MLB trade rumors: Christian Yelich has ‘broken’ relationship with Marlins

Christian Yelich’s agent Joe Longo has revealed that the relationship between Yelich and the Marlins “is irretrievably broken,” and says that the Marlins’ new ownership group should trade the budding star outfielder before the start of spring training, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com.

“They have a plan,” Longo said in his interview with ESPN. “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.

”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 is now regarded as the Marlins’ top player since the club dealt Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Dee Gordon.

The 26-year-old a left-hand hitting outfielder has a .290/.369/.432 career slash line, won a Gold Glove honor and earned a Silver Slugger Award since breaking into the big leagues in 2013. Last year, he hit 18 home runs with 81 RBI while slashing .282/.369/..439 in 156 games.

However, the Marlins have been listening on offers for Yelich and catcher J.T. Realmuto in their continuous effort to slash payroll. Yelich has four years, $46.5 million left on his contract and has a $15 million club option for 2022. Yelich also has a buyout of $1.25 million if a team does not pick up his option.

There are a ton of teams interested in Yelich. The Rangers, Blue Jays, Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Diamondbacks, Nationals, Brewers, Giants, Phillies and Braves have been connected to Yelich over the last month.

Longo told Crasnick that Yelich might “share his feelings” on the Marlins’ offseason moves shortly.