Yelich-Marlins Relationship "Irretrievably Broken," Agent Says
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - The Miami Marlins have already dealt away the majority of their established players in Giancarlo Stanton, Dee Gordon and Marcell Ozuna.
Christian Yelich is the last man standing, and he isn't happy about it.
According to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, the 26 year old outfielder has no interest in being part of the Marlins' wholesale rebuild under new team CEO Derek Jeter.
"They have a plan," agent Joe Longo said. "I respect that plan, but that plan shouldn't include Christian at this point in his career. He's in the middle of the best years of his career, and having him be part of a 100-loss season is not really where [we] want to see him going.
"The relationship between player and team is irretrievably broken. It's soured. He's part of the old ownership regime. The new ownership regime needs to get new parts into this plan and move forward, and he needs to get on with his career where he's got a chance to win. The big issue is him winning and winning now."
These statements make it quite clear that Yelich's desire to take his talents elsewhere have everything to do with the direction the Marlins are heading in and nothing to do with the city of Miami or the team's fans. But just in case you still have a shred of doubt about his love for South Florida, Longo went out of his way to clarify.
"He loves the city of Miami. He loves the fans. He's had nothing but a good experience in South Florida, and he feels sorry where they ended up. But I think having him report [to spring training] and attempting to include him moving forward is going to be uncomfortable for both sides. I don't see how it's going to work."
Yelich has 4 years and $44.5 Million left on his contract, which runs to 2021. Based on previous moves, it's safe to say that erasing another $44.5 Mil from the payroll is something the Marlins would be interested in doing. They have a willing participant in Christian Yelich.
It's your move, Jeter.