The Milwaukee Brewers Trade For Christian Yelich, Sign Lorenzo Cain
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OH SHIT! We see you, Brew Crew! Fuck a cold ass stove! The Milwaukee Brewers just swinging deals left and right on a casual Thursday. From out of nowhere, the Brewers swooped in and traded for Miami Marlins outfielder Christian Yelich, who was most recently linked to the Atlanta Braves, and then about an hour later, they inked outfielder Lorenzo Cain to a five-year, $80 million deal.
That’s a pretty significant haul that Milwaukee had to part with to reel in Yelich, too. Outfielder Lewis Brinson was the Brewers’ number one prospect according to Baseball America, outfielder Monte Harrison was their number five prospect, infielder Isan Diaz was their number nine prospect, and right-handed pitcher Jordan Yamamoto struck out 113 batters in 111 innings in Single-A last year.
That’s a lot to give up, but what they’re getting in return is a very damn good player in Yelich, who has hit .290 with an .800 OPS since he broke into the majors as a 21-year-old outfielder with Miami in 2013. Since the start of 2013 (min. 600 games), here’s a list of players who have been able to maintain at least a .290 batting average while also maintaining at least an .800 OPS — Nolan Arenado, Andrew McCutchen, JD Martinez, Robinson Cano, Freddie Freeman, Jose Abreu, Justin Turner, Daniel Murphy, Paul Goldschmidt, Mike Trout, Buster Posey, Adrian Beltre, Charlie Blackmon, Joey Votto, Miguel Cabrera, and Jose Altuve. That’s a pretty elite class to belong to.
In addition to getting a player of Yelich’s caliber, they’re also getting a very team-friendly contract for the foreseeable future. Yelich is set to be paid $7 million next season, $9.75 million in 2019, $12.5 million in 2020, $14 million in 2021, with a $15 million club option in 2022. That’s what we in the business call a steal.
On top of adding Yelich, the Brewers also signed Lorenzo Cain to a five-year deal, who was a big part of that excellent Royals core that went to two straight World Series, winning one in 2015. Cain, over his last four seasons, has hit an even .300 with a .789 OPS, and has a third place finish for the American League MVP in his back pocket from that championship season in 2015.
Last year, Milwaukee got a taste of that Wild Card chase and they’re not about to call that season a victory just for finishing one game back of the second Wild Card spot. They’re loading back up with the additions of Cain and Yelich, and they might not be done, either. Could the additions of these two outfielders be enough to entice someone like Jake Arrieta to buy into what the Brewers have going on? I wouldn’t hate that at all.