MLB Rumors: Surprise Yelich trade, Red Sox-Yamamoto downer, Ohtani opt out

MLB Rumors: Could Christian Yelich find himself on the trade block?

The Toronto Blue Jays have had one of, if not the most disappointing offseason so far. They were reportedly in on Juan Soto only to see him get traded to their division rivals while they waited for Shohei Ohtani to make his decision. All signs were pointing to Toronto landing the biggest fish, only for Ohtani to spurn them and go to the Dodgers.

Soto and Ohtani are two of the best left-handed bats in the game. The Jays have also been rumored to be interested in Cody Bellinger, but who knows if they'll be able to land him either. What's become clear is Toronto wants to add a quality left-handed hitter to hit in the middle of their order alongside righties Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The Jays have even reportedly shown interest in a potential Christian Yelich trade as Jon Heyman of the NY Post said on BR Live. This is a surprising development for many reasons.

What makes a Yelich potential trade so shocking is the fact that he still has five guaranteed years remaining on his deal, making $26 million annually. Yelich even has a $20 million mutual option for the 2029 season. This would be an expensive and risky addition for Toronto to make.

Yelich deserved his massive extension when he signed it, but all he's done since doing so is disappoint. He's missed substantial time due to back issues, and has seen his play regress. He did have a nice bounce back year in 2023, slashing .278/.370/.447 with 19 home runs and 76 RBI for Milwaukee, but that's a lot of money and term for an outfielder who is still nowhere near the player he once was, and has been dealing with nagging back issues.

Another thing that makes this surprising is that Yelich has a no-trade clause. Whether he's interested in even leaving Milwaukee, the place he's called home for the last six seasons, remains to be seen.

If the Jays are seriously interested in acquiring Yelich, it doesn't make much sense why they'd choose him over a player like Bellinger who also has his own risks, but has more upside and is a more durable player at this point in his career.