According to the Milwaukee Brewers’ press release, their outfielder Lorenzo Cain opted for the remainder of the 2020 season. President of Baseball Operations David Stearns commented on the situation in the statement, saying: “Lorenzo Cain has informed us that will not participate for the remainder of the 2020 season.
We fully support his decision and will miss his talents on the field and leadership at the clubhouse. ”
Cain becomes the 18th player to opt out in 2020, not counting Nick Markakis, who initially chose not to participate but decided to continue playing for the Braves. Cain is arguably one of the biggest names on that list, a seasoned veteran with a decorated résumé that includes two All-Star appearances, a Gold Glove and a World Series ring as a member of the 2015 Royals.
It has not been said whether Cain was opting out for any personal medical reason, and if Cain is not at increased risk of contracting COVID-19, his decision will mean that he is moving away from the prorated portion of his original salary of $ 16MM for the 2020 season. Obviously, it is not a small amount of money, although it is a minor financial cost for a player who has already accumulated more than $ 50MM in career earnings, and is scheduled to earn $ 33MM during the 2021/22 seasons according to the terms of the five-year, $ 80MM contract 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 testing positive before the start of Summer Camp. (Eric Lauer also lost time after exposure to someone who was COVID positive, even though Lauer himself did not have the virus.) It’s fair to wonder if Cain’s decision was motivated not necessarily by his own team, but by the broader scope of the 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 inside the St. Louis clubhouse led to two postponed games and will almost certainly prevent the two clubs from playing Sunday.
From a baseball perspective, losing Cain is certainly a blow to a Milwaukee team that had aspirations for another postseason appearance, at the very least. While Cain was coming off an injured 2019 season that saw just 0.697 OPS in 623 plate appearances, he still managed to generate 1.5 fWARs due to his excellent center-field defense. Prior to 2019, Cain has been solidly above-average offensive performance during his previous five seasons, hitting .301 / .361 / .433 over 2805 PA from 2014-18 with the Royals and Brewers.
Without Cain, Ben Gamel now appears to be the Brewers’ primary center fielder. Gamel has shown decent potential both as an everyday player with the Mariners and part-time with the Brewers, hitting a respectable .266 / .336 / .391 out of 1199 PA from 2017-19, although the jury is still out on their own. center. Field glove. Gamel is down to -5.0 UZR / 150 and under-1 Defensive runs saved in just 181 career innings at center, as the vast majority of his playing time in the big leagues 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 pool of players. . (GG) (Taken MLB Rumors)