Miami Marlins Make a Smart Trade with the Milwaukee Brewers

Christian Yelich, a long sought after trade candidate all winter long, finally got his wish this afternoon as he was traded from the Miami Marlins to the Milwaukee Brewers. Yelich, who just turned 26 in December, has five years of control left on his contract which includes an option for the 2022 season and is owed an affordable $43.2 million dollars which becomes $58.2 million dollars including the option.

Going into the winter, the Marlins made it clear that they were in a full blown rebuild especially after making a commitment to cut payroll and head in a new direction under a new ownership group. Things kicked off with a trade of Giancarlo Stanton followed up by a trade of Marcel Ozuna to the St. Louis Cardinals and now the Christian Yelich trade with the Brewers. Don't expect that to be all Miami does either as, J.T. Realmuto and Dan Straily, could still be moved prior to Opening Day.

The return for Yelich was extreme especially for the Brewers who have worked tumultuously to build up their farm system over the past few seasons and bring some much needed depth to the organization. As is the case for any team, a deep farm system allows you to make trades of this magnitude and is an attractive sales point for any acquiring team like the Marlins.

Lewis Brinson, who was the Brewers number one prospect, headlined the package of players heading to Miami and projects to be an centerfielder sooner rather than later. Now, that the Marlins have a significant hole in centerfield, Brinson will find himself playing at Marlins Park in the near future. In addition to Brinson, the Marlins also received infield prospect, San Diaz, who was Milwaukee's 6th best prospect, outfield prospect, Monte Harrison, who was the 14th best prospect in Milwaukee's system and right-handed pitching prospect, Jordan Yamamoto. Only Yamamoto didn't rank among the Brewers Top 30 prospects.

For Brewers fans, the price might be steep as three of those four players will turn into every major leaguers at some point, but in order to get quality, you have to be willing to give up quality in return. That is exactly what Milwaukee did here and something that their fans need to understand. Yelich is a proven player at the major league level as he has won a Gold Glove Award in 2014, a Silver Slugger Award in 2016, and is continually talked about as being one of the game's top centerfielders.

From Miami's perspective, some Marlins fans might be upset that the team has basically gutted itself at the major league level, but need to understand that what the front office and Derek Jeter's ownership group is doing is for the better. Not only are both parties working hard to restock a barren farm system, they are working to make the team competitive and give the organization it's best shot at winning a ring sooner rather than later. Sure, some of the prospects that Miami received for Giancarlo Stanton, Marcel Ozuna, and now Christian Yelich might not end up panning out like their scouting report says, but for a system that was barren with virtually no pitching, the Marlins are heading down the right road.

Lewis Brinson will likely head into Spring Training with a shot at winning the centerfield job considering that 24-year old, Broxton Lee, currently has that position locked down on the Marlins depth chart. Brinson has a very high-ceiling, but some around the industry, still have questions about whether he will ultimately become a 5-tool player. Furthermore, Isan Diaz, will either head to High-A Ball or Double A, but can be viewed as the Marlins second baseman of the future. Diaz, who is currently 21 and will turn 22 in May, has always been highly touted throughout the industry and will someday make a name for himself. In addition to second base, Diaz can also play shortstop and scouts note that he has tremendous hitting ability and an advanced swing for a prospect of his age.

Beyond Brinson and Diaz, 22-year old outfield prospect, Monte Harrison, should also excite some Marlins fans. Last year in A Ball, Harrison recorded 123 hits, 28 doubles, 2 triples, 21 home runs, 67 RBI, 43 walks, and 139 strikeouts over 453 at bats. Scouts notes that Harrison can turn into a nice base stealing threat for Miami in the future and has average power, but do state that he tends to record quite a few strikeouts because of his long swing. Over time as Harrison continues to develop, he should be able to work on his swing to lower his strikeout rate even more.

Finally, the fourth prospect within the deal, Jordan Yamamoto who is the only prospect in the deal that didn't rank in the Brewers Top 30 Prospects, still is very young. At 21-years old, Yamamoto pitched in Rookie and A Ball last season where he recorded a 4.19 ERA in 329.0 IP with a 1.331 WHIP and a 9.4 hits-per-9 ratio. While the ERA isn't the most attractive, he still has a young arm and can throw for strikeouts as illustrated by his 10.18 strikeouts-per-9 ratio last season in A Ball. Regardless, many believe that Yamamoto will eventually find himself at the back end of a starting rotation as he has high upside and more development to undergo.

From the surface, this afternoon's trade of Christian Yelich appears as though the Brewers overpaid, but when you take into consideration that Milwaukee is getting back a proven player for four unproven players, then it's an easy trade to justify. The Brewers just upgraded their outfield significantly and can now focus on making a significant upgrade to their starting rotation with one of the big free agents still on the market in Yu Darvish or Jake Arrieta. For the Marlins, things might be gloomy now, but in a few years when the team is competitive and in the running for a postseason berth, Marlins fans can look back on the trades done this winter, such as the Yelich trade this afternoon, and be thankful that the team went through with each one of them.