Now that the Super Bowl is over (with yours truly correctly predicted the winner
and the amount of points the Packers would score), I guess this blog is going to start becoming more baseball-centric especially since
we don't have a basketball team sorry, our basketball team is all kinds of
awful.
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Cabrera with the Reds last season. He batted .263
with 4HR, 42RBI, and 33 Doubles in 2010. |
In any case, the Tribe has reportedly "come to terms with" infielder Orlando Cabrera on a major league contract. Cabrera, a shortstop by trade, is 36 and will bring a much needed veteran presence to the Indians infield. You may remember Orlando's older brother,
Jolbert Cabrera, playing for the Tribe from '98-'02. (You probably don't, but I know I remember him because Jolbert accidentally shot himself in the rear end after his time with the Indians, causing my mom and I to nickname him "'Ol Shot-In-The-Butt!") I'm guessing that Orlando has to pass some type of physical or something, because GM Chris Antonetti refused to comment on the signing, according to indians.com and cleveland.com. (Why yes, I did double check my sources). However, I'm a little curious as to why we signed him because the defensive holes we have are at second and third base...not short.
Cabrera does have two Gold Gloves to his name, which he earned in '01 with the Montreal Expos (who are now the Washington Nationals), and then with the Anaheim Angels (or Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim...whatever, that's a stupid name) in 2007. I like those defensive accolades, don't get me wrong, but they would look even better if there were over at third base.
According to both of the aforementioned sources, Asdrubal Cabrera will still be the shortstop this coming season, which means Orlando Cabrera will probably be the second baseman. But I'd honestly be more interested in seeing if he could play third base, because I think second base is easier to play defensively. With the
rag tag band of bums players we've got in Jayson Nix, Jason Donald, Luis Valbuena (who I don't think should even be in the conversation), and Cord Phelps (who?), as long as Orlando Cabrera can put on a glove and stand out there, I'm sure he'll be the best defensive option at either position. (I feel like this might get complicated with two Cabrera's next to each other on the infield during the season. I don't envy Tom Hamilton.)
Do I like this signing? Well, I don't
dislike it. I would much rather have had Antonetti sign a good defensive third baseman as the stopgap for
Lonnie Chisenhall, but I'll take the one for the right side of the infield for
Jason Kipnis. And if you don't know those names, you should Indians fans. Chisenhall has the potentiel to be the next David Wright - he's that big of a deal - and Kipnis is also probably going to be a darn good second baseman.
That's all I've got for now. The Browns are actually starting to make some headlines with their roster moves, terminating contracts and such, so I'll probably be back in the next couple of days for an update on their action. See you then!
~MAS
