Brewers join Cubs, Cards in making late offseason splash

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What has been the quietest division in baseball this offseason suddenly is making some noise.

With spring training scheduled to start in mere weeks, the Brewers became the latest NL Central team to make a late winter splash. On Wednesday, Milwaukee agreed to a two-year deal with free agent second baseman Kolten Wong, per multiple reports.

According to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, Wong's deal is worth $18 million and includes a third-year club option that could make it a three-year, $26 million deal.

Wong, 30, has spent his entire eight-year career with the Cardinals, who declined his 2021 option ($12.5 million) this past October. He's an elite fielder with two Gold Glove Awards (2019, '20) on his mantle and a contact hitter with a career .261/.333/.384 slash line.

The Cubs were rumored to have checked in on Wong this winter prior to him reaching an agreement with the Brewers.

For much of this offseason, the NL Central has been viewed as having no clear favorite entering 2021, with most of the division taking steps back on paper. As of the last week of January, the Brewers, Cubs, Cardinals, Pirates and Reds had spent just under $4 million collectively on free agents, last among MLB's six divisions by far.

But in the past week, the division has seen a flurry of significant additions:

-Cubs: OF Joc Pederson, SP Trevor Williams

-Cardinals: SP Adam Wainwright, 3B Nolan Arenado (trade)

-Brewers: 2B Kolten Wong

-Reds: RP Sean Doolittle

Many view St. Louis as the NL Central favorite with Arenado on board. At the least, these recent moves will make the division more interesting this coming season.

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