Leave it ol’ Davy Stearns to turn up the heat on the ol’ hot stove. In a MLB offseason that has been fairly quiet up to this point, Brewers GM David Stearns got the ball rolling heading into February. In a span on roughly 20 minutes, the Milwaukee Brewers secured the services of OF Christian Yelich and OF Lorenzo Cain. Yelich was sent to Milwaukee in exchange for four prospects, including OFs Lewis Brinson and Monte Harrison. Cain, who was free agent after not resigning with the Kansas City Royals, returns to the franchise which drafted him WAAAAY back in the 17th round of the 2004 amateur draft.
Christian Yelich
In Yelich, the Brewers (more than likely) have found their lead-off man for the foreseeable future, as he will be under team control for the next five years. Yelich, who hit .282/18/81 last season is a career .290 hitter who possesses both a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger award. Yelich will look to make an immediate impact in a lineup that was already keeping the Brewers competitive in games a season ago. Going to Miami is a four part prospect pack, lead by Lewis Brinson. He was ranked as the Brewers top prospect and is considered by many a top-15 prospect in all of baseball. Along with Brinson, the Marlins received INF Isan Diaz, OF Monte Harrison and RHP Jordan Yamamoto. (Brinson, Diaz and Harrison were rated as Top-10 prospects in the organzation).
Lorenzo Cain
Lorenzo’s coming home. His walk-up music should probably be that Diddy Dirty Money hit from forever ago. Cain was part of the Zack Greinke-Yuniesky Betancourt deal (yes, that’s a Yuniesky Betancourt reference. Point for me), Cain spent six seasons with the Royals, winning an ALCS MVP and World Series ring with the team. According to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN, the deal is worth 5-years/$80 million. Cain is expected to be formally introduced on Friday. This deal is the largest FA contract signing this season and includes no-trade protections as well as award bonuses. The addition of Cain creates a very potent outfield for the Brewers in 2018, as he will most likely join former MVP Ryan Braun and newly acquired Christian Yelich.
Boy, oh boy! Stearns has put the rest of baseball on notice that the Brewers aren’t messing around in 2018. With Pittsburgh officially a dumpster fire, one could very well see the NL Central as a two-horse race in 2018. Next addition needed is obviously pitching. The Brewers have lacked any significant star power for quite some time. The addition of a Darvish or Arrieta could very well fill that void. Only time will tell. Until then, #GoBrewers.