Christian Yelich reflects on time in Miami, weighs in on team's youth movement

MIAMI—The strut to the visitors' clubhouse at loanDepot park feels “totally normal” for Christian Yelich. After all, he has now been a Milwaukee Brewer for seven and a half years, matching the length of his tenure in the Miami Marlins organization.

Returning to his old stomping grounds for the only time in 2025, the former National League MVP and three-time All-Star had an opportunity to reflect on the memories he made with his original team.

“I had a good time,” said Yelich on Saturday afternoon in an exclusive interview with Fish On First .”They gave me my first opportunity to play in the big leagues, drafted me and all that cool stuff. So, it's a part of my journey…a lot of your career-firsts—debuts, first hit, first homer, all that. Feels like a really long time ago, but some pretty cool memories.”

Miami selected the sweet-swinging lefty with the 23rd overall pick in the 2010 MLB Draft. Yelich quickly justified that decision by putting up elite offensive numbers in the minor leagues despite consistently facing older competition.

“You make a lot of good friends,” Yelich replied when asked what particular moments as a Marlin he holds dear. “You're chasing—everybody's chasing—the same goal of trying to make it to the big leagues. I met some really good friends here, myself and (J.T.) Realmuto are pretty good buddies—we met in the Gulf Coast League our first couple of days in pro ball.”

In addition to Miami’s ex-backstop, Yelich mentioned a handful of other notable faces from the "what could’ve been" mid-2010s Marlins that he still keeps in contact with to this day.

“Still talk to (Marcell) Ozuna, Justin Bour and Giancarlo (Stanton). Just all really good dudes.”

Despite never winning more than 79 games in a season between 2014 and 2017, the uber-talented core that made up those squads is something that still impresses Yelich to this day.

"It was great. A lot of those guys are still playing, which is pretty rare. All guys who have had pretty long careers and all kind of come up together at the same time. Still really good friends with them."

Soon after the '17 campaign, new ownership made the controversial decision to throw in the towel on the core they had just inherited, adding to the lengthy track record of fire sales in South Florida. Stanton and Ozuna were dealt to the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals, respectively. Another domino fell on January 25, 2018 when a disgruntled Yelich was traded to the Brewers in exchange for a bundle of top prospects. He concluded his Marlins career with 17.6 WAR and a slash line of .290/.369/.432, excellent cumulative production for a 26-year-old.

Miami took a risk by trading such a well-rounded player who was in the midst of a cost-efficient, long-term contract. Their worst nightmare came to life almost instantaneously. With an uptick in over-the-fence power, Yelich exploded onto the scene, collecting his aforementioned MVP in the blue and gold not even a full calendar year after being dealt. A legitimate five-tool outfielder was destined to lead Milwaukee to perennial postseason contention, while his former team was burdened with four farmhands—Lewis Brinson, Isan Díaz, Monte Harrison and Jordan Yamamoto—who never flourished. Only Díaz is still playing professional baseball, having signed a minor league deal with the Kansas City Royals earlier this week.

The Brewers have reached October six times in seven years during the Yelich era, including four NL Central titles. He's done well against the Fish in head-to-head matchups, posting a .925 OPS in 27 games. He remains a key piece of Milwaukee's roster at age 33 as their everyday designated hitter and team RBI leader. Yelich is in the midst of the largest contract in franchise history which runs through the 2028 season with a mutual option for 2029.

Despite a pair of miraculous playoff runs in 2020 and 2023, that Marlins rebuild did not come close to yielding sustained success. Rather, the front office was overhauled after the '23 NL Wild Card berth and another rebuild ensued. However, there finally appears to be light at the end of the tunnel. Entering Sunday's series finale, a Miami roster filled with young, controllable talent has won 10 of their last 12 games and surged into third place in the NL East standings.

There are some parallels to what the Marlins had cooking a decade ago. The emergences of Kyle Stowers and Agustín Ramírez have solidified the middle of the lineup. The upside that Eury Pérez has shown in his early 20s is reminiscent of José Fernández.

"To be honest, I'm just trying to get to know some of those guys. A lot of them are new to the league," said Yelich. "Just from last night and just watching, they play the game hard, play the game right. That's a good foundation to have to start building that good team."

The Marlins have interesting decisions to make as the trade deadline approaches at the end of the month. They must recognize that there is still a gap between themselves and MLB's top-tier teams. However, in focusing on 2026 and beyond, they cannot forfeit another Yelich-like impact player who'd be so difficult to replace.