Tampa Bay Rays: Five options to upgrade the lineup
By Josh Ejnes
Asdrúbal Cabrera
Asdrúbal Cabrera wouldn’t bring the Rays the same power as Nelson Cruz, but he would bring a them a decent bat with much more defensive flexibility.
Cabrera had a kind of weak ending to 2018 after starting the year strong, finishing the season with a slashline of .262/.316/.458. This isn’t necessarily anything to write home about, but it’s certainly not bad, and he was able to add more value to his teams by putting in time at shortstop, second base and third base. He wasn’t an elite fielder at any of these positions, but he got the job done.
Since 2011, Cabrera has never played less than 135 games in a season, so durability isn’t something you have to worry about with him, especially if he’s given the chance to occasionally DH. Last year Rays DH Ji-Man Choi really struggled against left handed pitchers, so platooning him with Cabrera, who fairs slightly better against lefties than righties, could be a good way to keep Cabrera healthy while maximizing Choi’s upside.
Another thing that makes Cabrera an interesting choice is that last year he hit the ball harder than he ever has in the Statcast era, with an average exit velocity of 89.5 MPH compared to 86.7 MPH a year prior. If this improvement sticks and Cabrera is able to supplement some time in the field with DHing, he could improve even more, which would upgrade his offensive value. Cabrera made $8.25 million last year, so he’s likely in the Rays price range.