Brewers’ Lorenzo Cain opts out of remainder of 2020 season

Brewers center fielder Lorenzo Cain has opted out of the remainder of the 2020 season — a highly understandable move considering that the two-time All-Star is on a Milwaukee team that is deeply embroiled in MLB’s COVID-19 crisis as it waits to face a Cardinals team on which multiple players and staff members have tested positive. The Brewers publicly supported Cain’s decision on Saturday:

Cain played in five games for Milwaukee this season prior to shutting it down. The father of three is walking away from nearly $6 million as he prioritizes his own safety and that of his family.

It should be interesting to see what missing essentially a full year has on the 34-year-old Cain’s future. He remained stellar defensively in 2019 and finally won his first Gold Glove, but his offensive numbers dropped off significantly, as he posted a .260/.325/.372 slash line that translated into an 81 OPS+, his worst since 2013. Cain still has two years left on his contract and the Brewers aren’t exactly stacked with young players lining up to replace him, so he should get further chances in Milwaukee (assuming baseball is able to safely conduct a season in 2021 and beyond). But as a player in his mid-30s who struggled last year and is more or less taking the year off in 2020, it’ll be interesting to see if he’s capable of bouncing back.