It has been about 2.5 months since Lorenzo Cain last played baseball for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Over that time he has been watching from afar as his former teammates and friends have hit a slump that is threatening their chances at a fifth consecutive post season. However, a fantasy football draft has reconnected Cain with the Brewers and he had some interesting comments regarding Brewers upper management and coaches.
When asked if he missed baseball, Cain had the following response.
“I have my days now and then, but for the most part, not really,” he said. “I’ve been keeping up with the team from afar and I see they’re struggling a little bit. I wouldn’t say I saw that coming, but I feel like when you mess around with the chemistry of the team, things like this can happen.
Cain’s response is interesting because the original question was not about how the team was playing lately or their chemistry. Rather, he provided those thoughts on his own.
Clearly Cain wanted everyone to know that Brewers upper management is responsible for altering the teams chemistry and this year’s second half collapse.
He then goes on to say the following.
“When you move guys around, especially when you started with a certain group, you slowly start to lose that (chemistry). It can definitely affect the win and loss column, for sure. That’s one of the reasons we kind of parted ways; I honestly feel like I never got that respect as a veteran, as a leader on this team, from certain coaches and certain upper management. That’s mostly why we parted ways when we did.”
There is a lot to unpack here. For instance, Cain started with the Brewers in 2018, so when he says you slowly start to lose that chemistry he could be talking about losing former players that are no longer with the Brewers.
Since 2018, Brewers upper management has parted ways with a lot of players that played pivotal roles in prior play-off teams. A few include Mike Moustakas, Yasmani Grandal, Eric Thames, Jesus Aguilar, Wade Miley, Jeremy Jeffress, Corey Knebel, Orlando Arcia, Manny Pina, Daniel Vogelbach, Avisail Garcia, and most recently Josh Hader.
Cain then says he never got that respect as a veteran/leader on the team from certain coaches and certain upper management. He did not provide any names, but it is alarming to hear Cain say this because we have frequently heard other players rave about Cain’s leadership and clubhouse presence.
Perhaps even more troublesome is the fact that he later would state that he has had these feelings for the past three years.
“It wasn’t [about] playing every day, because I know I was struggling a little bit,” said Cain, who was hitting .179 with a .465 OPS through 156 plate appearances at the time he was cut. “This goes back to not only this year, but years and years. It’s been three years where I’ve felt this way. I think when you mess around with that, when you’re supposed to be the leader of the team, the veteran in the clubhouse, and you don’t get that respect that you feel you should get as a leader and a veteran, I think that makes it harder for me to lead and for certain guys to also lead. Ultimately, it shows up in a big way when you go out there and play on the field.
From the outside looking in, it had always appeared like the Brewers were aware of team chemistry and its effect in the clubhouse as well as on the field. Unfortunately, Cain’s comments suggest otherwise and his feelings on this go back several years.
Is it possible that Cain is still upset about being DFA’d on the same date that he reached 10 years of MLB service time? Perhaps, but Cain’s reputation precedes himself as a model player, veteran, and clubhouse leader. I would give him the benefit of the doubt and say that these comments were not made based on him being upset.
Cain ends his thoughts then with optimism that the team can turn things around.
“I definitely think the boys can turn it around, but yeah, when you go through rough times, you need certain guys to keep guys going. I think that’s one of the reasons it’s been a struggle to get guys out of the funk. When you get rid of certain guys, when you start messing with the chemistry of the clubhouse, it affects everybody. It’s happening right now. Hopefully they can turn it around, because you can see it’s been weird. Something’s off, for sure.”
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