What to do with Yelich?

[jonescm128]

I didn't think he could be much worse than he was the past few years but he is currently sitting at a .656 OPS and 82 OPS+. I know its technically still early and he is making a ton of money but is there ever a point where they say enough is enough? What does he bring to this team other than quality baserunning?

What a sad fall from grace. 

[Frisbee Slider]

After this year, Yelich is still owed $130,000,000.

There is not a scenario when the team says ‘enough is enough’ for several years.

[TURBO]

Trade him, and pay 1/2 of his contract?  1/2 might not be enough...

[Thurston Fluff]

He has a full no trade clause. He agreed to a team friendly deal because he liked it here. What makes anyone think would he agree to leave?

[Frisbee Slider]

I think Yelich likes California enough to accept a west coast trade, Not sure we could find a way to make that happen, though.

Yelich will have multiple WAR this year. I don’t think there is any rush to trade him.

[ecjimg]

I just wish he wasn't leading off and wasn't playing almost every game

[wildcat2237]

Eventually he will be bumped to the bottom of the lineup. Then he will be dropped from the starting lineup and into the 4th/5th outfielder role. When he stinks as a 4th/5th outfielder he will be released. Probably two years or so from that happening. 

I highly doubt he is ever a trade candidate. 

[MrTPlush]

1 hour ago, Thurston Fluff said:

He has a full no trade clause. He agreed to a team friendly deal because he liked it here. What makes anyone think would he agree to leave?

Or because he felt he was going to statistically fall off from his knee injury or for any other apparent reason. It appears it never was a team friendly deal...more like highway robbery on Yelich's part.

Pointless though, because he is about as untradable as it gets. I don't think we are going to pay upwards of $100mil to get him out of town.

[Frisbee Slider]

8 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

I don't think we are going to pay upwards of $100mil to get him out of town.

In theory, if three of our young outfielders prove to be productive, they will be making hardly any money for the next five seasons. In that sense, you could eat 70% of Yelich’s salary and still be better off money wise and performance wise.

That said, I expect Yelich will have an on base percentage over .350 this year. It makes sense to hold onto him for a while. We probably don’t have a choice.

[SeaBass]

[Jopal78]

Every player is tradable. Whatever is success for Yelich now (.730 OPS heavy on OBP light on slugging), if he hits that he’s an okay player but overpaid.

If Yelich can’t get to .700 they trade him for someone else’s garbage (there’s plenty of equally bad contracts around) and hope to come out better off.

[Thurston Fluff]

8 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

Every player is tradable. Whatever is success for Yelich now (.730 OPS heavy on OBP light on slugging), if he hits that he’s an okay player but overpaid.

If Yelich can’t get to .700 they trade him for someone else’s garbage (there’s plenty of equally bad contracts around) and hope to come out better off.

As I've said he has to agree and I doubt he will. Let's for a moment assume he will. How does trading for an euqally bad contract help what so ever?

 

38 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

Or because he felt he was going to statistically fall off from his knee injury or for any other apparent reason. It appears it never was a team friendly deal...more like highway robbery on Yelich's part.

 

 

Why would he have thought that?

[MrTPlush]

50 minutes ago, Thurston Fluff said:

Why would he have thought that?

Plenty of people were worried about his knee (not me personally), so why couldn't have Yelich felt that same way? 

Braun signed a 'team friendly' extension and then months later got caught doing PEDs. Was part of the reason Braun kept signing team friendly deals because he was cheating and knew if he ever got caught his future earnings would be at incredible risk of plummeting? I guess we will never know...maybe coincidental. I imagine a player doing PEDs might be a little more anxious to get the contract signed in case something were to happen. 

These players are signing these kinds of deals for reasons other than being okay/happy where they are. If he wanted to be a Brewer and sign a team friendly contract, he could have done that when he hit FA. Obviously a player is also concerned about any risks that might be present or could happen that might destroy their career...thus never signing anywhere close to the team friendly deal. 

[wallus]

It's too bad that we have had so many injuries because Yelich and Anderson are having to play more than they should which I think is affecting them. I guess I would like to keep Yelich away from facing LHP and give him a little more time off. Right now we don't have that luxury. 

[TURBO]

I think Yelich might welcome a trade for a chance at a new start 

He could be picky about where he goes, but don't think because he liked it here so much when he signed that contract, that would stop him from going someplace else.

He might even want a fresh start with a new team, we just don't know.

[Playing Catch]

I don't believe the Brewers will keep playing him regardless of performance. They are trying to win.

For all of the knee-jerk perceptions regarding Counsell or the Front Office, I feel that management has traditionally had a pretty short leash on underperformance. I think any exceptions were usually due to a strong track record of success (McCutcheon/Cain/Yelich?), which often correlates to the financial commitment.

The length of the leash in any organization is relative to the financial commitment.

With his lackluster defense, but baserunning prowess, Yelich needs to OPS somewhere around .700 to have a shot at keeping a spot in the lineup. Right now, he's not meeting that threshold.

But he's going to be provided time to figure it out. Perhaps Counsell will rest him more frequently against lefties, or give him more time at DH, but they want him to be a player that benefits the team, and if he isn't benefitting the team come July, he'll be getting more days off, or perhaps a stint on the the IL with a soft tissue injury.

My guess is that Counsell and the Front Office are also running out of patience. If he remains a replacement-level player come August, longer-term solutions will need to be considered.

 

[Outlander]

He appears to actually be playing better defense than he has in years. Yes, it would be helpful if he could sit against lefties, maybe can do that more with Taylor coming back. They are not releasing him this year so enough will not be enough this year.

Business wise I'm sure the Brewers have a large insurance policy on him. Realistically not getting rid of him anytime soon unless there is a career ending injury.

[adambr2]

5 hours ago, Thurston Fluff said:

He has a full no trade clause. He agreed to a team friendly deal because he liked it here. What makes anyone think would he agree to leave?

It wasn't all that team friendly at the time despite what the consensus was and it's obviously an albatross now. 

He might have liked it or like it here but the main reason he took the deal was he likes money. Most people do, so I certainly don't blame him for that. 

[Jopal78]

6 hours ago, Thurston Fluff said:

As I've said he has to agree and I doubt he will. Let's for a moment assume he will. How does trading for an euqally bad contract help what so ever?

 

 

Why would he have thought that?

Players generally don’t want to stay where they are not wanted. If it’s clear from Yelich’s play that Milwaukee is merely biding its time until it can feasibly release him, why wouldn’t he welcome a trade to a club where he might actually play or contribute. 

Likewise. If Yelich cannot get it going, that 130 million is a sunk cost, why not ship him to another club for some equally bad contract/s hoping to catch lightning in a bottle, it’s not like it could get much worse.

[Frisbee Slider]

18 hours ago, TURBO said:

1/2 might not be enough...

Cody Bellinger signed for $17.5 million per year. Bellinger’s defense is far superior to Yelich and at a premium position but his bat was considerably worse in 2021 and 2022. Yelich has produced more WAR in recent years.

Perhaps the market value of 2019 MVP candidates is more than we think.

[Brewin]

This thread is extremely predictable...as soon as Yelich goes into a slump the majority of the board wants to bench him.

He is going to be the starting LF and bat lead off for the foreseeable future. His defense has been fine this year, despite his noodle arm. I expect he'll end up with a BA in the 250-270 range an an OBP of 350+.

I'm sure I'll get ripped by the CY haters on this board, but he is by far the best option on the roster to play everyday right now.

 

[Thurston Fluff]

15 hours ago, adambr2 said:

It wasn't all that team friendly at the time despite what the consensus was and it's obviously an albatross now. 

He might have liked it or like it here but the main reason he took the deal was he likes money. Most people do, so I certainly don't blame him for that. 

I tend to think the consensus opinion at the time is more accurate of what he could have got at that time. There were plenty of reasons to not have liked the deal at the time. The length and annual cost for a player entering his 30's, the deferred money and the prospect lost that trading him at his peak are all valid reasons to not have liked the deal back then. None of those reasons detract from the fact he signed a team friendly deal at that time. Personally I wasn't enamored with it. I'm not a fan of signing anyone to those types of deals. But I did recognize it was a value at the time. Even though I didn't think he'd be worth the cost later in the deal I thought he'd be worth more than he was early in the deal.

As far as him liking being here I guess I'm just taking his word for it combined with his actions. Like for instance signing a below market deal. It seems far more credible than him thinking he was about to implode.

[adambr2]

22 minutes ago, Thurston Fluff said:

I tend to think the consensus opinion at the time is more accurate of what he could have got at that time. There were plenty of reasons to not have liked the deal at the time. The length and annual cost for a player entering his 30's, the deferred money and the prospect lost that trading him at his peak are all valid reasons to not have liked the deal back then. None of those reasons detract from the fact he signed a team friendly deal at that time. Personally I wasn't enamored with it. I'm not a fan of signing anyone to those types of deals. But I did recognize it was a value at the time. Even though I didn't think he'd be worth the cost later in the deal I thought he'd be worth more than he was early in the deal.

As far as him liking being here I guess I'm just taking his word for it combined with his actions. Like for instance signing a below market deal. It seems far more credible than him thinking he was about to implode.

The reason that the "consensus" was that Yelich signed a team friendly deal is that the part of this that always gets overlooked is that Yelich signed his massive extension when he still had 3 years remaining on his contract (and was coming off a major injury). People look at these contracts and compare them to similar players who get deals in free agency and it's just absolutely an apples and oranges comparison. Free agents have all the leverage. 

Could Yelich have bet on himself, played out his last 3 years with us on his old contract, and gotten a much more massive payday if he continued to play at an MVP level? Sure, hypothetically, but in reality he would have lost that bet and probably well over 100 million in the process. 

[jonescm128]

19 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

Plenty of people were worried about his knee (not me personally), so why couldn't have Yelich felt that same way? 

Braun signed a 'team friendly' extension and then months later got caught doing PEDs. Was part of the reason Braun kept signing team friendly deals because he was cheating and knew if he ever got caught his future earnings would be at incredible risk of plummeting? I guess we will never know...maybe coincidental. I imagine a player doing PEDs might be a little more anxious to get the contract signed in case something were to happen. 

These players are signing these kinds of deals for reasons other than being okay/happy where they are. If he wanted to be a Brewer and sign a team friendly contract, he could have done that when he hit FA. Obviously a player is also concerned about any risks that might be present or could happen that might destroy their career...thus never signing anywhere close to the team friendly deal. 

I'm not into conspiracy theories but MLB did crack down on cheating and Yu Darvish did accuse Yelich of cheating. I've always attributed it to his knee injury but I have had friends suggest the cheating thing. 

[jonescm128]

3 hours ago, Frisbee Slider said:

Cody Bellinger signed for $17.5 million per year. Bellinger’s defense is far superior to Yelich and at a premium position but his bat was considerably worse in 2021 and 2022. Yelich has produced more WAR in recent years.

Perhaps the market value of 2019 MVP candidates is more than we think.

Bellinger seems to have found it again this year. Slashing .295/.373/,589 on the year.