Pat Murphy Once Lobbied Brewers Owner for Christian Yelich Deal: Report

The skipper has long known what this team needed...

Oct 8, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Milwaukee Brewers designated hitter Christian Yelich (22) greets manager Pat Murphy (49) prior to game three of the NLDS round against the Chicago Cubs for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Pat Murphy has been the star of the show for the Milwaukee Brewers this spring, and as fans know, his fingerprints on the organization stretch back much farther than the last two seasons.

During his nine years as the Brewers' bench coach under Craig Counsell, Murphy gained the respect of everyone in the organization and made himself the clear choice to take over Counsell's job at the end of 2023.

But there was one story in particular, which Brewers fans may not have known about before Friday, that showed how in touch Murphy was with the franchise's needs.

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Murphy campaigned for Yelich extension

Mar 16, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy talks to Christian Yelich (22) before a game against the Texas Rangers at American Family Fields of Phoenix. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

Back when former National League Most Valuable Player Christian Yelich was up for an extension, Murphy took matters into his own hands. According to a Friday report from Will Sammon of The Athletic, Murphy met with owner Mark Attanasio for hours on a random day in September of 2019 to lobby for Yelich to stay.

“I felt compelled to do that,” Murphy told Sammon, 6 1/2 years later.

The gesture obviously meant a lot to Yelich, who said he has formed a close relationship with his manager.

“He wouldn’t do something like that if he didn’t believe in it,” Yelich told Sammon. “For him to think of me in that light, it’s special. It’s an honor that he did that.”

Yelich ended up breaking his kneecap on a foul ball the next day after Murphy's conversation with Attanasio, but the Brewers pushed the extension through anyway the following spring. Yelich's seven-year, $188.5 million addition to his existing deal gave him a total of nine years, $215 million and a mutual option for 2029.

Even though Yelich's power has dipped since the deal was signed, the fact that he's stuck around this long and become a pillar of a successful clubhouse has to make the deal worthwhile from the Brewers' perspective -- and over the last three years, he's discovered his power again, too.

Credit to Murphy for his forward thinking, and it's altogether fitting that on Thursday, the skipper was rewarded with an extension of his own.

More MLB: Craig Counsell Has 5-Word Message on Brewers' Pat Murphy Extension