Brewers history: Ranking Milwaukee's top 3 January moves of the last 10 years

It should go without debate that the Milwaukee Brewers are in the midst of the "Golden Age" of the franchise's history. Despite being the smallest TV market in the game, Milwaukee has been a playoff contender for the majority of the last decade, qualifying for the postseason in seven of the last eight years. That level of sustained success is unheard of for a small-market team.

So how does this occur? First, it relies on the Brewers' scouting department, who has been consistently hitting on prospects and developing them into legitimate stars at the MLB level. Unlike many contending teams, the vast majority of the Brewers big league squad is homegrown talent who have risen through the minors together and found success at all levels.

Of course, it always helps to go make a move or two and help the young roster get to that next level. Milwaukee has not had many very loud offseasons outside of 2018. However, as we reflect on the start of this era of Brewers baseball, the month of January certainly stands out. Some of Milwaukee's most impactful moves have come during the month, so let's take a look at the biggest moves made in January over the last 10 years.

Ranking the Milwaukee Brewers' best three moves in the month of January over the last decade

1. Brewers acquire Christian Yelich from Miami Marlins in exchange for four prospects (1/25/2018)

Did you expect anything else in the top spot? On January 25th, 2018 (eight years ago yesterday), the Brewers executed a blockbuster deal that sent prospects Monte Harrison, Lewis Brinson, Jordan Yamamoto, and Isan Diaz to the Miami Marlins, in exchange for 26-year-old outfielder Christian Yelich. To that point, Yelich had already won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger, and helped Team USA bring home the gold in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

However, even the most bullish of evaluators didn't expect what Yelich did when he joined the Brew Crew; it was genuinely straight out of a video game. He was named to the 2018 NL All-Star team as a reserve, at the time hitting for a solid, but not head-turning .285 average, with 11 HR and 43 RBI. By the time the season ended, those numbers transformed into a .326 AVG, 36 HR, and 110 RBI, and Yelich was named the 2018 NL MVP after leadinng the Brewers to Game 7 of the NLCS in his first season in Milwaukee.

Yeli's 2019 season was even more impressive, despite the fact that a late-season injury prevented him from taking home his second consecutive NL MVP Award. Yelich cracked 44 homers, stole 30 bases, and posted a ridiculous 1.100 OPS, leading the Brewers to hand him a nine-year, $215 million contract extension prior to the 2020 season.

Arguments can be made about the value of the contract extension, though recent seasons and the growing salaries in baseball have made it look like a pretty good deal for the Brewers, but there’s no denying that the initial trade was one of, if not the best in franchise history. Milwaukee turned four prospects, all of whom never panned out, into a new face of their franchise, who has been the catalyst for the Brewers' current "Golden Age" of baseball.

2. Brewers sign Lorenzo Cain to a five-year, $80 million contract (1/25/2018)

Mere hours after the Yelich trade, the Brewers also reunited with Lorenzo Cain, signing him to a five-year, $80 million contract. Cain started his career with the Brewers before being traded to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for Zack Grienke during the 2010-11 offseason. Cain became a legend with the Royals, helping lead them to the 2015 World Series and winning ALCS MVP the season prior.

In his first year in Milwaukee, Cain was named to the 2018 NL All-Star team, finished 7th in MVP voting that season, and, alongside Yelich, helped lead Milwaukee back to the NLCS for the first time in seven years. In 2019, he won his only Gold Glove award, while manning center field for the Brewers where he seemingly robbed a homerun at least once a week. Over the 2018 and 2019 seasons, Cain compiled an impressive 9.4 bWAR while serving as an important veteran presence in the Brewers' clubhouse.

Though the back-end of Cain's second stint in Milwaukee was underwhelming, in large part due to his decision to opt out of the 2020 season and an injury that cut his 2021 season to just 78 games, Cain still managed to be a productive player due to his incredible defensive ability; he compiled 2.3 bWAR in 2021 despite playing less than half of the season.

Cain's tenure with Milwaukee came to an end in 2022 when the Brewers decided to designate him for assignment shortly after he reached 10 years of service time, which allows him to recoup the maximum retirement benefits that an MLB player can retain after stepping away from the game. Despite the abrupt end to his time in Milwaukee, what Cain meant to the team in 2018 and 2019 makes his signing an obvious inclusion on this list.

3. Brewers sign Yasmani Grandal to one-year, $18.25 million contract (1/9/2019)

The year after the Brewers acquired Yelich and Cain on the same day, they made another impactful January signing. Having faced him in the NLCS the year prior, the Brewers signed catcher Yasmani Grandal, previously of the Los Angeles Dodgers, to a one-year deal worth a guaranteed $18.25 million.

It was a large sum to pay for one player, especially given the Brewers' growing payroll heading into the 2019 campaign, but in his lone season in Milwaukee, Grandal was worth every penny of it. The 30-year-old Grandal had one of the best seasons of his career in 2019, compiling 2.5 bWAR in large part due to him slugging a career-high 28 homers and sharpening up his defense behind the dish. Grandal was named to his second All-Star Game, slugged a two-run homer in the Brewers' lone postseason game in 2019, and earned votes for the NL MVP Award. Simply put, he was the perfect addition to a Brewers team that could have made some serious noise in the postseason had Yelich not suffered a freak injury in the final month of the season.

After his year in Milwaukee, Grandal signed a monster four-year, $73 million deal, a large sum of money for a catcher on the wrong side of 30, with the Chicago White Sox. After the shortened 2020 season, he enjoyed a very productive 2021 campaign, but his numbers fell off a cliff in 2022. Three seasons later, though Grandal hasn't officially retired from the game, he stepped away from the Boston Red Sox Triple-A team in early June of last year, and has yet to decide whether he will attempt one last return.