Melky Cabrera Breaks Finger (Season-Ending)

[Secueritae]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNJoeyMac/status/508080611458691073[/tweet]


This might be the end of Melky in Toronto with FA looming.

[SharoneWright]

SF didn't need him on their playoff roster either!!! lol

[Graham's Cracker]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ESPNJoeyMac/status/508080611458691073[/tweet]


This might be the end of Melky in Toronto with FA looming.

Whatever the opposite of an and1 is, I'm giving it to this post.

[Mehar]

This pretty much seals this team's fate. One of the few consistent bright spots. Hopefully he comes back next year, but i think he will be elsewhere.

[Lateral Quicks]

Melky ranks 12th among left-fielders in WAR and 11th in wRC, despite having the most plate appearances of all left-fielders this year.

He's a nice player, and a good table-setter for EE and Bautista. But given his mediocre at-best defense and average offense, losing him to free agency wouldn't be the end of world. He's pretty highly overrated on this board.

[Waylon Mercy]

Leafs collapse
Game 7 loss to Brooklyn
TFC mess
This

See Sig apply to all Toronto sports teams

[Randle McMurphy]

Leafs collapse
Game 7 loss to Brooklyn
TFC mess
This

See Sig apply to all Toronto sports teams

This is nothing compared to the others, they had no real shot before this injury anyway.

[Randle McMurphy]

Melky ranks 12th among left-fielders in WAR and 11th in wRC, despite having the most plate appearances of all left-fielders this year.

He's a nice player, and a good table-setter for EE and Bautista. But given his mediocre at-best defense and average offense, losing him to free agency wouldn't be the end of world. He's pretty highly overrated on this board.

He's overrated on more than just this board. If they do give him the contract he desires or even the one he deserves, it almost certainly won't pay off. And if they don't, the team almost certainly won't be good enough to accomplish anything in 2015 (unless they push that money into another, more effective player). Difficult spot.

[Michael Bradley]

Alex has only made one move with any payroll significance in the last 18-20 months (Navarro).

Melky was going to leave regardless.

[Santoki]

Melky ranks 12th among left-fielders in WAR and 11th in wRC, despite having the most plate appearances of all left-fielders this year.

He's a nice player, and a good table-setter for EE and Bautista. But given his mediocre at-best defense and average offense, losing him to free agency wouldn't be the end of world. He's pretty highly overrated on this board.

He's overrated on more than just this board. If they do give him the contract he desires or even the one he deserves, it almost certainly won't pay off. And if they don't, the team almost certainly won't be good enough to accomplish anything in 2015 (unless they push that money into another, more effective player). Difficult spot.

You seem more upset at the prospect of Rasmus leaving than Melky. If you had to choose one to hand out a 3 year, $39 million deal to, who would you choose?

I chose that number as it's a couple of million under the QO.

[C Court]

Alex has only made one move with any payroll significance in the last 18-20 months (Navarro).

Melky was going to leave regardless.

Agreed. I liked the Melky signing from day one, but I wouldn't want to pay the kind of dollars he will get from someone next season.

[Santoki]

Alex has only made one move with any payroll significance in the last 18-20 months (Navarro).

Melky was going to leave regardless.

Agreed. I liked the Melky signing from day one, but I wouldn't want to pay the kind of dollars he will get from someone next season.

Realistically, is Melky going to get any more than 3/45 from someone? What's his value?

[dagger]

Alex has only made one move with any payroll significance in the last 18-20 months (Navarro).

Melky was going to leave regardless.

Agreed. I liked the Melky signing from day one, but I wouldn't want to pay the kind of dollars he will get from someone next season.

Realistically, is Melky going to get any more than 3/45 from someone? What's his value?

This is the million dollar question. He's got history, good and bad. If the Jays qualify him, there is the compensatory draft pick issue. Now, this injury, while minor, has to be considered, as does his overall health history. He's managed to have surgery in each of his past two seasons. Nothing too concerning, but at his age, he's not a paragon of health. He is a one-position player, a decent but not great defensive outfielder, who could DH, too. I'm not totally certain he's gone, it seems likely but it wouldn't shock me if he stays. He does seem to have a comfort factor here with the Latin core we have (it always surprises me when a long-standing veteran in the league like him can't speak enough English to do interviews) and was saying all the right things yesterday to try to elicit an offer from the Jays. But what kind of a deal would suit him and the Jays. I'd guess he'd settle for a rock bottom minimum of four years with a decent no-trade list. I'd imagine where he goes after the current core is broken up would matter a lot to him, and he'd like to retain some control.

[dagger]

Alex has only made one move with any payroll significance in the last 18-20 months (Navarro).

Melky was going to leave regardless.

Agreed. I liked the Melky signing from day one, but I wouldn't want to pay the kind of dollars he will get from someone next season.

I'd like to know what those years and dollars are. Given that we're likely to decline to tender a QO to Rasmus, and likely won't pick up options on Morrow, McGowan, certainly not Santos, etc, and that we could probably offload money by trading either Buehrle or Dickey (given the high cost of free agent starting pitching, the most we would have to do is eat a bit of salary to offload either), I'm not sure I'm worried about the number of years, only the dollars. Why? This core has one, maybe two years left. And once you break it up, you trade Melky, so maybe a year or two into his deal before his play deteriorates. Now, if the plan is to trade off Jose or Edwin this winter, that takes care of Melky - he walks and the Jays take the comp pick. But if it's status quo and he'd sign for a dollar amount not much more than Edwin and Jose are getting, I'd do it. Give him a decent but not overwhelming no-trade list, move one veteran pitcher for salary relief, fix the second base issue once and for all, and see what we can do with our young pitchers.

I'd rather rebuild now, get value for our vets, but if the plan is to try yet again with this core, the team has to take a risk on Melky. No Melky, no core, it makes no sense to go forward with less than we have now.

The second base issue is pivotal for me. With Lawrie out, and Reyes playing older than his years in the field, there is an open floodgate for ground ball his to the left side of the infield. Now the talk is that we'd start Valencia at 3B and Lawrie at 2B? That's a poor idea. I'd like to unload Reyes most of all, but his contract is onerous. At the very least, Lawrie at 3B reduces the hole Reyes creates on the left side.

[Michael Bradley]

Both NY teams need short-stops and the Dodgers SS (Hanley) is a free agent. This will probably be the last chance to dump Reyes, though I don't think they'll do it. Well, Alex won't, at least, and moving a veteran out of position (SS to 2B) is not going to be easy.

I don't think the Jays will have to eat salary to get rid of Buehrle anymore, or they shouldn't. He has been good the last two years, and guys like Nolasco get $12M per year.

[rdtx2005]

Both NY teams need short-stops and the Dodgers SS (Hanley) is a free agent. This will probably be the last chance to dump Reyes, though I don't think they'll do it. Well, Alex won't, at least, and moving a veteran out of position (SS to 2B) is not going to be easy.

I don't think the Jays will have to eat salary to get rid of Buehrle anymore, or they shouldn't. He has been good the last two years, and guys like Nolasco get $12M per year.

you can't just dump 22 million per year salary without eating most of it.. and i doubt they'll want that pant-load contract anyways

[Michael Bradley]

Both NY teams need short-stops and the Dodgers SS (Hanley) is a free agent. This will probably be the last chance to dump Reyes, though I don't think they'll do it. Well, Alex won't, at least, and moving a veteran out of position (SS to 2B) is not going to be easy.

I don't think the Jays will have to eat salary to get rid of Buehrle anymore, or they shouldn't. He has been good the last two years, and guys like Nolasco get $12M per year.

you can't just dump 22 million per year salary without eating most of it.. and i doubt they'll want that pant-load contract anyways

So eat a little bit of it. As long as it's not half the contract or anything absurd, and it gives the team at least some flexibility to add. Otherwise, force Reyes to move to 2B or 3B, and don't take no for an answer (easier said than done).

[BigLeagueChew]

Melky Cabrera suffered a season-ending injury last night and can become a free agent after the season, but he wants to remain with the Blue Jays next season, the Associated Press reports. “I stay in Toronto,” Cabrera said last night. Cabrera, 30, has had a strong season in the last year of his two-year, $16MM deal, hitting .301/.351/.458.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/09/al-notes-yankees-royals-cabrera-odorizzi.html

[MikeM]

I would only let him go if we use the money on a 4 WAR shortstop like JJ Hardy and move Reyes to 2nd.

[Randle McMurphy]

Melky ranks 12th among left-fielders in WAR and 11th in wRC, despite having the most plate appearances of all left-fielders this year.

He's a nice player, and a good table-setter for EE and Bautista. But given his mediocre at-best defense and average offense, losing him to free agency wouldn't be the end of world. He's pretty highly overrated on this board.

He's overrated on more than just this board. If they do give him the contract he desires or even the one he deserves, it almost certainly won't pay off. And if they don't, the team almost certainly won't be good enough to accomplish anything in 2015 (unless they push that money into another, more effective player). Difficult spot.

You seem more upset at the prospect of Rasmus leaving than Melky. If you had to choose one to hand out a 3 year, $39 million deal to, who would you choose?

I chose that number as it's a couple of million under the QO.

I'm not all that upset about either one leaving, but 3 years/39M would be pretty cheap for Melky. I'd take that deal in a second.