Did he develop that poorly in the Phillies and Jay's system?
*******, he sounds like the Angelo Esposito/Ryan Parent of the baseball world. Early big injuries ruin you for the rest of your life.
Just could never find the control. He looked decent at times last year but then he got the ol' second TJ.
I agree with the guy who said he'll become a reliever...his fastball has ridiculous movement and he has a solid out pitch in the curve. He should be pretty deadly as a set-up guy but obviously that's not what AA was trading for.
Melky put up good numbers in 2011 with KC and that was without steroids.
One also has to question what effect steroids even had on his 2012 season. His HR rate was lower in 2012 than in 2011, so was his doubles rate. His FB rate was also down, which is a little odd. Basically, the only two red flags I see are his bumps in average and slugging, but both of those have reasonable explanations. His BABIP was much higher than it normally would be, at virtually any level, so that could definitely explain the jump in BA. Also, Melky had a surprising amount of triples in 2012, which could explain for some of the bump in slugging(as would the big bump in BA). I would say neither of these things are affected that much by steroids, and it seems luck possibly played a larger factor. Considering that improvement isn't such a strange concept when a guy is entering his prime, I'd say there's a great chance you see Melky put up numbers similar or even greater than his KC numbers.
That is, of course, assuming he was clean in KC and somehow didn't get away with anything for that whole season, which I'd say is reasonable.
I don't care if he's a 340 average, .900+ OPS hitter again to be frank, and I doubt AA thinks that is the type of contribution that Melky will make to the club.
All he has to do is be a plus fielder and put up a respectable OBP and .750+ type OPS in the line-up to be worthy of his contract. And I think the probability of him performing above that minimum threshold is reasonably good. PED's don't improve walk rate, bat speed, or contact. They help one to stay healthier and in the line-up by avoiding those nagging injuries that occur over the course of a gruelling 162 game schedule.
Provided Cabrera walks at a reasonable rate, steals some bases, and provides reasonable power in the lower third of the line-up the Jays got an excellent deal here. He doesn't have to be an all-world offensive force like he was for the Giants for this to be a prescient move.
All the jays moves have been high risk, I wouldnt be calling them a juggernaught yet lol.
Does Reyes or Johnson stay healthy?
Whats Cabrera like without steroids?
Can all the young guys handle the added pressure that is sure to come now that theyre in win now, or the negative media attention Cabrera will likely attract.
Lots of question marks, and the guys they added werent nearly as proven as what the angels did last season and they still didnt cut it
He wont get that much negative media attention up here. Sportsnet one of the 2 biggest sports networks in Canada and the one that does the most baseball coverage is owned by Rogers. The same company that owns the Blue Jays.
LINEUP HR SB RBI
SS Jose Reyes S 11 40 57
LF Melky Cabrera S 11 13 60
RF Jose Bautista R 27 5 65
DH/1B Edwin Encarnacion R 42 13 110
CF Colby Rasmus L 23 4 75
3B Brett Lawrie R 11 13 48
1B/DH Adam Lind L 11 0 45
C J.P. Arencibia R 18 1 56
2B Emilio Bonifacio S 1 30 11
Even before Colangelo was hired, it's always been that way.
Maybe because NBA has lots of American players while MLB has a very good mix of American and South American players. I'm going to guess that's the reason.
I'll take a wild guess and state that Cabrera's stats will be closer to his time with the Yankees and Braves than Royals.
Surprised he got two years after getting busted and got a little more money than expected(which always happens in free agency) but I think the contract is fine overall.
It also keeps him away from the Yankees, where I think most people thought he would end up.
Toronto Management was none too happy after Baltimore past them in the standings and that division should be a dog fight this year. But all these moves so far don't guarantee Toronto much of anything.
Besides his offense he is a good fielder and has a great arm, though I think he was supposed to not be a good locker room guy. When he got suspended and left the Giants he didnt even say bye to anyone then does that website thing, Giants record was better without him too
I'll take a wild guess and state that Cabrera's stats will be closer to his time with the Yankees and Braves than Royals.
Surprised he got two years after getting busted and got a little more money than expected(which always happens in free agency) but I think the contract is fine overall.
It also keeps him away from the Yankees, where I think most people thought he would end up.
Toronto Management was none too happy after Baltimore past them in the standings and that division should be a dog fight this year. But all these moves so far don't guarantee Toronto much of anything.
Agreed, but unless Baltimore plans on putting up that entirely unsustainable 29-9 record in one run games again, I think they will struggle to maintain a .500 record in 2012. That and if they go through another season without a single starter hitting 200 innings pitched.
