The Marlins’ signing of Christian Yelich to a deal that guarantees him just under $50MM for seven years marked the second time in the past several months that the team has awarded a young outfielder a big extension. The first, of course, was Giancarlo Stanton’s enormous $325MM contract. Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald spoke with Yelich and agent Joe Longo to see how the deal went down, and evidently the first contract had much to do with the second.
The Marlins initially spoke to Longo about a Yelich extension before signing Stanton, Spencer reports, and Stanton’s deal served as a catalyst for Yelich’s. “(Yelich) tells me it’s different now,” Longo says. “I think the Stanton signing kind of set the tone for that. It certainly set the tone for us.”
Yelich “reminds me a lot of a young Don Mattingly,” says Marlins GM Dan Jennings. “A tremendous hitter who’s only going to get better as he learns the league and the pitchers.”
One might wonder if the Marlins could continue locking up young players. The Stanton and Yelich deals might or might not encourage starter Jose Fernandez to consider an extension of his own — Spencer writes that the Scott Boras client says the possibility of a deal depends on a number of factors. But he’s encouraged by the team’s commitments to Stanton and Yelich. “I think the team is proving to fans that they want to win, and I think that’s what they want in Miami,” says Fernandez. “It’s really nice to see that happen.”
