Scarcely an hour after acquiring Christian Yelich in a trade with the Marlins, the Brewers have gotten themselves another outfielder: Lorenzo Cain, signed to a five-year, $80 million deal as reported by ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick and first broken by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
One of the best position players on the market this winter, Cain is making a homecoming by heading to Milwaukee. He was drafted by the Brewers back in 2004 and debuted with them in 2010, a year before he was traded to Kansas City as part of the Zack Greinke deal. He’s been with the Royals since, slashing .290/.342/.421 with speed that makes him valuable both in centerfield and on the base paths.
This gives the Brewers a dramatically upgraded outfield, with both Yelich and Cain, and it gives the NL Central reason to start getting scared of what this club could look like in the years to come.