46 replies to this topic

[clapdiddy]

Apparently, we're on the verge of signing him.

 

Why?

 

http://www.mlbtrader...th-cabrera.html

[JeffLong]

I actually don't mind this. Presumably it'll be a MiLB deal with a significant MLB salary should he make the club.

 

Good depth and Cabrera has always had unfulfilled upside that's at least intriguing.

 

Besides, I'd rather have him backup up Hardy than Nix.

[Nigel Tufnel]

I guess I'd be kind of nervous if I were Flaherty.  They might be looking to upgrade the backup SS position to where the guy could start 20-30 games without killing you, in order to save Hardy's back.

[Nigel Tufnel]

I actually don't mind this. Presumably it'll be a MiLB deal with a significant MLB salary should he make the club.

 

Good depth and Cabrera has always had unfulfilled upside that's at least intriguing.

 

Besides, I'd rather have him backup up Hardy than Nix.

 

Supposedly it's a ML signing for around $2.4M.

 

Brittany Ghiroli ‏@Britt_Ghiroli  5m5 minutes ago

Cabrera will be on the Os 40-man roster and part of big league camp. Created some competition w Flaherty and Schoop

[SportsGuy]

Interesting considering we have Flaherty, who I think is better.

 

That being said, Cabrera was a 3 WAR player in 2013 and perhaps they want more insurance for Manny, Hardy and Schoop?

 

As much as I like all of those guys, they all have big qustion marks hanging over their heads, so a little more depth isn't a bad thing.

 

Be interesting to see what contract they give him...MiL deal or guaranteed deal?  Like Jeff, I have to think its a MiL deal.

 

EDIT;  Missed Encina's tweet about the deal.

[SportsGuy]

You know you are keeping Joseph and we all know they will have at least 12 pitchers.

 

So, its a 4 man bench.  

 

Lough

Cabrera

Young

Flaherty

Cabrera

 

2 of them won't make the team on OD unless they do what Jeff said and go with 4 starters to begin the year and only 11 pitchers, which is possible.

[clapdiddy]

Well, it's now reported that Cabrera has an option left.   Could we possibly see Schoop go down for the first month of the season?   Would that help us in any way with his time before arbitration?

[Mackus]

I think committing a MLB spot and $2.5M to him seems like a bit much, but aside from that, I really like the move.  Cabrera brings some upside, some leadoff potential (if he plays well but De Aza and Pearce do not), some speed and PR ability, and some insurance for both Schoop and Flaherty if the 2B and/or util IF positions are problems.

[Mackus]

 Would that help us in any way with his time before arbitration?

 

Sending him down for 28 days would buy us another year of club control.

[clapdiddy]

Sending him down for 28 days would buy us another year of club control.

 

I don't think this can be overlooked.   A Cabrera/Flaherty platoon at second base might not be a bad thing for a month if it buys us another year of Schoop.  

[SportsGuy]

They aren't going to send down Schoop unless he looks awful in ST.

[Mackus]

They aren't going to send down Schoop unless he looks awful in ST.

 

I tend to agree. Though they certainly seem to like Flaherty and they gave Cabrera a relatively lot of money.  Unless Schoop is tearing it up, the difference there could be pretty minimal, if any difference at all.

 

Is one month of the "upgrade" of Schoop over Cabrera/Flaherty in April worth all of Schoop's club control for 2020?

[SportsGuy]

Thy would have sent Schoop down last year if they were worried about that.

He couldn't hit and we were contending.

[Mackus]

Thy would have sent Schoop down last year if they were worried about that.

He couldn't hit and we were contending.

 

But we didn't have any viable replacements last year, Flaherty was really struggling too.  I didn't even ponder the idea of them sending him down and giving Flaherty the job for a month (unless Schoop really struggles), but if Cabrera is here and looking good isntead of how he looked in 2014, then that's a worthwhile repalcement, hell maybe even an upgrade.

 

I think they likely choose to go with whomever looks the best.  But if that's Cabrera (and he may have to look decidedly better for them to make this call) over Schoop, buying back a year of his service time is a pretty nice added bonus.

[JeremyStrain]

Thy would have sent Schoop down last year if they were worried about that.


He couldn't hit and we were contending.

 
But we didn't have any viable replacements last year, Flaherty was really struggling too.  I didn't even ponder the idea of them sending him down and giving Flaherty the job for a month (unless Schoop really struggles), but if Cabrera is here and looking good isntead of how he looked in 2014, then that's a worthwhile repalcement, hell maybe even an upgrade.
 
I think they likely choose to go with whomever looks the best.  But if that's Cabrera (and he may have to look decidedly better for them to make this call) over Schoop, buying back a year of his service time is a pretty nice added bonus.

I think they are planning on him being the primary SS/2B backup. With Hardy being injured last year it is probably sound. I like RF but this guy brings speed, has shown a good eye at the plate before and could be a great backup, more so if a starter goes down than just a normal backup role. I wouldn't want to have to start RF for 2 months, I like him in the PT role, but Cabrera wouldn't be a bad fill in considering injury risks in the infield.

[SportsGuy]

But we didn't have any viable replacements last year, Flaherty was really struggling too. I didn't even ponder the idea of them sending him down and giving Flaherty the job for a month (unless Schoop really struggles), but if Cabrera is here and looking good isntead of how he looked in 2014, then that's a worthwhile repalcement, hell maybe even an upgrade.

I think they likely choose to go with whomever looks the best. But if that's Cabrera (and he may have to look decidedly better for them to make this call) over Schoop, buying back a year of his service time is a pretty nice added bonus.

Flaherty wouldn't have been any worse than Schoop.

We don't need to play with service time now.

[Mackus]

Right, Flaherty was more or less identical to Schoop, and Schoop had more upside, so go ahead and play him.  But if Cabrera is decidedly better than Schoop (and if he plays like he did prior to 2014, but Schoop doesn't improve, he would be), then it makes sense to play the better player if it also has the added bonus of buying you an extra year of control over the younger guy with more potential and upside.

 

I doubt they'd make this type of decision to start the year.  But if Schoop has a 575 OPS in mid-May, I don't think there is any reason to continue running him out there every day if Cabrera is looking like a capable fill-in.

[Matt_P]

Flaherty wouldn't have been any worse than Schoop.

We don't need to play with service time now.

 

Agreed. It's not like Schoop is looking like some sort of star who is going to get huge money in arbitration.

 

Even if Schoop has a .575 OPS in mid-May he still is a better option than Cabrera. But Cabrera is a better shortstop option than Flaherty or Schoop. It's a waste of money but if you're going to fritter it away anyway than you could do worse.

 

Cabrera did well in 2013 because he was able to cut down on swinging strikes and thus his K-rate. If he does that again he has a legit chance to provide an OBP in the .340-.350 range. But every year his K-rate has been consistent. I think it's questionable whether his OBP will be higher than .300 in Camden Yards.

[Mackus]

Schoop at 575 OPS wouldn't definitely be a better option than Cabrera.  If Cabrera stinks again, then continue on with Schoop or even Flaherty, but if he can bounce back a bit, then he's clearly capable of better than that level of putrid offense unless his defense is not acceptable at 2B, which seems unlikely to me.

 

I think the most likely outcome is Schoop wins the job handily, but if he struggles again, we shouln't just continue running him out there if better options exist.  The service time is just a silver lining of having to make that decision, it's not the reason for the decision.

[Matt_P]

Schoop at 575 OPS wouldn't definitely be a better option than Cabrera.  If Cabrera stinks again, then continue on with Schoop or even Flaherty, but if he can bounce back a bit, then he's clearly capable of better than that level of putrid offense unless his defense is not acceptable at 2B, which seems unlikely to me.

 

I think the most likely outcome is Schoop wins the job handily, but if he struggles again, we shouln't just continue running him out there.  The service time is just a silver lining of having to make that decision, it's not the reason for the decision.

 

Sure if Cabrera bounces back than he can be good. But I think his 2013 was a complete fluke and he has zero power so he'll get no help from Camden Yards. And his speed declined in 2014. Probably due to the hamstring injury but he's already 28. Makes sense that his speed is peaking.

 

I'm calling .240/.300/.320 for Cabrera. Even worse against right handed pitching. Slightly better offense and potentially worse defense.