Asdrubal Cabrera didn’t sign a contract this offseason, but that doesn’t mean there was a lack of interest from MLB teams. According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Cabrera is open to returning under the right circumstances but has declined one MLB offer.
The offer was probably fairly modest, as the 36-year-old didn’t have a strong year in 2021. He was signed by the Diamondbacks to a one-year, $1.75M deal that also came with incentives. Through 90 games with Arizona, he hit .244/.324/.392, amounting to a wRC+ of 92. In late August, he went to the Reds on a waiver claim but scuffled down the stretch. In 20 games for Cincy, he hit just .077/.194/.077. That’s a very small sample size, of course and was likely due to a lot of bad luck, as he had a .301 BABIP with the Snakes but just .100 with the Reds. Nonetheless, it dragged his overall season line down to .230/.313/.366, 82 wRC+.
That’s the lowest wRC+ of Cabrera’s career so far and, combined with his age, meant he was likely not going to be able to match the $1.75M guarantee that he got a year ago. Still, as a switch-hitter with the ability to play multiple positions, he has enough versatility that he could find a way into a team’s plans. He hasn’t seen significant time in the middle infield since 2019 but played most of his games at third base last year, while also getting decent reps at first.
Heyman doesn’t provide any details about the offer Cabrera received, why it was turned down or what kind of offer he would be more inclined to accept. It’s possible that Cabrera wants to play full-time and was only offered a part-time role, or perhaps he wants to be on a competitor and isn’t interested in playing for a rebuilding club. He’s already banked over $64M in career earnings, according to Baseball Reference, after many successful seasons with the Indians, Rays, Mets and others. Since the offers he’s likely to receive won’t significantly change his finances, he can afford to be selective about the opportunities that do and don’t tempt him.
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