Brewers Sign Free-Agent CF Lorenzo Cain To Five-Year, $80M Deal

Free-agent center fielder Lorenzo Cain has agreed to a five-year, $80 million contract with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Lorenzo Cain signs with Brewers news

The deal came less than an hour after Milwaukee acquired Christian Yelich in exchange for four prospects in a trade with the Miami Marlins.

“We’ve got a chance to be pretty good,” Cain told MLB.com on Thursday night. “I’m looking forward to doing whatever I can to help. It would seem we’re a playoff contender.”

Cain, 31, was drafted by the Brewers in 2004 and debuted with them in 2010, a year before he was sent to Kansas City as part of the Zack Greinke trade. He’s been with the Royals since, hitting .290/.342/.421 with speed.

“The chance to come home like that, so to speak, meant a lot,” Cain added. “That’s the team that drafted me, developed me. I got my first hit with them, my first home run. It means a lot to go back there. I want to win.”

Cain’s new contract is the longest term and largest payout of any  MLB free-agent deal this offseason. It surpasses Carlos Santana’s three-year guaranteed $60 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies in December.

The deal includes no-trade protection and award bonuses of $300,000 for each All-Star team Cain makes and $500,000 for an MVP Award, the source said.

Cain was drafted by the Brewers out of Madison County High School in Florida in 2004 but didn’t start with Milwaukee until 2010.

After joining the Royals in 2015, Cain finished third in American League MVP voting and was a key member of Kansas City’s World Championship team that year.

Cain hit .289 with 56 home runs and 308 RBIs in 713 games with the Royals, whose fans he thanked for their support.

“I absolutely love Royals fans,” Cain said. “They loved on me for so many years. Just thinking of them brings a smile to my face. Man, I’m really going to miss them. Just all the support they gave me. It was incredible. We all went through so much together.”

Last season, Cain was an AL Gold Glove finalist in center field along with Toronto’s Kevin Pillar and Minnesota’s Byron Buxton, who won the award.

Among the other teams that had voiced interest in Cain before he signed with the Brewers were the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays.