Free-agent outfielder Melky Cabrera is now expected to have a new team in 2015 after the Toronto Blue Jays signed catcher Russell Martin to a five-year, $82 million contract and surrendered their first round pick in this year's draft. Are the Detroit Tigers a legitimate destination for Cabrera?
ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted earlier today that the addition of Russell Martin takes the Blue Jays "out of a major deal with Melky Cabrera" likely because if another team signs the outfielder then they'll get back the first round pick they lost for signing Martin. Additionally, Cabrera is expected to land a four-year deal in the ballpark of $64 million, according to ESPN's Jim Bowden, which will be a burden on Toronto's payroll.
Cabrera's 2014 campaign is expected to land him a multi-year deal because he slashed .301/.351/.458 with 16 home runs and 73 RBIs. The switch-hitting outfielder has bounced around the league after spending his first five MLB seasons with the New York Yankees and has been with the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays over the past five years. Now that his PED suspension is behind him and he's established himself as a formidable MLB player, where will he end up next?
Well, Greg Brady of Sportsnet 590 The Fan tweeted last week that the Detroit Tigers' interest in Cabrera was "very, very real" and that if they acquired him, J.D. Martinez would be shifted to right field to make room for Cabrera in left. Rajai Davis would remain in center field and the team wouldn't have to worry about re-signing free-agent outfielder Torii Hunter who's turning 40 next season. Spending that money on Cabrera would be worth it since he just turned 30 years old and the Tigers wouldn't have to worry about their outfield in the near future.
But they might need to act quickly on Cabrera because the Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds and others have expressed interest in his services. That poses an issue because general manager Dave Dombrowski said the team will "just wait and see what happens" with free-agent pitcher Max Scherzer, according to MLB.com. If they're going to continue to wait for Scherzer, that's going to make it tough for them to continue spending freely because the right-hander may receive a seven-year, $189 million contract, according to Bowden.
If they can somehow work on locking up David Price for the long-term, they may not need to worry about Scherzer, which would allow them to add Cabrera to their talented team to round off their outfield.
