Milwaukee Brewers: The Lorenzo Cain Trade Tree

The Milwaukee Brewers have made a lot of moves over the last few years. By signing Lorenzo Cain this offseason, one of them has come full circle.

The interesting part about all of it is that trading the package with Cain led to a series of other moves for the Milwaukee Brewers. Following the tree shows the chain reaction of what went on and the value one trade had.

Now, the first trade in December of 2010 was not just Cain. It was a package of him, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi in return for Zack Greinke, Yuniesky Betancourt, and cash. At the end of the 2011 season, Betancourt became a free agent, but not before hitting .252 for the Crew. As we all know, the pieces here were integral in bringing a World Series to Kansas City, including Cain.

The big ticket item of that trade was Zack Greinke. He went 25-9 in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform with a 3.67 ERA. He played very well for the most part. Then in July of 2012, the Brewers sent him away to the Angels for a return of Johnny Hellweg, Ariel Pena, and Jean Segura.

Johnny Hellweg pitched in a very short stint with the Brewers in 2013 with a very high ERA. Needless to say it wouldn’t last long. Pena lasted 29 inning across two seasons with numbers that were not pretty either. The successful aspect of the trade was Segura.

Over the span of fours seasons, Segura hit .266 23 homers. A number he nearly matched in Arizona during his first year away from Miller Park. But, the package the Brewers got for trading the shortstop was not bad either. It even adds a few more branches to the tree.

Segura, along with Tyler Wagner, went to Arizona in return for Isan Diaz, Chase Anderson, and Aaron Hill. This is where the tree branches off away from a direct line. As we all know, Diaz was just a part of the recent Christian Yelich deal. Anderson is slated to be the ace of the Milwaukee Brewers staff this season. Which leaves Hill.

Before getting in to the Hill trade, with the acquisition of Yelich, and the signing of Cain, the tree is full circle. The ignitor is back on the roster. So, back to Hill. He was dealt in 2016 to the Boston Red Sox for Aaron Wilkerson and Wendell Rijo. The latter is struggling in the minors, but Wilkerson had some impressive moments with the Milwaukee Brewers at the end of 2017.

To think, it all started with Cain being in a package to bring Greinke to the Milwaukee Brewers. Since then there have been some pretty big names brought in because of who eventually came to the organization.

Next: Prospect Spotlight On Marcos Diplan

This tree is pretty big at this point, and pretty impressive. To have names like Greinke, Segura and Yelich is pretty impressive. One move led to another and several players ended up playing for the Milwaukee Brewers.