The Milwaukee Brewers made a splash last week trading a package of prospects headlined by Lewis Brinson to the Miami Marlins for young outfielder Christian Yelich.
Moments after trading for Yelich, the Brewers signed veteran outfielder Lorenzo Cain to a five year, $80 million dollar contract. Yelich and Cain will lead a revamped Brewers outfield that will be more athletic but also hit for more power. Here’s how the two newest members of the Brewers will do in 2018.
Christian Yelich: Yelich should been benefit from the trade. Expect to see an increase in his power numbers now that he is hitting in hitter friendly Miller Park. Marlins Park is a pitchers park and it played deep in the allies. Miller Park is a bandbox comparatively speaking. Yelich has averaged 15 home runs and 74 RBI in his career. While I expect an uptick in those numbers, let’s not forget that Yelich is a ground ball hitter. He consistently puts the ball in play and gets on base. If Yelich continues to effectively put the ball in play and add a handful of home runs to career best 21 that he hit in 2016, he could be a terrific source of offense in 2018. Yelich is worthy of considering in the 10th to 12th round in most drafts.
Lorenzo Cain:Â The soon to be 32 year old is a former Brewers farm hand so he is familiar with the organization. Cain will man center field for the Brewers and while he isn’t the athlete Keon Broxton is, he can still cover a lot of ground. Cain is an upgrade over Broxton offensively and that is where the Brewers hope he makes an impact for them. Cain’s career averages aren’t great by any means but he adds power to the top of the Brewers line up. Cain is a career .290 hitter and has averaged 12 home runs and 69 RBI’s per season in his career. Those numbers are meh from a fantasy standpoint but Cain has averaged 27 stolen bases per season since 2010. That is where his value is.
Is Cain worth drafting? No, but he will have an opportunity to be more productive in the Brewers line up and he could steal 30 to 40 bags. At most, he is a bench piece in fantasy.
Yelich is obviously going to get drafted and make an every day impact in your line-up. Cain on the other hand will more than likely go late in most drafts and serve at a bench piece. Either way, the Brewers got better last week and are now in the market for starting pitching.