Last week, the Miami Marlins and young outfielder Christian Yelich agreed to a 7-year $49.5 Million contract according to multiple reports. The Christian Yelich Contract includes an option for an eight season Per Joe Frisaro.
However, this deal isn’t official yet. According to Joe Frisaro “The deal is expected to become official on Sunday”. This deal is great both for Yelich and The Marlins. Now we know for sure that Stanton and Yelich will play together for at least 6 more years (this may not happen as the deal includes no trade provision). The deal is also great news for Stanton thanks to Yelich’s ability to get on base (.362 OBP last year) consequently rising the RBI production for him.
Yelich is also a very important piece of Marlins’ defense. Last year he held a .993 Fielding Percentage, 271 Putouts, 9 Defensive Runs Saved Above Avg. and a 1.92 Range Factor. Also, he was owner of a 3.6 WAR.
Now that The Marlins have closed a deal with two of their three starting outfielders, we have yet to see whether they’ll be able to extend Marcell Ozuna’s contract, but there’s a problem. His agent is well known for pushing players that are his clients to the arbitration process, do you know who he is? His name is Scott Boras, who happens to be agent of Ace Jose Fernandez who is unlikely to agree to an extension with the club. But the good thing is that Ozuna is well open for an extension with the Marlins.
Yelich, Stanton and Ozuna can arguably be the best outfield of all the league. Last year they had a 8.1 Wins Above Replacement combined, which is the highest among all teams.
The Production that the 2014 Gold Glove Winner at LF brings to the table is quite remarkable. In his career at the majors he has 128 Runs, 94 on 2014 and 34 on 2013 (He was called up to the majors in the mid-season of 2013). He is 265 runs away of surpassing ex-player Cliff Floyd, the all-time leader of runs scored as an outfielder for the Marlins. Yelich will definitely score those runs during his 7-year contract (maybe 8) as a Marlin. Having a .356 BABIP, Yelich was the best player for the Marlins in terms of placing the ball on play, even better than Stanton.
Christian Yelich will be a player to watch this year, as he enters his 3rd season as a Major League player and as a Marlin. He is projected to bat second in the lineup behind Dee Gordon and above Giancarlo Stanton.
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