Brewers center fielder Lorenzo Cain has opted out of the rest of the 2020 season, according to a team press release. President of baseball operations David Stearns commented on the situation in the release, saying “Lorenzo Cain has informed us that he will not participate for the remainder of the 2020 season. We fully support Lorenzo’s decision, and will miss his talents on the field and leadership in the clubhouse.”
Cain becomes the 18th player to opt out of playing in 2020, not counting Nick Markakis who initially opted out but chose to resume playing for the Braves. Cain is certainly one of the biggest names on that list, a long-time veteran with a decorated resume that includes two All-Star appearances, a Gold Glove, and a World Series ring as a member of the 2015 Royals.
There hasn’t been any word as to whether or not Cain was opting out due to any personal medical reason, and if Cain isn’t at an increased risk of contracting COVID-19, his decision will mean that he is walking away from the prorated portion of his original $16MM salary for the 2020 season. It’s no small amount of money, obviously, though less of a financial cost for a player who has already banked well over $50MM in career earnings, and is slated to earn $33MM over the 2021/22 seasons as per the terms of the five-year, $80MM deal he signed with Milwaukee in January 2018.
Like all teams, the Brewers have had their share of COVID-19 cases, with Luis Urias and Angel Perdomo both testing positive before the start of Summer Camp. (Eric Lauer also missed time after exposure to someone who was COVID-positive, though Lauer himself didn’t have the virus.) It’s fair to wonder whether Cain’s decision was prompted not necessarily by his own team, but rather the wider scope of coronavirus cases around the National League in particular, with the Marlins and Cardinals. Milwaukee, in fact, was supposed to be the Cardinals’ opponent this weekend before an outbreak within the St. Louis clubhouse led to two postponed games and almost certainly will prevent the two clubs from playing on Sunday.
From a baseball perspective, losing Cain is certainly a blow to a Milwaukee team that had aspirations of another postseason appearance, at minimum. While Cain was coming off an injury-hampered 2019 season that saw post only a .697 OPS over 623 plate appearances, he still managed to generate 1.5 fWAR due to his typically excellent center field defense. Prior to 2019, Cain has been a solidly above-average offensive performer over his previous five seasons, hitting .301/.361/.433 over 2805 PA from 2014-18 with the Royals and Brewers.
Without Cain, Ben Gamel now looks to be the Brewers’ primary center fielder. Gamel has shown decent potential as both an everyday player with the Mariners and a part-timer with the Brewers, hitting a respectable .266/.336/.391 over 1199 PA from 2017-19, though the jury is still out on his center field glovework. Gamel has a -5.0 UZR/150 and minus-1 Defensive Runs Saved over only 181 career innings in center, as the vast majority of his big league playing time has come as a corner outfielder. Avisail Garcia is the only other realistic center field candidate on Milwaukee’s active roster, so the Brew Crew could turn to one of the other options (Keon Broxton, Corey Ray, or Tyrone Taylor) within their 60-man player pool.
As more and more players do this it’s going to force MLB to shut down the season
didnt we say that before OD and it was only like a dozen. heck, even Markakis opted back in. Cain is really the only player of consequence so far.
Buster Posey says hi
Except he’s a shell of his former self, overpaid, and on a midling team. high profile? yes, but not an Earthshattering choice
Posey would have hard time making the team if it wasn’t for his contract.
really ? i think a lot of teams would still take posey as a catcher dh first baseman. long from being done
Not at 15-20 million
More and more? Maybe I don’t understand what the word “more” means.
@DarkSide
Yes, Cain and Price are the most notable two. And I think what OP is saying is that it will continue and get to a point where we have to shut down, that that we at that point yet.
Reading comprehension skills are sorely lacking on this site….
Wiffle,
Like all wise people, opinions need to change based on more data. No Phillies getting this is more data. Only one player opting out after two weeks of the season is more data. A player opting in, is more data.
The data is always changing. And Phillies players not getting the virus is a huge game changer. And tomorrow, there may be another game changer. Now if we can get players to act responsibly, we might have a season.
sorry, youre right about Price. and i get the point. my counter argument is that people keep saying that its going to be a huge wave, but we’ve still not seen that yet.
Halo, I’m guessing the league already has more data than we know about. They knew about the Cardinals before we did. Probably more to be revealed about the Phillies and Marlins. As a whole, we shouldn’t be waiting around for outbreaks. We need to be proactive and not reactive. This is why our nation is now the world’s hot spot. We waited too long. And there is data (and quotes) to prove it. The entire country should have been shut down at the get-go. But people didn’t want to do that because they felt it infringed on their freedom.
Besides most Governors and Mayors would never agree to shutting everything down in their States
Newsom and Garcetti in LA love to shut everything down.
David Price.
Mike Trout will say hello once his baby is born. He is on maternity leave now. He isn’t coming back would be my bet. Especially now.
Trout is a mother?
Mike Trout is anything he wants to be.
Please define “more and more.”
The opposite of “less and less.”
Most of the guys opting out were guys on minor league deals who had millions in the bank.
Blah blah. Everything is going to shut down the season. Blah blah. Maybe it happens, maybe it doesn’t, but blabbering on everything thread is monotonous
Amen, Haworth
Yeah Haworth they get more entertainment from following Covid than they do from following baseball.
Yep
No it’s not
Why? Stop testing. People aren’t sick. Positives aren’t sick. It’s a joke. When 75% of influenza infections are asymptomatic, people will finally understand how ridiculous this is.
Umm…people ARE sick and it’s not going away which means if every person in America gets it at some point nearly 2 million people will die from it. So why don’t you just stop being downplaying the virus and do your part to help slow its spread.
TwentyForty – This is the exact reason why our country can’t get past this problem. People are getting very sick from COVID but fools continue to think this is not the case and will continue to spread it and make it worse. I just don’t understand why people are not taking this seriously and refuse to do their part by simply wearing a mask.
Big hit to Brewers . Wishing all to get through this .
Just end it already.
Are you a real baseball fan marrtho?
Nope hate baseball. I thought this was NHL rumors.
Suggesting baseball be shut down for safety reasons does NOT make one “not a real fan.” That’s just toxic gatekeeping.
Yup and it also means that the person saying it really can’t debate the issue at hand.
This is the first of many to come.. (players of significance)
Wrong – the word is money. Stop the fear.
Wrong, the word is safety. Contain and do your part and it will be fine
A tiny fraction, around 0.2 percent, of team personnel have tested positive. That’s 29 of 11,895. And some of these are false positives. So no I don’t think we’ll see too many more opt-outs. Sorry to disappoint you.
Where did you get 11,895 from? In a normal year, there are a total of 750 MLB players in the entire league (25 man roster x 30 teams). If you want to count the 60 man player pool this year, that’s 1,800. Throw in another 200 for coaches and you get to a max of 2,000. And BTW – There have been close to 100 positive cases already in MLB between players and coaches.
at this point ive just embraced the chaos
Why not live a little? Embrace the upper case.
And punctuation…
Finally! Welcome to the lighter side of sports.
Everyone opt out and call it.
can we stop saying “just call it?” have we not realized this is the choice of teams and players? if they dont want to play they opt out. if they do they wolnt opt out. plain and simple, its their choice.
When it does stop, Manfred and the owners are going to blame the “out of control” players. He’s already fired that shot at Tony Clark. MLB isn’t responsible (for any ills dating back to the steroid era).
The parenthetical phrase above is optional to read.
i mean it goes both ways. the PA seemingly didnt want mask orders, among other restrictions, and the fact is the players do have a responsibility to not put other players they encounter on a daily basis at a heightened risk of getting the virus. the fact is once the bubble was off the table most bets were off.
He’s got kids don’t blame him. Braun will opt out next
Braun will blame the specimen collector for his opting out.
Perhaps it is time for MLB to consider bubbling in three cities: NYC for east divisions, Chicago for central, and LA for west.
wont bubble players agree against it already.
I know that those three cities each home two stadiums, but wouldn’t it make sense to put a bubble in cities that aren’t epicenters for the virus? Maybe areas that have minor league ballparks around them that could be used.
Hopefully, Acuna opts out soon.
He is a high-risk player…
at striking out!
Acura: https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/SO_career.shtml
Acuna has already accomplished more than you will in your entire life.
A lot of knowledgeable baseball people are not afraid of a player with a career 127 OPS+. In fact, those knowledgeable people might even think that this indicates a very good player. Such people are aware of the fact that of the 16 career players with a 127 OPS+, 3 of them are in the HoF.
welcome to baseball in the modern era guys strike out.
Lorenzo doesn’t want to end up like Herman.
Seems reasonable.
One is 74 and was a cancer survivor that went to a public gathering. The other is a player in the prime of health and life who is told to isolate.
The two are not remotely comparable.
They are not comparable, it’s true.
One acted with reasonable caution, the other with mindless bravado.
One did not make assumptions, the other did
One made their calculations based on medical info and the best interests of their family, the other made their (mis) calculation based on other concerns.
The owners wanted the bubble. They were 100% right. The players union, 100% clueless. Hope they power on regardless and keep it as safe as possible.
Everybody needs to stop kidding themselves and just shut everything down until there’s a vaccine. It’s the inevitable conclusion to the season, maybe 20 games into the 60 game run, at best…. This season should have never happened. It was a huge mistake and an over estimation of people’s ability to be disciplined. They’re ultimately just people and masks aren’t a panacea with so much intimate close quarter contact and personnel coming and going and other teams flying in and guys interacting at the bases.
I watched a manager and an umpire walk over to yell at each other, touching their masks to take them on and off and barely getting them on properly before coming within spitting distance.
It’s just not feasible.
How does Mike Trout return to MLB with his wife and newborn at home?
Would not surprise me if he stayed out longer than the 3 paternity leave days as he ponders that very question.
Shouldn’t he be quarantined before stepping near that child?
He likely is being tested right before visiting
Likely being tested? He’s been tested every other day for a month.
The virus can enter a person’s system before being detected. Look what happened to Freddie Freeman.
I’m not personally informed about when Trout is being tested, so I can only say likely that he is being tested shortly before seeing his family, hence “likely”
that’s his choice
One player , 3 coach “outbreak “ my gosh the sensationalism .
What about the 18 players who tested positive in Miami?
i mean 18 is more than 3, no? i dont think this is about Miami at all but this specific case.
I know it’s not all about Miami, but I’m just pointing out that it’s way more than 4 people in the MLB.
You don’t get it. This is a pandemic. We need to be proactive and not reactive, If our federal government had understood this, we would be a lot further along in our fight against COVID-19. Alas, we waited until it was too late. As it is, MLB has already gone too far. Just shut it down.
Nice political jab full of biased garbage
What exactly was biased about it? That you don’t agree with it so it isn’t true?
Political jab equals bias..both suu I fed are biased so anything posted that isn’t a true fact is bias.
A “true fact”? Instead of “alternative facts”?
It’s not a “political jab” to acknowledge the underpinnings of where we are today. We know *for a fact* that our government, including the White House and members of Congress, was briefed on the virus in December 2019 and January 2020 (see the case regarding Sen Burr).
As a nation, we also had the ability to see what the virus did in other nations—Italy is a prime example—before it ever got rolling in our borders.
Still, the level of inaction seen in the Federal response in the first quarter of this year is obvious and undeniable. The *reason* for that inaction may be seen as political, but the statement that this country waited far too long to plan and respond is simply a fact, devoid of bias. It caused a longer shutdown than we might otherwise have needed, and at a greater cost to the economy. Like the financial meltdown of 2008, we will be paying for this for years, just trying to get back to where we were mid-2019.
And just think if we had a normal gov that took up the response right away and made mask wearing a patriotic symbol of our collective fight against this virus, instead the whole thing became political theater because he/they just didn’t take it seriously/don’t care/are incompetent/etc.
There are still facts in the world, it’s just that one side sees only what they want to believe, regardless of and usually intentionally contrary to the observable facts.
The whole thing is faith vs facts and one side seriously thinks that the two are equal when making important, wide ranging geo-political decisions…
If the Governors and Mayors in each State stopped allowing many businesses to remain open, if the BLM people were not allowed to gather by the thousands without masks if De Blasio had a clue, etc. Look in the mirror its the Government of each State that is messing these things up.
Mlb will stop the season when it reaches the point that rescheduling postponed games because of Covid becomes impossible. At that point, my guess is that the owners and players association will not come to an agreement on an alternative and the season will end. I don’t have high hopes on this season completing, but I sure wish they would find a way. Baseball is my escape from all I have going on in my life. Health issues with both of my elderly parents (advanced dementia and the other can’t walk and is depressed) who I moved next door to them to be their caregiver giving up a 6 figure job to do so. However. Baseball players have families too, and I understand that they should have the right not to work in a dangerous job if they don’t want to put their families at risk.
Probably TMI but I am clearing my mind.
Nothing wrong with that. We all need to clear our heads from time to time.
Just considering the league is essentially divided into three divisions, if one of the divisions (East) winds up playing significantly fewer games than, say, West teams, and perhaps one or more of those teams needs to cancel its season—how does MLB make a rational case for a postseason with any integrity? And if the postseason isn’t legit, what are they risking their health to play for, since the TV money for postseason is the pot of gold at the end of this rainbow?
let not forget half the marlins 30 man roster has the virus plus coaches
I say teams play as many games as possible. Teams use the year to sit and evaluate what they have in their organization. Then if they get enough games in for playoffs ,we have them if not us as fans just enjoy the games that we do get to watch.
It’s not about you getting your jollies by watching other people do stuff. Find some other form of entertainment. It is not difficult.
isnt that kinda what the commenter is saying? if they cam play enough its great, but if not then then it is what it is.
No, the commenter is saying to play until it is too late. That is not smart strategy when dealing with a virus that spreads this rapidly. Gotta stay ahead of the curve.
so far in a week past only the marlins fails have been the MLB down fall. unless it spread more and more to teams which it hasnt so far, look like the MLB will be playing. they just going to have to work around the marlins not playing unless they get a whole new roster
Resume playing in 2021 with the records of each team along with the stats of each player if and when the season is suspended.
No that not what I’m saying your putting words in my mouth.
Trust me I’m not getting my jollies off. At the same time I’m not going to panic like you. I don’t like this situation that we all are in but at the same time I’m not going to let this put me in a bad mental state. I get what your saying. But your approach to informing people will also cause people to shut you out so your not getting your facts across
Mike Trout is almost guaranteed to opt out rest of season. At home with wife and first child , he was 50/50 on starting season. Well being for family will overtake desire of salary .
Plus the Angels are in last place once again not looking good even with Maddon
I’m using your screenname for the Angels current situation
Thanks for trying MLB and MLBPA but 2020 it belongs to covid-19…unfortunately : (
well thank the MLBPA for not wanting a bubble. i get it would of been hard to bubble 30 teams plus 30+ people. but if they fail and have to shut down. not trying to bubble be their down fall. if the NHL and NBA bubbles work
really, can we stop with this? hockey and basketball are much more contained in general and more conducive to a bubble. baseball is not as much so.
they could of at least try. they wanted to. but players said no thanks and here we are half the marlins plus coaches got it.
Since there isn’t a contained bubble, they should have required mask usage at all for everyone that attends. But it seems like the MLBPA wasn’t amendable to that either
Failed to delete “at all”
not ready to give up yet but i think we should be happy they tried. it’ll be spun as a money thing, but when was playing ever not about money? didnt they tell us too that regaular season games were not profitable without fans. it would have been easier to not play, but they chose to try it, and i think that’s worth applause in and of itself, even moreso if they can find a way to persevere through this.
Yes. I appreciate the effort. Some baseball is at least some baseball.
Now see that is what I’m saying and thank you for saying it better then I did.
Do something you don’t feel comfortable or safe with to please me! – The American Public
Are you not entertained !?!?
If the season is terminated whatever the records are of the teams when suspended carries over to 2021, that would only be the fair way for all players and teams.
That is only fair if it were previously agreed to. Can’t just throw something like that in after the fact, it unfairly benefits teams that are doing well. Every team and player knew that the season could be shut down and scrapped at any time
Where is Urias? He tested positive a long time ago? Guessing he is not recovering well?
He should still get his participation trophy
I hope Gamel does well. Bad news for Cain, but it could be great for Gamel.
Gamel’s old school- check out the locks. Srraight outta the middle ages.
I would like to see Taylor up too because we can see what we have too with Braun not being a full time starter anymore. That would go a long way in deciding the direction of free agency in 2021. But then again, I would prefer not to have Sogard, Smoak and Gyorko on the roster. Should’ve gone with Erceg, Nottingham and Gatewood
Somrone positing Avisail Garcia as a “realistic” center field candidate. Can’t make that up.