Christian Yelich Demoted By Miami Marlins

Every fan of the Miami Marlins knew this was coming and it finally happened Friday.

After a terrific performance, the Marlins re-assigned 21-year-old outfielder Christian Yelich to minor league camp, which will keep him and Jose Fernandez in the minors for at least one more year. This is not a surprise as the Marlins definitely want to cultivate Yelich after a great spring. He played in 22 games for Miami and batted .364/.451/.818 with five home runs and 14 RBI to go along with three doubles and a triple. The problem going against Yelich was that he is incredibly young and if he did struggle in the majors in the beginning of the season, it would diminish his confidence. This is the right move.

Yelich has not played a game over the Single-A Advanced level. He really should prove himself in the minors before he even hits the majors. After playing three seasons in the Marlins’ system, Yelich has hit 27 home runs and added 130 RBI. With the Marlins outfield sort of full, how is he supposed to break into the lineup? There is no doubt that his abilities are there, but more development in the system cannot hurt him, unless (knock on wood) he does get injured.

Miami is better off waiting until September to make him a call up and wait to see what he does with the other top prospects around the league in Double-A. If the Marlins are in contention to make the playoffs (for some odd reason), then he can be used as an added tool to Mike Redmond‘s disposal as well.

Ryan Gaydos is a featured MLB columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, “like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google