Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich signed a nine year, $215 million deal with the Crew that includes incentives, a 2029 mutual option, deferred money from 2031-2042, and a full no-trade clause. He currently is in his third year out of seven consecutive in which has base salary will be $26.0 million. His 2029 mutual option is worth $20.0 million that includes a $6.5 million buyout.
When the Brewers signed Christian Yelich to this deal he was coming off a MVP season in 2018 and a fantastic 2019 campaign in which a fractured knee cap cost him the final month of the season and potentially a second consecutive MVP award. Like several stars he struggled during the shortened 2020 season, but additionally in the following two seasons afterwards he was unable to be much more than a league average hitter by OPS+ standards.
Last season he put together his best season since 2019 in which he slashed .278/.370/.447 with 19 home runs, 78 RBI, and 28 stolen bases. Between his rebound season and the fact that the Brewers reportedly are open to listening to trade offers on all of their players his interest around the league has jumped. In particular the Toronto Blue Jays have been linked to having interest.
Milwaukee Brewers star Christian Yelich has been linked in trade rumors with the Toronto Blue Jays.
On television Jon Heyman, a baseball columnist at the New York Post and MLB Insider, was talking about the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays missed out on free agent Shohei Ohtani and they also did not win the Juan Soto trade sweepstakes. Outfielders and left-handed batters are two of their biggest needs and Christian Yelich is both of those things.
“Now that the Jays didn’t get Shohei Ohtani, they didn’t get Juan Soto, they want a left-handed bat. I’ve heard they are even kicking around Christian Yelich, who has a full no trade (clause) with Milwaukee.”
Jon Heyman mentioned perhaps the biggest hurdle to any potential Blue Jays-Brewers trade and that is the fact that Christian Yelich has a full no trade clause. Players have waived that in the past, but typically that occurs when a player is upset with the organization’s direction and they want to join a contender. Right now all indications from GM Matt Arnold have been that the Brewers are competing in 2024 and not entering a mini rebuild.
Other contingencies outside of getting permission to waive a full no trade clause include Yelich’s contract and an agreeable trade package between both sides. The likelihood of all things coming together for a deal seems like a long shot.
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