Brewers designate Lorenzo Cain for assignment

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 the roster move, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. 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. Although 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.