MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired outfielder Christian Yelich from the Miami Marlins in exchange for outfielder Lewis Brinson, outfielder Monte Harrison, infielder Isan Diaz and right-handed pitcher Jordan Yamamoto. The announcement was made today by General Manager David Stearns.
"We are pleased to be able to add a young, talented player like Christian to our organization," said Stearns. "In a relatively brief time, Christian has emerged as one of the most skilled players in the league on both sides of the ball. It is rare when an organization gets a chance to acquire a player with Christian's talents at this stage in his career, and we are excited to add him to our team. Parting with the type of talent we traded is never an easy decision, and we wish Lewis, Monte, Isan and Jordan nothing but the best with the Marlins."
Yelich, 26, signed a seven-year contract with Miami on March 22, 2015, which runs through the 2021 season and includes a club option for 2022. He is a career .290 hitter with 59 HR, 293 RBI and 72 stolen bases in 643 games with the Marlins (2013-17). Yelich batted .282 with 18 HR, 81 RBI and 16 stolen bases in a career-high 156 games last season. He ranked among the National League leaders in runs (T7th, 100), at-bats (8th, 602), hits (9th, 170), doubles (9th, 36) and walks (10th, 80).
Yelich led Major League center fielders last season in fielding percentage (.997) and ranked second in starts (155) and fourth in total chances (372) as he committed just a single error all year. It marked his first full season as a center fielder after winning a Gold Glove Award in left field in 2014 and being named a Gold Glove finalist in both 2015 and 2016.
The 2016 Silver Slugger Award winner was selected by Miami in the first round (23rd overall) of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft out of Westlake (CA) High School.