The Brewers have designated Lorenzo Cain for assignment. The move comes on the same day that he reached 10 years of MLB service time. Cain and the club came to a “mutual decision” about today’s roster move, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (via Twitter). Jonathan Davis was selected from Triple-A to take his roster spot, per the team.
Cain is one of the most respected players in the game, evidenced here by the Brewers’ willingness to wait until he reached 10 years of service time before the DFA. Cain’s second tour of duty with the Brewers was absolutely a success, despite this season’s struggles. The veteran center fielder was in the last year of the five-year contract he signed with the Brewers when he left Kansas City as a free agent. It’s not clear at this time what the future holds for Cain, but from his comments here, it did not sound like he would be quick to find another club.
This 10-year veteran owns a career .283/.343/.407 line through 4,758 career plate appearances with the Brewers and Royals. He was a key figure at the heart of the Royals’ World-Series-winning team back in 2015, a year in which he finished third in MVP voting. He is a two-time All-Star and a Gold Glove award winner. Though the Gold Glove that he won in 2019 was his only such award, he has long been considered a premier defender in center field.
This season, however, has not been Cain’s finest. He slashed just .179/.231/.234 over 156 plate appearances. This comes on the heels of a .257/.329/.401 effort in 2021 spelled the end for Cain in Milwaukee. Nonetheless, he has been a gigantic figure for this team over the Brewers’ run since 2018 when he joined the Brewers as a free agent on the same day that they traded for Christian Yelich. The two outfielders remade the Brewers into an NL Central contender.
Davis, 30, joins the club for this first look this season. The former Blue Jays and Yankees outfielder has hit .297/.408/.426 across 179 plate appearances in Triple-A this season. For his big league career, Davis owns a .171/.272/.248 slash line in 259 plate appearances spread out from 2018 to 2021 in Toronto and New York.
Hopefully the guy can get a min salary offer from a non contending team. His glove in years past has been a beauty to watch
Exactly what he won’t be doing. Why play for a non contender ? Nope, not going to happen.
Hopefully Cain will hook up with his brother Abel, and they will start a new joint effort, oh, wait, probably not a good idea..
Yeah, brothers hooking up is normally not a good idea. But at least if they did we wouldn’t have to another West Virginia on our hands.
I don’t think you understand how names work.
I don’t think you understand how jokes work.
r/whoosh
With numbers like that… looks like a ray to me lol. Half of the lineup is like that.
Phillies just found a center fielder!!
If you saw him play recently, Lorenzo Cain isn’t MLB caliber anymore. No, he won’t be signing with anyone else.
He will sign with someone else, you are wrong and do not know anything.
A change of scenery might be all he needs. Definitely with a shot to a team needing a boost on the field or in a clubhouse (once he clears waivers).
Off to the Yankees, change of scenery did wonders for Matt Carpenter
angels?
How is a change of scenery supposed to change his talent level? Is the air in Milwaukee somehow different. This “change of scenery” myth needs to be put to sleep.
it’s the beer in milwaukee that’s bad. the air is fine.
Change of hitting coach did Matt Carpenter wonders
You don’t know that it was the hitting coach. That’s like one of a gazillion potential variables including randomness.
Herrera is not bad. I really don’t get it.
Didn’t say Herrera is bad,just don’t want to rely on him.Cain could platoon with him.
What a bizarre hope “I hope he plays on a non-contender” lmao you KNOW the Giants will be signing him by EOD.
You are wrong and do not know anything
The end of an era.
Oh, please.
The end of an error?
5 years at $80 million dollars, was that really worth it? And now Yelich? Have you gone to the school of LAA for hiring?
No . How can it be the end of an era? They never even came close to winning anything besides a couple worthless central titles.
It was a bad contract. Cannot believe this TJ guy saying it was “absolutely a success” based on one great season and four bad ones.
Maybe neutral but not bad. The two and some key pitchers made the team a contender again. Didn’t win but did create highs and lows for Brewers’ fans
Cain was paid $66.2 million over the lifetime of the contract and he put up 8.5 fWAR. (He was paid for only 25 days in 2020.) That’s a fair value for a free agent contract. (If you prefer Baseball Reference, he did even better at 11.5 WAR)
You might not like that the later years were weaker than the first year but those are less predictable. No GM would say this is bad especially when Cain was involved in three postseasons out of four years.
For comparison, see Dexter Fowler and the Cardinals. That was a bad contract.
Not as bad as Jason Heyward and the Cubs
Is there a player in that lineup that would be a starting player on a good team?
Oh com’on, Yelich would be at least a bench player?
Sure, but he’s regressed far enough where he’s not better than a Joc Pederson or Chris Taylor at this point.
And his defense is abysmal.
Narvaez and Adames for sure.
While currently on the IL, Wong is still an average bat with Gold Glove defense.
Urias? Tellez maybe
We’d like you back in KC!
You’re right!, It would seal last place for you!
With the decision to wait until he had his pension (10 yrs of service) my guess is that he is leaning towards retirement. But a 1 day or end of season deal for him to walk off in the uniform where he had the most success in a city where he is beloved would be a nice swan song.l, especially because they are not playing for anything.
@Curly – whats your hard on over hating Lorenzo Cain? Race-related or nah?
Another quality comment from UK.
Yea looks like A’s fan popping in to start their usual obnoxious trouble
@A’s. Just glancing at any and every article, you will see that curly comments as much as humanly possible. There’s no rhyme or reason, he probably just gets a good kick of endorphins from each like.
Stop digging for something that isn’t there, dude. You could attack curly for providing zero insight to his posts that constantly put down players, but calling him racist is just pathetic. You’re smarter than that.
Lol BeansforJesus, that’s a funny name.
You know FredMcGriff HOF, I just enjoy this site. A couple of opinions & a few chuckles. Nothing more, nothing less. Let the anger wring itself out like a dirty washcloth.
Hear hear, Curly!
Will bet a lot of money the Royals sign him to some sort of contract, they love their reunions with aging veterans
If they do, much respect to them…
Shame they wouldn’t bite on Hosmer. Even the Royals don’t want him back.
Lol. Royals trade for Hosmer, Moustakas, and Escobar for an old-timers’ season. Half the wins, twice the salary, but 100% fun!
What does your name mean anyway @BeansforJesus
It means different things to different people.
Well what’s yours? I’m serious too lol I find the name funny but idk if it’s about Jesus in the Bible or “Jesus” a Latino guy who needs beans lmfao (btw I’m Latino so it’s ‘not racist’)
Lmao. I love me some gallo pinto any day of the week.
It literally means nothing to me. It’s a collection of words that popped into my head when creating the account, so it doesn’t relate to religious Jesus or name Jesus (Hay-soos).
I like to think it’s just some regular guy that happens to have the name of the religious figure and anytime his name is used as the subject of even the most benign statement, boring old heads crawl out the woodwork to say he shouldn’t use the “lords name that way”.
Hahaha you’re awesome dude. Thanks for the clarity, it was funny to read lol
Great depth & insight Beans, good to hear it’s not based on religion, that could offend some folks.
classy move waiting for his retirement to kick in before cutting ties
He’s earned over $100 million in his career, I think he would have been just fine without the MLB pension
Have you not seen the economy collapse? Nothing is for certain. Stop confusing millions and billions.
Even in a bad economy i think Lorenzo and future generations of Cain’s will be just fine with $100 million
Man, A’s fan is on a roll with the completely absurd idiocy tonight.
Without a steady stream of income, financial security is never guaranteed. Especially when you potentially have 50 more years left on your life.
If millions of dollars doesn’t guarantee you financial security, you waaaaay mis-spent your money. Such extravagant spending is a matter of CHOICE. If Cain doesn’t have financial security at this point he’s an idiot. And you are crazy for thinking otherwise, or are all the rest of us non millionaire peasants somehow surviving on scraps?
I could be wrong, but a guy who has conducted himself as well as he has on and off the field during his career, does not seem likely to be someone who’s been stupid with his money.
Rangers please..
His numbers are comparable to about half the Rays lineup.
Sigh.
Not even remotely true
Hey Jed Hoyer? look!!
Even the Brewers a SMALL MARKET TEAM can DFA a player they still owe money to and is a really good guy and leader, maybe you can do this with Heyward!
Just a thought.
There’s a difference between cutting Cain loose with $8-ish mil remaining on his final year than cutting someone in Heyward that’s still owed nearly $40 mil still when his deal ends after next year. I want the Cubs to cut Heyward as well too, but Ricketts won’t eat all that dead money still owed.
Dang right there is, let’s watch him hit 100 more weak grounders to 2nd base… that’s with the money
That money for Heyward is already absorbed into the teams budget. So, makes no sense keeping him. Same for Simmons and Villar. The Cubs are awful, period. No further discussion needed. But I agree. We are talking the Ricketts Family here so they may not approve a DFA on Heyward. Maybe Jed Hoyer already tried and it’s been shot down.
And Heyward already has his 10 years of service. So does Carlos Santana, I think.
Correct. Santana’s got just over 10 years.
Big difference. Brewers are serious playoff contenders. The Cubs are not. If the Cubs were playoff contenders they might consider a DFA for Heyward.
There’s still upside in keeping Heyward. Which is that he could (and it’s unlikely) play well enough to attract trade consideration. They wouldn’t keep any of the money – they’d have to eat it – but they might get back a prospect for him. The question is whether that tiny possibility is worth more than giving a tryout to someone at AAA who otherwise won’t get one.
If they have a really good prospect there, it might be worth keeping Heyward until June next year for service time considerations
Who among contenders would consider him?
Meh. Season is a lost cause anyway. And it’s not like they have someone great to bring up from Iowa.
I think they can wait until the offseason when they need his 40 man spot.
The Brewers can use the 25 man spot because they are in the race.
Well, the Cubs aren’t contending this year, and it’s not like Heyward’s blocking any outfield prospects, so the Cubs don’t currently mind occasionally running out an excellent defensive OF who can no longer hit.
He’s long past excellent defensive outfielder.
Does anyone have a concise, well thought out assessment of what happened with Heyward after CHC signed him? His career trajectory went straight into the trash from day one. Why?
Yeah but now we got the dude from Korn in CF.
Hope he wears ADIDAS
@af. Brewers are going to be rocking out in the clubhouse. I’m hoping they don’t make John cut those awesome long dreads.
I respect that they waited till he hit 10 years before they did it
There was a great article on that on “The Athletic” a couple of days ago. (Which i dont subscribe to)
Accessible free; if your first time seeing “theAthletic”
Changing the browser; and accessing the link does it:
https://theathletic.com/3365707/2022/06/15/lorenzo-cain-milwaukee-brewers-retirement/?amp=1
What does the player get for 10 years? A max pension?
Yes. He’s fully vested.
Yes. Fully vested pension.
Yes, he’s eligible to collect 100% of his pension, whereas he would’ve collected ~99% if he left just prior (that 99% is not accurate, just an illustration, we use actuarial mathematicians to figure the exact percentage).
If he plays in the MLB after this point, he restarts a second pension.
Call up Ca$hman. I love him as a backup, truthfully. I wonder if Mr. Cain would accept that role now? Let me know Brew Crew fans. Thanks
No team would want him to play at this point. Maybe he can throw batting practice for the team before games and coach outfield defense.
Makes so much sense for the Marlins to take a flyer on this guy.
No, he can’t hit, and his range is nothing what it was. They need someone who can at least hit.
I’d take him on the Mets but I think the Phillies will get him
Rather get Shogo personally.
He’d be a great fit on a buy low deal for Arizona. Pretty much all of their outfielders are lefty hitters so he could fit in as a platoon option and help mentor the young guys like Thomas and Varsho
Angels written all over. Can play CF and corner. Lagares bye bye
Bye, bye Legares, hello Cain!
One of the few places where Cain would actually be an upgrade.
does he play a good CF still?
He’s definitely lost a few steps. Listening to the Brewers games this year their announcers have sounded surprised that some balls have gone for hits that they expected Cain to catch
I’d say good, but not the level he is known for. Watched him commit a couple nonchalant errors (even if they weren’t recorded as such) which makes me wonder if he’s just not committed to playing at all after the DFA. Wouldn’t be surprised either way though.
4 bad years of a 5 year contract is not a success. And I’m so glad a millionaire got his retirement package. The world is a better place now.
I disagree. 2022 is the only bad year. He opted out because of COVID in 2020.
He had an 81 OPS+ in 2019. That’s 19% below average offensively. That’s pretty terrible. He was also a tick below average last year.
He did win the Gold Glove in 2019.
They weren’t paying him $15m to get a Gold Glove
Yes, they were most certainly paying him for his defense. How many ballplayers can do what Cain did in CF?
Sounds like jealousy, which is a you problem. Get off this site.
If anyone should get off this site it’s you, Mr. virtue signal.
It is a classy move , planned weeks if not months ahead if it came to this.
Imagine the pub say they released him two or three days ago , a week ago , no one would like the brewers as a place to sign. Bad business to jettison Cain pre ten year. Classy guy.
He’s basically done.
Maximized his $$ during career.
Good luck Lo
Yes, as a Cub fan I have to give David Stearns and Mark Attanasio kudos here. It’s the proper way to handle a retirement of a key player due to diminishing skills. From Cain’s earlier comments it sounds like he plans on retiring, but there is no reason to make that formal announcement until the end of the season.
Why give Davis a 171 average for a major league average and 30 years old. Why not give some player’s with more upscale chances in the future.
I was thinking the same. I would guess Taylor will play more and Davis is a stop gag on the bench until one of the prospects is more seasoned, or another team DFA’s someone better.
I know what the 10 year thing means to the players, but it would be nice from MLBTR to do a small paragraph or a note on the significance of that milestone each time a player achieves it.
Much respect to Cain and the Brewers for allowing him to reach 10 years of service. A’s wouldn’t have given a flying eff
John Fishers first move after covid shut down was to try and not pay the A’s minor leaguers. Deplorable person, bad for MLB’s product and the history of our great game.
Good to see Korns Jonathan Davis getting a shot in Milwaukee. This guy rocks.
I can’t think of a better defensive OF to play in Milwaukee.
Would I be surprised if he signed with the dodgers and hit 300/400/500 over 130 selective PAs through the end of the season? Nope.
Hitting .300? What are you smoking? He can’t even hit .200 anymore.
Cain won’t be taking a minimum deal to join a non playoff team as their fourth outfielder. WhAt would be the point of that? I see him going home and being with his family.
It seems that all of those saying, he’ll sign here, he’ll sign there etc didn’t read the article and click the link for the brief interview. He is in no hurry to sign somewhere else right away, if at all.
Says his body is ready for a rest.
Here’s to hoping he retires with the Royals.
Possibly the end of the line for Cain, however he might draw some interest from teams like the Phillies and Marlins that have black holes in Center Field
As a Cardinals fan, I felt the Cain deal with the Brewers was essentially the same deal the Cards signed with Dexter Fowler. If im correct both years and dollars were close.
In my opinion, Cain was the better of the “deals” simply because he played most of his until recently. Fowler was hurt — a lot — and when he was healthy he was okay.
Neither deal aged well to be sure.
My guess is Cain is done. Unless he goes back to KC for a career ending lap with the Royals. It’s hard to envision a contending team bringing him in.
$7,500 a month in pension. Doesn’t sound like much given career earnings. But that’s money a class individual can use to make someone’s life better. 10 years for a guy who showed up in 10th grade in jean shorts and basketball shoes to his first baseball practice. Class man. And class move by Milwaukee.
Lol Dock; when you start a post with “$7,500” i was instantly brought back to those “spam” comments.
But as i continued reading;
was relieved to see; was your typical quality comment. Enjoyed reading it.
What, you’re not making $7,500 a month working from home? Thanks, appreciate the kind words.
If he waits until 63 to collect he gets $18333.33/month. Hopefully he can make the almost $100, 000, 000 he made last until then.
He’d make that return in the market now I’m guessing.
Cain made his mark.
First class move by the Brewmen. Well played.
I’d love to see the Reds bring him in… GABP could get his stick back…I’ve always had respect for this man..
I have my doubts. But first, he’d need to WANT to play..anywhere, and second, he’d have to stop swinging at the first pitch literally every at bat.
He would have zero interest in playing for a last place team like the Reds.
10 years of service gets you on the pension and health insurance for life right? Pardon me if this was addressed elsewhere
Partially accurate: It maximizes his pension. He would be eligible for a pension anyway, but reaching the 10 year mark gives him 10/5 rights & maxes his pension out completely – what that means is he essentially starts a second pension if he plays any additional MLB time. So, guys that play for 20 years get two max pensions, in effect.
Yankee Clipper………
Can you source that. Everything I have ever read say 10 years gets the players their pensions and $$ value is based on when the start collecting.
silhouettesaloon……………….
This is from the “player chat” with Christian Bergman and he addresses that healthcare……………
“…… reminds me of one more myth – you do not get lifetime healthcare
by playing one day in the big leagues. You get MLB healthcare for the
calendar year if you play one day, but you have to accumulate 4+ years
of MLB service time to even have access to pay for the MLB healthcare after retirement. I ended with 2 years 130ish days of service and I don’t have access to that plan”
As for pension……
“Major League Baseball has the best pension program of all professional sports. A big-league player needs a short amount of time—just 43 days of service—to qualify for a pension benefit. Forty-three days of service can guarantee an MLB player almost $9,000 per year pension benefit.”
“After ten years of service time, players earn their full pension, which
guarantees players a minimum of $63,000 a year and up to $220,000 if they wait until turning 62 to start collecting.”
https://sport-net.org/what-is-mlb-retirement-pay/
I should have stated that this is an article written before the latest CBA…the dollar value likely went up.
Hey Cat, it appears as though this information aligns with what I already wrote, so perhaps I didn’t explain it clearly. But, yes 10 years is their max benefit. If they play 11 years, their pension was maxed at 10 & based on dollar value of their agreed upon benefit at the time.
Your third and fourth paragraphs explain that using numbers as an illustration from 43 days (minimum pension benefit) to 10 years (maximum pension benefit).
There’s a very common misconception (as you can see throughout these threads) that players need ten years to vest & collect a pension, which is not true.
I hope that explains it, but it looks as though you have the correct information as cited from Berg.
Thank you!
Yankee Clipper……
I still see no evidence of you earlier statement “what that means is he essentially starts a second pension if he plays any additional MLB time. So, guys that play for 20 years get two max pensions, in effect”
MLB pension plan allows for a player with 10 service years to obtain the max benefit as outlined by the IRS…..
“In general, the annual benefit for a participant under a defined benefit plan cannot exceed the lesser of:
100% of the participant’s average compensation for his or her highest 3 consecutive calendar years, or
$245,000 for 2022 ($230,000 for 2021 and 2020; $225,000 for 2019)
The dollar amounts are subject to cost-of-living adjustments in future years.”
MLB pension plan has functioned the same way since last century. There is no second pension plan for playing past 10 years. The money a fully vested player collects annually is based on what age he starts collecting.
I would still like to see a source for the “2nd pension plan assertion”
Ok I’ll bite. We already learned some current mlb players and ex players visit here from the recent player chats on here. For the record I am not Fred McGriff but just a big fan.
For the record, I still think you belong in the HOF, not Fred. Very, very underrated when compared with other players who did make the HOF. Crime Dog was awesome.
Cain is no longer able.
What’s in that sprinkler water in the MIL outfield
Domingo, Keon, Carlos Gomez , Cain, KDavis could just never get it right out there
Brauns death felt like forever and now Yelich feels like a repeat.
Long are the days since they had everyday stalwarts like Corey Hart and Mike Cameron , Hell they’d love even an Aoki Kotsay or Weeks nowadays
Go-Go was better than you remember, that guy was legit in his prime. And you can add Gerardo Parra to the underappreciated Brewers outfielders list, he absolutely raked with the Crew
Keon was never really right before he got a spot out there. Same with Davis. Dude had a noodle for an arm. All I really remember about Santana was him completely missing a ball in the sun, laughing about it, then being handed a pair of sunglasses, which he proudly wore on his hat like a half wit.
Not sure why they’d want Weeks, who couldn’t get it right at 2nd long before ever being tried in the OF..which if I recall correctly he refused to do for Milwaukee (seems like that didn’t really happen until he landed in Seattle).
Gomez was awesome in Milwaukee what are you talking about
Hopefully Davis is finally not lost in the grandeur and can be a competent bench piece.
Is there a record for lowest lifetime batting average for brothers in law? Davis and Anthony Alford.
I was once tracking them ( ex jays) and they were up at one time in ML. 0 for like 47 combined before one got a hit lol
Cain could take Pillar’s spot for the Dodgers. Veteran 4th outfielder, good teammate. It’s a good fit. I can’t see him continuing to play if he’s not trying to get one more ring…
He’s no good anymore and he just took a shot in the nuts the other night. He’s done.
Seems like a new age of free agency has arrived. Sign a huge contract, maybe have a good season, then play so F-N bad, you get DFA’d and get the rest of your money for sitting on your butt. People say free agency is good for baseball? I don’t see it. I still say owners take all the risks, players simply take the money. The system is definitely broken. How do ANALytics calculate this when determining a player’s “value”?
Owners that ink these contracts are generally going against analytics when they do so. If not for analytics we’d probably have several 400 million dollar contracts already.
Cosmo2 – It is safe to say that $400M contracts will be common soon enough, analytics or not. Many owners, not all, are desperate to win and, while possibly ignoring analytics, have to gamble that a player might have the integrity to give their best effort every year, not just their contract year. Bottom line is not too many modern day players are earning their money. They take it for granted to be given outrageous sums of money for mediocre (or less) production, once signed. One can only hope that a STAR player can achieve “league average” numbers. It just gets really old, really fast to see money wasted on bums like Lorenzo Cain and Chris Davis types. I can hardly wait to see the type of contract a player like Joey Gallo gets. One thing is certain, he won’t earn it, no matter how much he gets paid.
Unless Gallo has a strong second half, he likely ends up with a one-year deal.
Lorenzo Cain is not and never has been a “bum”. He was an 2 x All-Star, Gold Glove winner and ALCS MVP. He was an exciting player to watch and by all accounts a classy teammate.
If a team decides to give him a contract worth 80 million that’s on them. It’s not your money. No need to begrudge those that get paid. If you have a problem with these contracts apply for the next GM opening that comes up. Better yet, buy a team of your own, then you can fix all these problems yourself.
Colonel – I assume Cain had good intentions, but what he offered in the past 3 seasons was very much in line with what I would call a bum. Not as extreme as Chris Davis, but still as lazy. I expect at least average towards the end of any major contract.
You are correct, it is not my money, but tying up good money from my favorite team handicaps them from improvement, so yes, I am concerned about the spending. I do not begrudge those that get paid, as long as a decent effort is offered on the field.
I had respect for your comments until you used the worn out phrases of “apply for the GM” and “buy your own team”. Those are and has been the weakest comment ever used on this web site. Thanks for you time…
I’m sorry you feel that way regarding my comments you consider “weak”.
As for Cain’s efforts being “lazy”, I disagree. Have his skills diminished in recent years? Yes, that argument can be made. He certainly did not produce as he had in the past, but I didn’t see a lack of effort when he was on the field. Injuries and age have caught up with him. Based on his recent comments I think he sees that as well.
There’s nothing about Cain that’s lazy. He’s one of the honored vets of the game.
Jazz – The past 3 seasons beg to differ, I am talking about his most recent contract with the Brewers, not his distant past. One good season and he started “relaxing”. He was not lazy in KC, but in Milwaukee, hmmm. I heard a common Free Agent noise coming out of Milwaukee during the 2019 season. I wonder what that was? Probably the unsettling sound of a solid contract combined with a lowering work ethic. Perhaps it was a strained hustle muscle. Don’t know for sure.
@JerryBird
MLB owners would have zero legal standing trying to enforce lifetime ownership of player contracts. They’d be sued for antitrust again in a heartbeat. The fact that they own the first 6 years of a player is more than other work industries. Most people at some point can choose their employer. A business that’s seen its values go from the low hundreds of millions to upwards of 5 billion has almost no ground to stand on.
Owners need to stop taking public funding if they want to take all the risk. These are quasi-public institutions. They virtually hold them in trust.
Hear ya…sucks to see the lack of consistency…but the mechanisms are there to be successful without chasing mass amounts of free agents. Tampa does it on the reg…Oakland repeatedly does it in waves. If anything it’s the ANGELS and all their revenue that shoots themselves on the foot.
Dock – I think we are on the same page, except for lifetime ownership. My concern is the life of a contract, not a career. I used to think it was good that players have a choice within the established rules, but so many stop producing before the ink is dry on the contract they just signed. No honor, no integrity, just show me the money. That is why I have a strong dislike for the free agency system. My favorite team has signed so many relief pitchers to 3 and 4 year contracts that they have to wait on winning until that wasted money comes off the books only to try and die again with the next round of free agents. Too many players just go through the motions while sucking up resources that keep my guys competing at a mediocre level. As a fan, this “stuff” has gotten way too old. I would actually prefer a series of one year deals at this point. When it comes down to owner/player contracts, the owners do take all the financial risks, the players take none. Public funding is a completely different conversation for another day. I appreciate your thoughts.
Double hat tip to the classy Brewers and LoCain. Enjoy retirement if this is your ride into the sunset!
Hello Cleveland, gotta be better than Straw
Straw’s a better fielder and baserunner. 1.1 bWAR already
Straw is definitely better
Myles Straw is one of the better CFs in the AL. What is your issue with him? Since trading him away, Houston has a revolving door in CF.
My issue with Straw is simple, in May he hit .178 and so far in june .121
Sounds like he’s done. He had a really good career, and now with 10 years of service time he can sit on that pension in addition to the salary he’s earned over the years. Enjoy the rest of your life, Lo-Cain!
He had a 79 OPS+ after 2018 and they paid him $66m over that time with a GG. He opted out of the 2020 season so a lost year there with two worse-than-average years around it. How is that “absolutely a success” TJ???
I can see the royals picking him up. Good career though. Sad that’s it’s come to this for him. But this is what happens sometimes when you have an honorable career and don’t use roids.
After Mookie Betts’ injury, I can see Cain in Dodger blue.
I see an Arte Moreno deal for 10/300m in the works.
I’m guessing that Cain will take a few weeks off and decide if he wants to continue to play before agreeing to join any other club. Given what the Brewers did for him and his pension, I’m guessing that there is some sort of ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ that he won’t sign with one of the NL Central teams for the remainder of this season. Imagine if he signed with the Cardinals and towards the end of the year he gets the big hit or makes a great catch to end Milwaukee’s shot at a playoff berth? Again I’m guessing here, but I assume he’s agreed not to do that to the Brewers.
If he decides he still wants to play this season, the Dodgers make a lot of sense for him as do the Phillies and even the Padres. While he wouldn’t start for any of these teams, he would be a great locker room presence and help keep players grounded and relaxed as they fight for a playoff berth or division title. If he wants to retire as a Royal, I see him waiting until the offseason to do so, provided that he’s decided to call it quits after the 2022 season of course. He would sign a one day contract with KC and then officially announce his retirement. I do not see him joining the Royals at any time for the remainder of this active season to play for them. Wow, I made a lot of assumptions in the post! LOL
Dotty – Knowing Cain isn’t a very good baseball player anymore, I’d say the “gentleman’s agreement” could be he WILL sign in the NL Central. I am sure the Brewers would love to face him, otherwise, why would they let him go? Most people seem to think he will suddenly become the player he was in KC. Fat chance.
Good luck to Jonathan Davis. I hope he makes the best out of this new opportunity. I had always hoped he would be successful in Toronto, but it didn’t happen. Maybe a change of scenery in Milwaukee will be more successful than his cup of coffee in the Bronx.
“Cain’s second tour of duty with the Brewers was absolutely a success”
Is that definitive? Year 1 was great, aside from that, that’s not been a good use of their resources
Cain signed a 5/80, delivering 11.6 WAR over the course of the deal. Based on the accepted cost of a win, he actually delivered surplus value.
So, based on a biased stat designed to make bad contracts look good, the contract looks good.
@Cosmo
It’s biased to assume the value of a contract is only tied to on field metrics. By on field metrics it appears he outplayed the contract even without the ancillary value. It’s biased to work on the assumption that winning games is the sole purpose of a player signing and their sole value to an ongoing concern.
Imagine a team going 162-0, but never selling a seat, a 0 Nielsen, never selling concessions, merch, etc.
There’s a number BEYOND WAR We need to get to that displays a players TRUE value to his organization in its entirety. The object of the game is to win, but this game is happening inside of a business. A decision over one might not make any sense at all to the other.
Imagine two identical players, but one is worth 60k added value in merch sales. You sign that player if they are both equally available.
I’m taking into account more than just WAR and metrics. You are the one making assumptions. These contracts are not worth it. I only mentioned WAR because someone brought up that absurd equation.
I get the sentimentality of waiting for the tenth year of service time accrual, but the man’s made over $100 million in his career.
Don’tcha think his retirement is fairly secure?
To some here, apparently millions and millions isn’t enough. He needs to be on a budget or he might not manage. Begs the question of how the rest of us non millionaires are surviving.
I don’t feel his retirement is any of my personal business. But given the class individual he seems…that 7,500k that seems like pocket change might go to help someone he loves, or someone in need. Perhaps the charities he works with.
I’m all for him taking every penny he can get. I just think that folks claiming millions of dollars doesn’t equal financial security are being absurd.
Kudos to the Brewers front office for this. I’m a Cubs fan and it shows why the Brewers are constantly competing while the Cubs can’t make a hard decision that admits financial loss by having Heyward continue to take a valuable roster spot from a prospect in a lost season, he’ll even Clint Frazier.
Lorenzo Cain and Dee Strange should form a band.
Strange Cain
If he forms a band with anyone it should be the Phillies Milb pitcher Mick Abel
When Cain signed his deal I said Brewers would get a a couple seasons of very good play out of him and the last few years would be downhill. Never thought it was a good idea to have given him 5 years and thought 3 years was max they should have given him.
I for one appreciate Lorenzo Cain, the way he played and his contributions to this sport I love. He never played for my team but I am definitely a fan.