It’s official. The White Sox have checked in on Christian Yelich. As rookie general manager Derek Jeter guts the Marlins major-league roster, Yelich is the lone player left from a roster that underachieved.
The #WhiteSox and #Marlins recently discussed Christian Yelich, but never got much traction. Chicago has a deep enough farm system to match up with Miami, but talks failed to advance beyond the "routine dialogue'' stage. Rival executives think the #Marlins will hang onto Yelich.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) December 22, 2017
That Rick Hahn has checked in on Yelich is not surprising. With a deep reservoir of talent and versatility, the young outfield is a desirable trade chip. And at first blush, the Marlins might be willing to take a small return considering the deals they’ve brokered for Dee Gorden, Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna.
Stanton was a salary dump, Gordon wasn’t overwhelmingly valuable on the trade market and Ozuna fetched a solid return. In fact, besides Yelich, Ozuna might be the most profitable return the Marlins gather this season.
In 2017, Marcell Ozuna was in the top 5 in HRs (37), RBIs (122), and hits (189) among @MLB outfielders. pic.twitter.com/7Tgg6HmtDA
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) December 13, 2017
Let’s put it bluntly: The White Sox want Yelich if they can swipe him at their price. He just signed a seven-year extension worth approximately $49.5 million with a club option for 2022. The most he could earn is $15 million in the final year of his contract and he is squarely within the winning window for the South Siders. But this is precisely why the Marlins want to hold onto him and will raise the price in any deal for the youngsters.
The White Sox could wait it out but it seems likely that if Jeter wanted to dump Yelich he would do it soon, and it might be a savvy move on his part given Yelich’s cryptic messages after each trade.
After Stanton was traded and it became obvious the Marlins were in a scorch-the-earth firesale Yelich tweeted…
🤔
— Christian Yelich (@ChristianYelich) December 9, 2017
No one wants to be the veteran player on a team embarking on a new rebuild and Yelich is no different. But it doesn’t seem likely the White Sox would overpay for Yelich now and he probably won’t be available in the future.
