When former Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria – the undisputed worst owner in recent MLB history – sold the beleaguered team to new owners Bruce Sherman and future Hall of Famer Derek Jeter on September 27, 2017, Marlins fans hoped and even believed that they would become the struggling franchise’s panacea.

Boy, were they wrong.

Within weeks of being approved by the other 29 MLB teams, Jeter, who was immediately named as the team’s Chief Executive Officer in spite of having only a four percent stake in the team, and controlling partner Bruce Sherman traded fan favorite middle infielder Dee Gordon to the Seattle Mariners, traded reigning 2017 NL MVP right fielder Giancarlo Stanton (who hit 59 home runs in 2017) to the New York Yankees, and traded outfielder Marcell Ozuna (who hit .312 in 2017) to the St. Louis Cardinals in what was a very obvious salary dump.

But just when Marlins fans thought that things couldn’t possibly get any worse, they have.

On Tuesday, 26-year-old Miami Marlins star outfielder and 2010 first round draft pick Christian Yelich made it perfectly clear and in no uncertain terms through his agent Joe Longo that he no longer wants to play for the rebuilding franchise that finished second in the National League East with a less-than-stellar 77-85 record.

“They have a plan. I respect that plan, but that plan shouldn’t include Christian at this point in his career,” Longo told ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. “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,” added Longo. “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,” Longo concluded.

The Dodgers haven’t fared well when it comes to acquiring Southern California natives who grew up as Dodger fans. Might 26-year-old Thousand Oaks native Christian Yelich become the first since the Dodgers acquired Long Beach native Justin Turner from the New York Mets in 2014? (Photo credit – Joe Camporeale)

For those unfamiliar with the 6′-3″ / 195-pound Yelich, he was born and raised in Thousand Oaks, California a mere 40 miles from Dodger Stadium. As such, it should come as a surprise to no one that he grew up a die-hard Dodger fan. But on March 22, 2015 and after only three seasons in the big leagues, Loria and the Marlins signed Yelich to a 7-year / $49.57 million contract extension, this in spite of the fact that the popular Southern California native was still in his arbitration-eligible years. But while that seven-year deal may have seemed a bit excessive at the time, with four years and $43.25 million remaining on it (with a $15 million team option or a $1.25 million buyout in 2022), by today’s standards and with Yelich’s five-year MLB career .290 / .369 / .432 / .800 slash-line, this is an absolute bargain by today’s standards.

But do the Dodgers even need the former West Lake Village High School hero?

The short answer is no, especially when you consider that the Dodgers just dumped the enormous salaries of Adrian Gonzalez, Brandon McCarthy and Scott Kazmir to avoid paying a huge Competitive Balance (luxury tax) penalty for a sixth consecutive year. They also have a plethora of current MLB-experienced outfielders already on their 40-man roster and several more near MLB-ready outfielders down on the farm.

But it’s the long answer is that they might.

On Tuesday, the San Francisco Giants acquired veteran outfielder Andrew McCutchen and the $14.75 million remaining on his current 6-year / $51.5 million contract (which expires following the 2018 season) in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates in an effort to improve their 2017 MLB-worst outfield. But the Giants have also made it known that they are very much interested in also acquiring Yelich. In other words, if the Dodgers do not make a play for Yelich, they very well may have to face him in an orange and black uniform for at least the next four seasons and possibly five.

The good news – if you can call it that – is that by taking on McCutchen’s salary for the 2018 season, the Giants themselves are now within $7 million of reaching the 2018 luxury tax threshold, and adding the $7 million owed to Yelich in 2018 would put them there, or at least uncomfortably close to it.

But here again, do the Dodgers actually need Yelich, and would signing him just so the Giants can’t be the prudent thing to do?

I’ll let you be the judge of that.