The Case For/Against Everth Cabrera

I can smell the fresh cut grass, the bags hauling all the balls and the bats, Spring Training is almost upon us. I made the case for Evereth Cabrera to be the next shortstop for the New York Yankees back in I believe November and while I am not making that case again I am once again beating the drum for Cabrera. All the major free agents and big names outside of Francisco Rodriguez and Rafael Soriano are signed and we are in definite minor league deal territory. There is no such thing as a bad minor league deal and there is no such thing as having too much depth. Would Cabrera once again make sense? Let's look at both sides of the equation. 

Pros:

• ·         Switch hitter
• ·         28 years old, youthful
• ·         Three years of team control
• ·         Doesn’t gut the farm system to acquire
• ·         Made less than $2.5 million in 2014
• ·         Above average league rating per 9 and per game defensively
• ·         Has 40 stolen base speed

Cons:

• ·         Coming off a down 2014 season and a Biogenesis suspension
• ·         Had a DUI charge last season questioning his character
• ·         Walked only 20 times in 2014
• ·         Low BA, OBP, and OPS

I can't see an issue with Cabrera joining Cole Figueroa, Nick Noonan, Robert Refsnyder, Jose Pirela and others in minor league camp in a couple weeks. If he doesn't work out he's cut and the team moves on. If he proves he can still do it with the bat the Yankees get more versatile and possibly a better alternative to Brendan Ryan. Not much risk and a whole lot of upside. Where do I sign?

The Case For/Against Everth Cabrera

Tuesday night was the deadline for teams to offer or non-tender players and the San Diego Padres made an interesting move by not offering a contract to shortstop Everth Cabrera. Cabrera is a 28 year old switch hitting shortstop with three years of team control left and a whole lot of baggage. Just like any free agent, and non-tender candidate, Cabrera would come with pros and cons and we plan to try and list those here.

Pros:

• ·         Switch hitter
• ·         28 years old, youthful
• ·         Three years of team control
• ·         Doesn’t gut the farm system to acquire
• ·         Made less than $2.5 million in 2014
• ·         Above average league rating per 9 and per game defensively
• ·         Has 40 stolen base speed

Cons:

• ·         Coming off a down 2014 season and a Biogenesis suspension
• ·         Had a DUI charge last season questioning his character
• ·         Walked only 20 times in 2014
• ·         Low BA, OBP, and OPS

As you can see Cabrera is not the complete package and would not bring the dynamic to the infield and the lineup that say a Troy Tulowitzki would but in the same breath is more than a simple band aid or stop gap. The farm system does not have a shortstop closer than three years away and the free agency market looks bleak for the foreseeable future at the position and Cabrera could fill the position until a more attractive player becomes available via free agency, in a trade or through the farm system (here’s looking at you Jorge Mateo). Cabrera is not Plan A but he is better than Stephen Drew or Brendan Ryan so if the team doesn’t have plans on acquiring Tulowitzki or a Starlin Castro type they may want to take a long and serious look at Cabrera in 2015.