Lorenzo Cain relishes reaching 10 years MLB service but future unclear

When Lorenzo Cain became a free agent following 2017, the Brewers, who had traded him to the Royals in 2011, gave him a five-year, $80 million deal.

CINCINNATI – Lorenzo Cain was designated for assignment Saturday, but conventional wisdom would tell you he wasn’t supposed to make it to this point.

In a sport in which kids are often pushed to play on select travel teams at a very young age, the Milwaukee Brewers centerfielder didn’t start playing baseball until he was a sophomore in high school. Only one college, Tallahassee Community College, expressed any significant interest in him. He was a 17th-round selection in the draft by the Brewers in 2004.

“It’s the only story like that that I know of,” Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “It’s tough for me to imagine that reoccurring.”

As Cain walked into the visitors’ clubhouse at Great American Ball Park on Saturday afternoon, he did so on the date that marks 10 years of service time in Major League Baseball. It’s a rare feat for anyone who even is able to make it to the big leagues. For a late starter like Cain who dealt with injuries throughout his career, especially early on?

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

“I tell people all the time, if you had told me I was gonna play 10 years in the show, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Cain said. “It just took a lot of hard work starting from when I first started in high school, 10th grade, picking up a bat really for the first time and playing organized sports for the first time. It really started there.

“I’ve worked my tail off and I’d say it’s all paid off in the end, being able to get 10 years in the show and have a long career and win a World Series and all that good stuff. It’s been a blast.”

One of the beauties of baseball is represented by Cain’s career; there is no singular path to becoming a big-leaguer. Cain, 36 and on perhaps his final tour in the league, took the road less traveled.

Cain showed up to his first high school practice wearing a collared shirt, jean shorts and basketball shoes. He had no baseball equipment of his own. The news of the DFA was something no player wants to hear, no doubt, but considering those beginnings, 10 years in the majors is even more noteworthy and laudable.

“I didn’t have any cleats, glove, anything, I borrowed everything from the very beginning,” Cain said. “I’ve had great people in my life to push me, who have helped me out a lot through my high school days, all the way up to now. I’ve been very fortunate, been blessed to play as long as I did. If it’s the end, can’t really be upset about anything.”

Even after being drafted and showing flashes of his future Gold Glove abilities in center while surprising many with his ability to hit in the minors, Cain was only listed as the Brewers No. 8 prospect by Baseball America the year he debuted.

More:Brewers unveil their new alternate City Connect jerseys

Traded to Kansas City prior to 2011 as part of a deal that brought Zack Greinke to Milwaukee, Cain established himself as one of the centerpieces of Royals teams that won consecutive American League pennants and a World Series in 2015. He was named the ALCS MVP in 2014 and hit .271 across 12 Fall Classic games.

When he became a free agent following 2017, the Brewers lined up at his door, offering a five-year, $80 million deal. Cain made good on the contract immediately, earning an all-star nod in 2018 as the Brewers came within one game of the World Series. Cain finished seventh in MVP voting, the second time in his career he was in the top 10; he was third in the AL MVP race in 2015.

Cain never envisioned himself in MVP races or chasing down a Gold Glove award, as he did in 2019, mostly because that simply isn’t how he’s wired.

“For me, I’ve never been a guy to say goals,” Cain said. “I feel like if you set goals you put that limitation on yourself. Or, if you don’t reach that goal, you’re kind of down on yourself. The only thing I always focused on was staying healthy and allowing everything else to take care of itself.”

Brewers manager Craig Counsell, who reached the 10-year service time mark as a player, said that Cain’s ability to adapt to what the league was trying to do to him throughout his career is what stands out most about his longevity.

“I think it’s always that you’re making adjustments,” Counsell said. “It’s a big thing. You always have to make adjustments as a big-leaguer and if you’re making it 10 years, you’ve had to make a whole bunch of adjustments because the league is always trying to figure out a way to get you out or health is trying to figure out a way to knock you out.

“So you’re out here as the player trying to figure out a way to combat all that. And if you’ve made it through 10 years, you’ve done a pretty darn good job.”

Cain’s biggest adjustment came against sliders away and two-seam fastballs, a weakness which early in his career pitchers would relentlessly attack.

“I had to figure out either how to lay off it or find a way to hit,” Cain said.

Which did he go with?

“I kind of tried to split the difference,” Cain said with a laugh. “I still chase it a little bit but for the most part, I was able to lay off it just enough to get 10 years in the show.”

Cain’s 2022 season hasn’t gone as he or the Brewers would have hoped. He entered Saturday batting .179 with a .465 OPS and has been relegated to a role off the bench most days, something that Cain, a consummate teammate and vital clubhouse presence, accepted without disdain.

Cain acknowledged again before Friday’s game in Cincinnati that 2022 could be his final season as a player. He’s still undecided, he says, but with three boys at home there is a strong pull in that direction.

“Still kind of a wait-and-see approach, but it’s probably a good chance this might be my last year,” Cain said. “I have my days some days when I say, ‘Aw, this is going to be the last year.’ Then I have days where I say, ‘OK, I’ll come back for another.’”

Whether Cain hangs them up this off-season, he has reached one of baseball’s most respected longevity milestones among players and coaches.

The tangible benefits for reaching 10 years in the majors are significant, even for someone such as Cain who signed a lucrative free-agent deal. When a player reaches 10 years of service, he becomes fully vested in the MLB Players Association pension. It guaranteed a minimum of $68,000 a year for retired players and up to $220,000 if they wait until they’re 62.

It’s a milestone celebrated around the league, and for good reason, although Cain would prefer nothing fancy and no attention brought his way.

“I’m not trying to do anything special so I don’t want anyone to make a big deal out of it,” he said. “You know me, I’m a low-key guy and I don’t want a lot of attention. I just want to get to 10 years, enjoy it, say I’ve done it and that’s about it.”

Source link