out MLB pitching. The issue is his confidence. And probably moving on to a team like the Orioles or another bad team that didn't trade away the guy who turned into Mike Trout for him.

 

I'd imagine Marlins fans don't particularly like seeing Brinson's mug on the screen hitting .185 while Yelly wins an MVP and then gets better. Someone should ask all 5 of them what they think about Brinson.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Well, Yamamoto's terrific start to his MLB career ought to quiet the "Brewers fleeced the Marlins so now they won't trade with us" farce that has popped up here a time or two.

[Eye Black]

Well, Yamamoto's terrific start to his MLB career ought to quiet the "Brewers fleeced the Marlins so now they won't trade with us" farce that has popped up here a time or two.

I think there are varying degrees of that theory. I would certainly never say MLB team X won’t trade with team Y, and I can’t think of any circumstances which would lead to that type of firm stance. I do think it is plausible that a front office would feel some pressure to “win the trade” if they are going to do repeat business with the team they just shipped away the league MVP to a year earlier, especially if it involves more high profile players. Maybe that thought is indeed a little out there and all of the executives now are able to robotically value players with zero consideration towards past results (not trying to be snide, this very well could be the case), but I also don’t think it shouldn’t be completely dismissed that the human element could seep into the back of their minds while evaluating offers from multiple teams. Ultimately are they most likely going to take what they deem is the best offer regardless of this history? I would assume yes.

 

It is also probably a little premature to make any definitive conclusions regarding any of the players involved in the trade, including Yamamoto after two (very impressive) MLB starts. I genuinely hope Yamamoto continues his success, and would be perfectly fine with it being a trade which works out well for both sides over the long run.

[MrTPlush]

Funny the Brewers probably would have never drafted Yamamoto had it not been for them scouting Medeiros so hard in Hawaii for that 2014 draft. Turns our Yamamoto was the real gem and Medeiros was a total bust.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Funny the Brewers probably would have never drafted Yamamoto had it not been for them scouting Medeiros so hard in Hawaii for that 2014 draft. Turns our Yamamoto was the real gem and Medeiros was a total bust.

 

I disagree that Medeiros was a bust. He brought back Soria in a trade, and Soria was a huge part of the shutdown pen in September that they rode to the playoffs. He has not looked good so far for AA Birmingham in the White Sox system, though.

[MrTPlush]

Funny the Brewers probably would have never drafted Yamamoto had it not been for them scouting Medeiros so hard in Hawaii for that 2014 draft. Turns our Yamamoto was the real gem and Medeiros was a total bust.

 

I disagree that Medeiros was a bust. He brought back Soria in a trade, and Soria was a huge part of the shutdown pen in September that they rode to the playoffs. He has not looked good so far for AA Birmingham in the White Sox system, though.

 

He had an ERA north of 6 in September/October last year and was a human trash can in the NLCS too. Soria was pretty terrible for us and the fact two months of a reliever is all our former #12 could net us is a solid sign he was a bust for us. Not to mention he was pretty expensive on top of that.

 

I mean, sure, he was apart of the shutdown pen. He wasn't the shutdown part of it though.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Funny the Brewers probably would have never drafted Yamamoto had it not been for them scouting Medeiros so hard in Hawaii for that 2014 draft. Turns our Yamamoto was the real gem and Medeiros was a total bust.

 

I disagree that Medeiros was a bust. He brought back Soria in a trade, and Soria was a huge part of the shutdown pen in September that they rode to the playoffs. He has not looked good so far for AA Birmingham in the White Sox system, though.

 

He had an ERA north of 6 in September/October last year and was a human trash can in the NLCS too. Soria was pretty terrible for us and the fact two months of a reliever is all our former #12 could net us is a solid sign he was a bust for us. Not to mention he was pretty expensive on top of that.

 

I mean, sure, he was apart of the shutdown pen. He wasn't the shutdown part of it though.

 

Yeah, i guess when you qualify it that way, that makes sense. But when you consider that this team has drafted the likes of Mark Rogers, Evan Fredrickson, Eric Arnett, Kentrail Davis, Kyle Heckathorn, Dylan Covey, Taylor Jungmann, Jed Bradley, Clint Coulter, and Victor Roache in the 1st round over the last 15 years, getting a half season of a decent reliever doesn't sound too bad. Of course, that is more of an indictment of how poorly this team has drafted in the 1st round than anything. But if Medeiros continues down his path, that deal was a decent example of making lemonade out of a lemon. It certainly wasn't a good pick.

[homer]

I'm gonna pump the brakes on a Yamamoto breakout until he has a bit of sustained success. He may be a gem but it's gonna take more than two really nice starts to prove that.

[Eye Black]

Going into tonight’s game Christian Yelich has a home run every 9.035 at bats this season. That would rank 11th all-time in the history of baseball for a single season if he continues the same pace the remainder of the season (B-Ref Link). The current list is a combination of PED users and Babe Ruth...

 

[pre]Rank Player (age that year) AB per HR Year

1. Barry Bonds (36) 6.52 2001

2. Mark McGwire (34) 7.27 1998

3. Mark McGwire (35) 8.02 1999

4. Mark McGwire (32) 8.13 1996

5. Barry Bonds (39) 8.29 2004

6. Babe Ruth (25) 8.48 1920

7. Barry Bonds (38) 8.67 2003

8. Barry Bonds (37) 8.76 2002

9. Babe Ruth (32) 9.00 1927

10. Sammy Sosa (32) 9.02 2001

11. Babe Ruth (26) 9.15 1921[/pre]

[adambr2]

Random Yelich question now:

 

If you could trade Yelich for any one, but only one player in MLB, would you do it? Straight up trade, with all existing club control and contract going to acquiring team.

[ThisIsMyCrew]

Random Yelich question now:

 

If you could trade Yelich for any one, but only one player in MLB, would you do it? Straight up trade, with all existing club control and contract going to acquiring team.

 

I don’t see a single person I would. Cost controlled for 3 more years. And really only Trout is better than him (Bellinger has been coming back to the mean). The thing for MKE and Trout is the amount of money owed. Basically Yelich costs a third of the price and getting relatively similar production. Also love the fact he’s left handed. Still think Trout is easily the best player in the game...yelich would be second. His team friendly contract makes him all the more valuable.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Going into tonight’s game Christian Yelich has a home run every 9.035 at bats this season. That would rank 11th all-time in the history of baseball for a single season if he continues the same pace the remainder of the season (B-Ref Link). The current list is a combination of PED users and Babe Ruth...

 

 

 

Are you suggesting that hot dogs, beer, and cigars are not PEDS?

[brewers888]

Random Yelich question now:

 

If you could trade Yelich for any one, but only one player in MLB, would you do it? Straight up trade, with all existing club control and contract going to acquiring team.

 

Ronald Acuna is signed for 8 seasons so I would take him over Yelich. You can probably also argue for guys like Tatis Jr and Vlad Jr who all have far more contractual control than Yelich. Clearly I would take Yelich over all of them for the next few years but I don't know how you can choose him over someone like Acuna who is locked up for far longer.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Acuna is an intersting idea. The question becomes do you expect Acuna to continue to be an 850 to 900 OPS guy, and I would say yes and then some. He hasn't even begun to hit his prime yet. The next question is do you expect Yelich to continue to be an 1150 OPS guy for the rest of his years of Team control, and do you expect the Brewers to contend for the next three or four years while the Brewers have him under team control?

[Beerambassador]

Random Yelich question now:

 

If you could trade Yelich for any one, but only one player in MLB, would you do it? Straight up trade, with all existing club control and contract going to acquiring team.

 

Yadier Molina

[homer]

I would trade Yelich for Giannis.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Random Yelich question now:

 

If you could trade Yelich for any one, but only one player in MLB, would you do it? Straight up trade, with all existing club control and contract going to acquiring team.

 

I think the only players I'd even consider something like this would be young position players primed to be MVP-caliber talents, who either are still pre-arbitration or are signed to very friendly contracts. Guys like Acuna Jr., Vlad Jr., Bellinger perhaps, maybe even Wander Franco of the Rays. Pitchers carry too much injury risk, and other veteran studs are either too expensive or aren't as good as Yelich.

[TJseven7]

Jordan Yamamoto was the piece of this deal that terrified me. I continue to hate that inclusion. He was a lesser piece in the deal who could end up being worth much more than he was at the time. So far, yikes.

[jw5511986]

Jordan Yamamoto was the piece of this deal that terrified me. I continue to hate that inclusion. He was a lesser piece in the deal who could end up being worth much more than he was at the time. So far, yikes.

We got a guy who has made 2 All Star teams and won 1 MVP in a season and a half for a guy who hit .197 and got demoted to AAA, 2 other guys who haven't appeared above AAA, and a 4tb guy who has made 3 good MLB starts. Sorry if I'm not worried about the loss of any of them.

[brooks_quichenick]

I’d maybe deal Yelich for someone like Juan Soto. Young, controllable MVP-caliber talent. Great contact hitter, power, speed. Watching him at the plate blows my mind considering his youth. He’s a professional hitter and kind of flies under the radar compared to the Acuña’s/Guerrero’s etc.

[SomewhereInTime]

Funny the Brewers probably would have never drafted Yamamoto had it not been for them scouting Medeiros so hard in Hawaii for that 2014 draft. Turns our Yamamoto was the real gem and Medeiros was a total bust.

 

I disagree that Medeiros was a bust. He brought back Soria in a trade, and Soria was a huge part of the shutdown pen in September that they rode to the playoffs. He has not looked good so far for AA Birmingham in the White Sox system, though.

 

Whether or not a guy was traded before it was apparent he was a bust does not make him less of a bust. At this point Yamamoto looks to have a much better future.

[SomewhereInTime]

Funny the Brewers probably would have never drafted Yamamoto had it not been for them scouting Medeiros so hard in Hawaii for that 2014 draft. Turns our Yamamoto was the real gem and Medeiros was a total bust.

 

I disagree that Medeiros was a bust. He brought back Soria in a trade, and Soria was a huge part of the shutdown pen in September that they rode to the playoffs. He has not looked good so far for AA Birmingham in the White Sox system, though.

 

He had an ERA north of 6 in September/October last year and was a human trash can in the NLCS too. Soria was pretty terrible for us and the fact two months of a reliever is all our former #12 could net us is a solid sign he was a bust for us. Not to mention he was pretty expensive on top of that.

 

I mean, sure, he was apart of the shutdown pen. He wasn't the shutdown part of it though.

 

He had a FIP of 2.93 as a Brewer

[Lathund]

Random Yelich question now:

 

If you could trade Yelich for any one, but only one player in MLB, would you do it? Straight up trade, with all existing club control and contract going to acquiring team.

 

Mike Trout. Yeah I know, that's one massive contract, but it's still Mike Trout. The one guy who's definitely better than Yelich, the guy that is already HoF-worthy.

 

The man's two worst offensive seasons by OPS+ were 2012 and 2014, where he had a 168 OPS+. To put that into a Brewers perspective, that's more than Ryan Braun, Paul Molitor, Robin Young and Christian Yelich (Though 2019 will change that) have ever had over a full season. In those two years, his worst years, he won RoY and MVP. One year that OPS+ lead the league. In the other it didn't, but he did lead the league in runs scored, RBIs and total bases. Mike Trout, at his worst, is an MVP. As amazing as Yelich has been over the last year, Trout has been that player for 8 years now. And he does this while playing a well above average CF.

 

You could make a decent argument for younger guys like Acuña, Soto, Bellinger. But I'd still prefer what we already have in Yelich. But the best player of this generation? I couldn't turn that down.