JAYS GET MELK IN OFF- SEASON MAKEOVER
Outfielder was having a career year before it was derailed by a 50- game ban for a positive synthetic testosterone test
A week ago, it was widely assumed that Alex Anthopoulos would be a high- stakes trader at baseball’s winter meetings Dec. 3- 6 in Nashville.
Turns out he might just sit back and watch his rivals sift through the crumbs he left for them.
With the reported signing Friday of free agent Melky Cabrera, the Toronto Blue Jays general manager has added seven players to his roster and more than $ 55- million US to his 2013 payroll in the past week.
In the process, he has transfigured the long- suffering Blue Jays from ragtag also- rans to authentic contenders in the American League East.
Cabrera, who served a 50- game suspension in 2012 after testing positive for synthetic testosterone, reportedly signed a two- year, $ 16- million US contract and will become the Jays’ everyday left- fielder.
“We’re willing to give anybody a second chance,” Anthopoulos said in an interview on The Fan 590 in September when asked whether he would consider signing a player suspended for PED use.
Playing for the San Francisco Giants, Cabrera was enjoying his best season by far when the suspension was announced on mid- August. He batted .346 with a .390 on- base percentage and .906 onbase plus slugging percentage.
Earlier this week, Anthopoulos swung a deal with the Miami Marlins, adding star shortstop Jose Reyes and starting pitchers Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle as well as utility man Emilio Bonifacio and catcher John Buck.
That came a few days after freeagent infielder Maicer Izturis signed a three- year deal and became a candidate for the Jays’ second- base job. Speculation persists that he continues to seek another starting pitcher.
Neither the Marlins trade nor the Cabrera signing have been officially announced, but have been widely confirmed by baseball sources. Anthopoulos did not return messages Friday.
Once all the paperwork is completed, commissioner Bud Selig must sign off on the deal because it involves more than $ 1- million US changing hands.
Whatever the influence of synthetic testosterone on Cabrera’s dramatic improvement with the bat over the past two seasons, he represents an upgrade in left field for the Jays. He could bat second behind Reyes and in front of Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, giving Toronto considerably more punch at the top of the order as well as an all- Dominican front four.
After four unremarkable years with the New York Yankees and one with Atlanta, Cabrera began to shine in 2011 with Kansas City. Then he broke out with the Giants.
Before his suspension, he was the MVP of the All- Star Game, led the league in runs scored and was second in batting average. He also had seven outfield assists. He finished his suspension in time to play in the NLCS, but the Giants refused to restore him to the roster on their way to a World Series championship.
Not only had they been troubled by his positive test, they also were not happy that he left the team without addressing his teammates and tried to blame the positive test on a product he innocently bought from a website. Quickly, Cabrera was implicated in the overnight creation of the website by an “associate” of his agents. He has since changed agents.
None of that posed a problem for Anthopoulos, who saw an opportunity to upgrade in left field at what might well be a bargain price. Cabrera made $ 6- million US last year and, before the suspension, would have been poised to at least double that average annual value over a three- year deal.