Milwaukee Brewers Make Major Splash, Sign Cain, Trade For Yelich

MILWAUKEE, WI — In an otherwise slow MLB offseason, the Milwaukee Brewers made a major splash with two acquisitions within a matter of minutes Thursday night.

In their first announcement, Brewers general manager David Stearns announced that the team acquired Gold-Glove-caliber center fielder Christian Yelich from the Miami Marlins in exchange for four prospects. The Brewers paid a steep price for the talented center fielder, who's considered to be entering his prime on a team-friendly contract, as Milwaukee sent top prospect Lewis Brinson, and notable fellow minor-leaguers Monte Harrison, Jordan Yamamoto and Isan Diaz to the Marlins in the exchange.

Yelich is guaranteed $43.25 million over the next four seasons, with a $15 million club option in 2022. Those figures are considered bargain prices for a top-flight MLB center fielder.

And then, as if that weren't enough, the Brewers signed former Kansas City outfielder Lorenzo Cain to a 5-year $80 million contract. According to MLBTraderumors.com, a chat with MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan confirmed that Cain was headed to Milwaukee: “They said from the minute free agency opened that I was on the top of their list,” says Cain. “We just had to work through all the details, and eventually we both got to the numbers we liked.”

Outfield Surplus

Even with the trades, Milwaukee now has an overabundance of outfielders on the roster. Consider that with Yelich and Cain now in the fold, the team still has veteran outfielder and face-of-the-franchise Ryan Braun under contract. Holdovers Keon Broxton and Domingo Santana are on the roster as well as prospect Brett Phillips. All have played outfield for the team in 2016 in varying degrees, with Braun playing a partial season due to injury, Broxton playing a partial season due to strikeout issues and Phillips playing a bit part as a young and up-and-coming prospect.

There is speculation that any combination of Milwaukee's existing outfielders could be traded for starting pitching, which the team said they'd be looking for during the offseason.

Photos:

Miami Marlins' Christian Yelich reacts after a called third strike from Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jon Gray in the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Kansas City Royals' Lorenzo Cain (6) is greeted by his teammates after scoring against the Chicago White Sox during the third inning of a baseball game, Friday, Sept. 22, 2017, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)