New York Mets: Asdrubal Cabrera asks for trade amid positional switch
Coming into the season, Asdrubal Cabrera was the New York Mets’ shortstop. Now he’s reportedly asking for a trade after the team switched him to a new position.
The New York Mets have had a difficult first few months of the 2017 regular season. From the injuries to the starting rotation to losing their best hitter in Yoenis Cespedes for a considerable period of time. Now there are reports that their once starting shortstop is unhappy in Queens.
According to a report from ESPN.com, Asdrubal Cabrera “has requested a trade from the New York Mets, a decision he made after the team asked him to move to second base.”
The veteran shortstop has played the leading middle infield position for his entire professional career, so it’s reasonable why he would be upset about being asked to switch positions.
"“Personally, I’m not really happy with that move,” Cabrera told reporters after meeting with manager Terry Collins and general manager Sandy Alderson before Friday’s game, according to MLB.com. “If they have that plan, they should have told me before I came over here. I just told my agent about it. If they have that plan for me, I think it’s time to make a move."
However, the Mets need a second baseman considering that Neil Walker is out with a partially torn hamstring. The team also has Jose Reyes, Wilmer Flores and T.J. Rivera as options for middle infield positions.
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But while the Mets do have a few options to choose from, none of them have really been up to starting caliber offensively. Cabrera himself is only hitting .259 with six home runs. This comes after a season in which the 31-year-old hit .280 with over 20 long balls.
Though it seems Cabrera is the best option at shortstop in the batter’s box for the Mets given his track record, manager Terry Collins stated that the reason behind the move was because of the potential improvements it would mean for the Mets in the field.
"“I told him today, look, our defense has not played well, and by you going over there, I think, is just gonna shore it up,” Collins said. “I hope everybody understands, it’s not that I don’t think he can play shortstop. That’s not it. I just think we’re a better team if he plays second base. We got Jose to play short, and we just had to shore up second base a little bit.”"
Cabrera’s dWAR has decreased from -0.1 last year to -0.7 through about the first three months of this season. He’s also made more errors in 2017 (11) than he did in all of 2016 (7).
The Mets have struggled playing consistent winning baseball all season long. This is partly because of injuries and also has to do with the slumps veteran players like Cabrera are going through at the moment.
We’ll just have to see if Cabrera can regain his footing at second base and with the Mets organization, but it doesn’t feel, especially with Cabrera’s brash comments, that the team will be keeping the veteran infielder for much longer, even with the perceived lack of trade interest in the Mets’ now second baseman.
(All quotes courtesy of ESPN.com)
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What do you make of the Mets’ sticky situation with Cabrera? How will it be resolved in the coming month? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.