New York Mets set to sign Asdrubal Cabrera

On Wednesday night Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish reported that the New York Mets were preparing to sign Asdrubal Cabrera to a two-year deal. Cabrera spent 2015 as the shortstop of the Tampa Bay Rays. The deal is reportedly worth 18.5 million.

The thirty-year-old Cabrera is preparing to play his tenth major league season. Over that period of time he has made stops in Cleveland, Washington, and Tampa Bay. Last season for the Rays, Cabrera hit .265/.315/.430. All of those numbers are above league average for a shortstop. Cabrera also contributed 15 HR and 58 RBI. 2011 stands out as Cabrera’s best offensive season. As a shortstop for the Indians that year he hit .273/.332/.460 with 25 HR and 92 RBI.

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For his career, Cabrera has been right around a league average offensive player. He currently carries a 104 OPS+. However, he has struggled on defense. Both DRS and UZR suggest that Cabrera has been below average defensively at short since 2012. Even with those deficiencies he was productive enough offensively to accumulate 2.2 fWAR in 2015.

So how exactly will Cabrera fit in with the 2016 Mets? Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors noted (via Ken Rosenthal) that Cabrera will primarily play at shortstop, but that he could also spend time at third. In 2015 both Wilmer Flores and Ruben Tejada split time at short for the Mets. Flores’ 2015 will be remembered for the time he found he had supposedly been traded in the middle of a game (ultimately he stayed with the team). Tejada also shared a memorable moment when he broke his leg on a slide by Chase Utley in the NL playoffs.

Cabrera would be an offensive and defensive upgrade over either Flores or Tejada. They were both below average offensively according to OPS+ and wRC+. As Adams mentions, there defensive numbers are also worse than Cabrera’s. In a number of ways Cabrera could provide a nice upgrade at a position of need.

It will also be interesting to see how Cabrera meshes with newly acquired second basemen Neil Walker. Earlier in the evening the Mets acquired Walker from the Pirates for starting pitcher Jon Niese. The Mets had an opening at second after Daniel Murphy became a free agent this off-season. Ben Zobrist was rumored to be a potential option, but Walker was a nice consolation prize. Over the past twenty four hours New York has gone a long way toward filling holes up the middle, and they’ve been able to do so without taking on a large amount of additional salary.

Next: New York Mets to acquire Neil Walker

This is a Mets team that made it to the World Series a year ago with a middle of the pack offense. Most of their young starting pitching is still in place, and if they can get more production on offense there’s no reason they can’t contend for a playoff spot once again. Cabrera and Walker won’t be able to make up the production of free agent Yoenis Cespedes. However, they will ensure that the Mets should expect a small uptick in production from two positions marked by questions heading in to 2016.