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The Indians and Asdrubal Cabrera avoided arbitration today by agreeing to a one-year contract. The Associated Press reports that the deal is worth $2.025 million.
Cabrera was arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter. The 25-year-old shortstop batted .276/.326/.346 with three home runs, 29 RBI, a .673 OPS and six stolen bases in 425 plate appearances with the Indians last season. He was limited to just 97 games due to a fractured left forearm which required surgery.
With Cabrera out of the way, the Indians still have Shin-Soo Choo, Rafael Perez and Chris Perez eligible for arbitration. It will be interesting to see if the Indians are able to make any headway on a multi-year contract with Choo, who is represented by Scott Boras.
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- stankfinger - Jan 17, 2011 at 11:01 PM
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Greatest first name in sports since Ebenezer Ekuban (had his full name going for him though).
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- brownsdog - Jan 18, 2011 at 5:18 AM
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This is an above average major league infielder who can run, hit, and field, producing consistently when playing on an everyday basis. I look forward to seeing him play a full season without major injury to see what he can do. Granted, there is a bit more challenge in showing up and excelling when you’re on a losing team, but Cabrera has the talent to pull together a young infield and help bring some timely hitting and respectability to a young, upcoming team like the Indians. He is worth the investment of a longer contract than a year – even with some guaranteed money offered to lock him up for awhile (3 years). Somewhere the Tribe has to offer some consistency to its core players in order to build a winner, and Asdrubal is a lower-risk gamble for them and their conservative payroll. So try and sign him (even with Boras representing him)!
