Lorenzo Cain is among the most coveted free agents in baseball and the Texas Rangers and Milwaukee Brewers are both showing interest in the outfielder, according to reports.
ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick said the Rangers have “ramped up their pursuit” of Cain, while Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Cain has been a “frequent topic of conversation” for the Brewers this off-season.
Cain has spent the past seven seasons with the Kansas City Royals. He was extended a qualifying offer in November but rejected it to test the open market. The 31-year-old was drafted by the Brewers in 2004 and spent the first year of his MLB career with the team before being traded the Royals in a deal that involved 2009 AL Cy Young winner Zack Greinke.
In 155 games in 2017, Cain had 15 home runs, 49 RBI, 26 stolen bases, a career high 175 hits and slashed .300/.363/.400. His 20.5 WAR is fifth among outfielders since 2014, trailing only Giancarlo Stanton, Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen and Mike Trout.
The Rangers and Brewers certainly aren’t alone in their interest in Cain. Crasnick reported back in mid-November the Toronto Blue Jays had reached out to the Valdosta, Ga., native and Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling wrote in December that “Cain would represent a considerable improvement on every outfielder the Blue Jays ran out in 2017 and every outfielder they currently have on their roster.”
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