Haudricourt: Jan. 25 was a day that changed Brewers' present and future course

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 who teams would like to acquire if possible. 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 (Calif.) 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.

There was no obvious intent to move Yelich when the off-season began, but 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 that 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. Having no idea what other clubs might be offering for Yelich, Steans nevertheless felt good about his proposal.

And, sure enough, 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. “We had to part with some really high-end talent, and obviously got a really good player.”

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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 off-season, 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 off-season,” 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.

“Sometimes, discussions can progress to specifics fairly quickly. Sometimes, it takes a little bit longer. In this case, it took a little longer.”

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 all-star 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 five-year, $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 was weird for us,” he said. “It certainly was not planned. 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 addition of two multi-talented outfielders in one fell swoop surprised many who thought the Brewers were in good shape in the outfield. But Ryan Braun played in only 104 games in 2017 while battling various health issues and was entering his age 34 season with a troublesome lower back that required surgery a few years earlier as well as a chronic thumb condition. And, sure enough, Braun again has missed significant chunks of playing time this season while seeing some action at first base.

The Brewers also wanted to upgrade their center-field position, where both Keon Broxton and prospect Brett Phillips were having trouble making consistent contact. Cain is a natural centerfielder of great skill, and Yelich has the versatility to play all three outfield spots, increasing his value.

The additions of Yelich and Cain, who specialize in getting on base, certainly have been an unqualified success in 2018. Cain continued to be one of the most well-rounded players in the majors, making contributions in the field and at the plate almost daily while making a tight-knit clubhouse even stronger with his affable, unassuming demeanor.

Yelich, however, has surpassed even the highest expectations of Stearns and Co. He steered his career into the passing lane, putting together the kind of year that all players dream of. A huge second half pushed Yelich among the leaders in every important offensive category, making him a legitimate candidate for National League most valuable player.

“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.”

Since becoming the Brewers’ GM, Stearns has made numerous acquisitions that have paid off handsomely, such as Travis Shaw, Jesús Aguilar, Eric Thames, Jhoulys Chacín, Chase Anderson and Junior Guerra. But Jan. 25, 2018 stands as a watershed day in terms of impact on the franchise, both present and future.  

“The Cain signing, we kind of knew was coming,” Stearns said. “A lot of work had gone into it. The Yelich deal, we weren’t sure about. Whenever you’re able to pull off a deal of that magnitude, there’s adrenaline, there’s excitement.”

As might be expected, Stearns’ first phone call after each deal was completed was to Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio. The two talked about the cost of each player, in terms of prospects for Yelich and money for Cain, and how much the future of the franchise might have changed that day.

“Lorenzo Cain is the largest free-agent investment in the history of the franchise,” Stearns said. “And you can make a good argument that the trade for Christian Yelich cost the most in prospect value of any trade in the history of the franchise.

“So, as we were going through this, we understood the magnitude of these investments, on both ends. Ultimately, we determined that it was an extremely unique opportunity for this franchise to be able to acquire two players of this talent level. We recognized that.”