Cabrera stays hot as trade suitors look on
Asdrubal Cabrera is back to playing his way out of Queens.
One of the Mets’ trade chips continued to heat up Monday in the first game of a doubleheader against the Phillies, smacking a double and a home run in a 4-3, 10-inning win at Citi Field.
“I’m not worried about [a trade],” Cabrera said after the Phillies took Game 2, 3-1. “I just come here, this is my team right now and I come here to do my best to help the New York Mets to win.”
The pending free agent was batting .303 with a .873 OPS by the end of May, but had cooled off over the first two weeks of June, scuffling to the tune of a 5-for-47 stretch over his first 13 games that month.
In 20 games since then, though, the second baseman has returned to form for interested suitors, batting .333 with a .966 OPS, three doubles, five home runs and 15 RBIs.
“He’s just a good hitter,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “Any hitter goes through some ups and downs. He had his little bit of a down cycle, but he’s been swinging the bat a lot better lately and that’s just a byproduct of him doing the right things and having the right approach.”
The Mets held on to Cabrera at last year’s trade deadline and then exercised his $8.5 million option to bring him back this season. He is now one of a handful of pending free agents — in addition to Jeurys Familia, Jose Bautista, Jerry Blevins and Devin Mesoraco — the Mets could look to trade.
The Dodgers and Red Sox — two teams that could be looking for help at second base — both had scouts in attendance Monday. According to Yahoo Sports, the Dodgers have “stepped up” their chase for a position player beyond Manny Machado and have had conversations with the Mets about Cabrera.
“I don’t pay attention to rumors,” Cabrera said after grounding out in the ninth inning of the nightcap. “Whatever’s going to happen is going to happen. I can’t control that.”
Through 86 games, Cabrera is slashing .282/.329/ .489 with 16 home runs. His 51 RBIs tied the most of his career during the first half of a season (matching his All-Star season with the Indians in 2011). He also joined Edgardo Alfonzo as the only Mets second basemen with 50 or more firsthalf RBIs.