Lorenzo Cain has ‘several’ 4-year offers

Free agent outfielder Lorenzo Cain is reportedly narrowing down contract offers, according to FanRag’s Jon Heyman, and has “several” four-year deals to consider. As Heyman notes, this doesn’t mean Cain is close to making a decision — he’s just closer than he was.

What’s also unclear is how much any of these offers are worth: Yu Darvish and J.D. Martinez, two other top free agents, are also known to be sitting on multiple offers, but they haven’t signed yet, and from what has been reported it’s due to the money offered.

And, as MLB Trade Rumors points out, it’s no longer obvious just who has given Cain a contract offer in the first place. The Giants have made other moves, the Blue Jays’ outfield seems crowded now, while the Rangers are pouring cold water on this and other rumors. The Brewers, however, are still a possibility, and were the franchise that originally drafted Cain before trading him to the Royals before the 2011 season.

The Brewers are also looking into trading for Marlins’ outfielder Christian Yelich, so at least they are clearly going for another outfielder. That doesn’t mean they’re the favorite, of course: They’re just the team that makes the most sense among those that have been linked to Cain this offseason.

• Cooperstown unveiled the newest members of the Hall of Fame on Wednesday night, and Grant Brisbee has thoughts on all the good and bad of that announcement.
• Braves’ great Chipper Jones was elected to the Hall of Fame on his first try.
• Trevor Hoffman was also elected to Cooperstown, which felt just as inevitable, as did the inclusion of Expos’ and Angels’ great Vladimir Guerrero.
• Jim Thome was just as worthy, but more surprising than the rest of the bunch.
• Edgar Martinez will have to wait until next year, as he fell 20 votes shy of election.
• Martinez and Mike Mussina will be joined by a strong crew on the 2019 ballot.

• Lindsey Adler wrote about how the ballot needs to be expanded beyond 10 votes. BBWAA voters agree, by the way, but Cooperstown itself does not. Not until Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens fall off the ballot, anyway.
• Curt Schilling’s vote fell below where it was two years ago, and I already tweeted my detailed thoughts on that matter.
• The Yankees are spending even less money than you think.
• Viva El Birdos wrote about the inflection points for the Cardinals in 2018.
• Remember that medical staff the Mets claimed had nothing wrong with it? They just revamped it.
• There is a reason the MLBPA isn’t using the word collusion yet.