With spring training roughly six weeks away, the market for free agent center fielder Lorenzo Cain seems to be heating up.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Milwaukee Brewers have expressed interest in reunited with Cain, who they originally drafted (17th round in 2004) and developed before trading him to the Kansas City Royals in the Zack Greinke deal. Also, the Texas Rangers are pursuing Cain as well.
The #Rangers have ramped up their pursuit of free agent outfielder Lorenzo Cain, says a source.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) January 4, 2018
Interestingly enough, the Brewers are fairly deep in outfielders, with Domingo Santana and Keon Broxton joining Ryan Braun in their starting outfield. The club also has top center field prospects Lewis Brinson and Brett Phillips ready for MLB action. Pursuing Cain would suggest another move, likely trading an outfielder for a pitcher.
As for the Rangers, they aren't as deep as Milwaukee in the outfield, but they do have some interesting young players. Delino DeShields and Nomar Mazara were regulars last year, and Willie Calhoun could be ticketed for left field. It seems unlikely Texas would let any of them stand in the way of signing Cain, however, especially since DeShields could slide to left field and Calhoun could see time at DH.
We ranked Cain as the fourth best free agent available this offseason, though I think he's one of the riskiest big ticket free agents out there. Cain's great! Really good player and an unbelievably nice guy. He'll also turn 32 in April and much of his game revolves around his legs. We've seen outfielders with similar skill sets, like Carl Crawford, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Heyward, and Melvin Upton, sign big contracts and flop in recent years.
For now, the market for Cain is starting to come to life a bit. Even if a reunion with the Brewers may be unlikely given their outfield depth, their interest gives Cain something he and his agent can leverage against other teams.
