Melky Cabrera PED suspension could impact Phillies offseason
While Major League Baseball's announcement that it had suspended Melky Cabrera for 50 games for elevated levels of testosterone has more immediate impact on the Giants, who entered the day tied with the Dodgers atop the National League, the move could also have an effect on the Phillies' offseason decision making.
Melky Cabrera PED suspension could impact Phillies offseason
David Murphy
Melky Cabrera of the Giants has been suspended 50 games for testing positive for a banned substance. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
While Major League Baseball's announcement that it had suspended Melky Cabrera for 50 games for elevated levels of testosterone has more immediate impact on the Giants, who entered the day tied with the Dodgers atop the National League, the move could also have an effect on the Phillies' offseason decision making.
Cabrera will be a free agent after the season, and while he has spent 2012 as a corner outfielder, the majority of his time in the majors has been spent in center field, where the Phillies have a clear need. The Phillies kicked the tires on Cabrera before acquiring Hunter Pence last July, and he had done nothing since to lower his stock, hitting .346 with a .390 on base percentage, .516 slugging percentage and 11 home runs before the suspension.
A switch-hitter, Cabrera has eight home runs in 129 at-bats from the right side of the plate, where the Phillies are clearly in need of some power.
Comments (63)
God knows, we need outfielders. Brown and Mayberry aren't it.— therefump- Nice stats for somebody who's on the juice. Pass.— damageboy
- Rather give 15 mil per season to Bourn and let him strike out 150 times.— FABER
- testosterone reduces belly fat and increases libido - we hear it on the radio every day. sounds fishy to me . . .— Justicek
- ....and he has a new zest for life! ;) — nunayabizness
- good maybe Clueless Rube now won't waste $150 million on a guy whose stats were artificially inflated— warbiscuit
- Melky was put out to pasture by the Yankees because he has no power whatsoever especially for an outfielder with zero speed. So he figures it out and gets on some stuff and hits 18HR's last year(+went from an average of 25 doubles to 44 in 2011) and on similiar pace this year. Caution: Can he hit for the same power numbers when he shrinks off 10-15 lbs of muscle? Answer: No. Addd in that he is not really a high average guy for his career and you could ebnd ups signing a guy who hits .270 with 10 HR's 25 doubles and a dozen double plays a year. Buyer beware.— UncleStosh
- That was one expensive wizz...Had to cost him at least $50 million. — bearsfriend
- See the Phillies had a right handed bat in left field for Reading last night who has hit eight home runs in his last ten games. He is hitting left-handed pitching for the season at a .371 average with 14 home runs and an 1.226 OPS. But he is only 26 year old though. He just might be ready to get a chance in the Bigs for the Phillies in a couple more years though since he is from Nebraska and has not failed any drugs tests yet.— Dull
- Yeah, Double A players are so great when they get to the majors. If he is 26 and still in AA ball, he ain't that good, dude. — mike l
- BTW, Ruf hit #29 tonight. — drhoffman
- If this guy is so good, what is he doing in Double A at age 26?
— SteveS11 - At his age, it is appearant that he went to college (check his number and bio). He is a 1st baseman and has been one since college. Doesn't have the arm for LF? Juan Pierre has played MLB for 13 season and NEVER had an arm. Ruf needs to be given a chance. Kratz is 32 and wow...he can hit MLB pitching and actually catch. We'll never know until he gets to face MLB pitching. With his stats (AA is definitely a pitchers level), he has shown all he can. — drhoffman
- Ruf was stuck in single A for a while, not really setting the world on fire. He only made it to AA this year and he's played no AAA games. With 1B blocked they may give him a look as a September call-up but they still have to clear a roster spot to do that. I think it's more likely they give him the offseason to play LF then give him a look in spring training. Looper basically said he lacks range. I thought it was telling since Looper gushed excessively over almost everyone else. With the Phillies payroll, a guy like Ruf isn't likely going to get a shot if they pick up two proven outfielders in the offseason. They'll have one OF in Brown with suspect defense. I don't see them going into 2013 with two suspect defenders out there. Defense, after all, was a big part of their downfall this year. But maybe Ruf would have a shot as a bench player. He's the sort of guy I like to see on the bench: Younger with options left so he can be sent down and replaced if he's not cutting it. As opposed to locking up has-beens who can't cut it and hanging onto them because of their contracts.
They may try also try to get him enough exposure to trade him. With 1B blocked he has no path unless he can show he's a capable major league outfielder. He's had very few games in the OF.— s - Darin Ruf. He's been hitting the ball well. Problem is he's really a first baseman. As coincidence would have it, Jody Mac interviewed Benny Looper today and the subject of Ruf in LF came up. The consensus between the two of them was Ruf really doesn't have the arm for LF yet. Looper said Ruf is going to play winter ball (Venezuela I think) and play nothing but LF to try and make him a better fit for that position. — s
- Sign him! Cabrera & Galvis in 2013!— sonnybuoy01
- we defintely need some power from the right side of the plate and at a position in the outfield. here is a good idea, lets trade away hunter pence. Trying to keep the faith. this offseason will say alot about the phils front office. right now, it appears they are only big spenders not good talent evaluators— sam.c
- Surprising they can still get these drugs. Should be a lifetime suspension reduced to 50 games if the violators give up their suppliers. That might make it more difficult to find.— rockinginthefreeworld
- Stick to milk, Melk!— dasher
- Cabrera's suspension will indeed negatively impact the Phils. He will most likely be one less option for the Phils in 2013. There are not a lot of other outfielders the Phils would really want to acquire from the 2013 class with the exception of Bourn who may be too expensive. The dilemma is Brown looks like the only outfielder who has an everyday position reserved for 2013, and even then, he will still be a work in progress. Pierre should have an outfield reseve position guaranteed. Mayberry is regressing rather than improving. His hitting, fielding, throwing and base running are not as good as they were in the two previous seasons, so he doesn't look like he'll be a part of the Phils 2013 plans. Schierholtz doesn't look like he'll be able to help the Phils next season either. Nix is also doubtful. What the Phils need to do now is what I suggested a while back. They need to acquire Alfonso Soriano by the end of the month. He's a freebie waiting to get claimed from the Cubs. The Phils should acquire him now and audition him along with the other outfielders for the rest of the year. If he doesn't pan out, the Phils will still be able to trade for or acquire free agent outfielders this off-season. But if he does pan out, the Phils wil have another power hitter and decent defensive outfielder to add to the lineup. He would become the new Raul UIbanez for 2013 and 2014. The Phils should also consider acquiring Scott Hairston, an affordable right-handed power hitting platoon for the outfield. Cabrera's suspenion may prove to be farther reaching than just the outfield for the Phils. If the Phils really feel the need to pay big bcks for Bourn, they may have to make a few trades they may have not have considered making otherwise. Lee could be one, and if Rollins continues to show an abject refusal to hustle or be moved out of the leadoff spot by someone like Bourn, he could be history also.— onthebucks
- Paragraphs — smfree31
- Shane 2013.— gho_matt
- Article title is a bit misleading, what is the impact? I think it's apparent, but you could have spent a few minutes providing details of the "impact/effect" on the phils decision making.— 46 and 2
- Brown still takes bad routes. Yesterday he broke bad and left a very catchable ball felt in front of him. Today, he was a little lazy fielding another fly ball that hung in there forever that any good OF would have caught. You could see the frustration in Doc's face after the play. He needs to learn a lot. RAJ said he'll be one of the OF next season. So far he hasn't convince me.— EL Zorro
- broke back, should read.— EL Zorro
- sign victorino and have him leadoff. put j-pop in the eighth spot.— zwarte piet
- Only impact is his price just went down. Give up suppliers? Testosternoe is legal if you have script for it, just banned by MLB so good luck on that one. Good news is Rollins is upping his value here in the 2nd half and we may be able to move him in the offseason and not have to eat much of that contract. Galvis is your SS next year. Utley also looks to have some pop left and may be a consideration from an AL club as a DH. Too bad we have a $25mm strike out machine at 1st who can't field either. Nice move on that one Booben. Trade Rollins to LA for Dee Gordon and a prospect, Bring in Bourn and Cabrera and trade Lee in the offseason to TX for Olt and Martin. Maybe even consider keeping Polly around one more year to platoon with Utley at 2nd. Bullpen arms are easy to find but if the Phils don't have a power bat at 3rd and one OF spot might as well mail in 2013 now. Stay away from Hamilton, he's a disaster waiting to happen.— JuanSamuel4prez
- Wait...let me get a pen.
Trade Rollins, Utley, and Howard (if we could find a team would want the leading HR hitter and RBI producer for the last 7 years).
And have a lineup with 7 of your 8 batters being:
Dee Gordon (.229, 1 HR, .280 OBP),
Freddie Galvis (.226, 3 HR, .254 OBP),
Michael Bourn (9 homers, will have over 150 K's),
Polanco (.255, 2 homers),
Melky Cabrera (after he is off the juice),
Mike Olt (6 career games, 3 singles, 4 strikeouts), and
Leonys Martin (.189, 0 homers, .250 OBP).
Sheer genius. How are you NOT a GM?— smfree31 - hahaha yeah, by this time next season we could be the Houston Astros. First of all, Dee Gordon shouldn't even be a name people are familiar with, let alone someone you'd wanna go out and get. Sure he's fast, but I would be too if I weighed 75 pounds soaking wet. Secondly, Utley will retire before going to the AL to DH. You can say what you will about Chase Utley, but that dude has always played the game the right way, and I don't think he can just sit in the dugout between at-bats and be fulfilled as a professional. Third, let's see if Galvis's back holds up and that he tests negative before throwing him back out in a full-time role. Rollins can still play, and for his current output he'e more or less earning his money, which to me says the Phils shouldn't trade him w/out any other trustworthy options (you want Galvis and his super sweet .215 AVG at SS?. I do agree on Hamilton. That dude is always probably one whisper in his ear from a relapse unfortunately. Personally I wish him the best, but business-wise? Let someone else sign him to a monster deal and hope it's the AL. And Cabrera? No. And No. his numbers pre-juice were mediocre at best and the dude can't run. Rule of thumb? When a guy goes from bench numbers to allstar numbers overnight? proooobably not all natural. In fact, I'd be relieved to hear that Ruiz has been tested and cleared, because his offensive numbers definitely have that suspicious spike. He's my favorite player on my favorite team and I hope it ain't so, I'm just saying he fts a pattern and I'm surprised nobody has mentioned it that I've seen. That's for another day.
— Momjeanz - To those San Fran bleacher fans with the Milk Man uniforms....you can
now take them to your next garage sale!..idiots!— Lynnwood - never mind melky----what about moving utley to 3rd base next year, and find another 2nd baseman thru FA or leave Galvis there. That way you can have even more money available for a power outfielder— jarjason61
- JJ, do you actually follow Phillies baseball? The are maybe three people on Earth, (you are one) that don't know that Utley tried playing 3rd in the minors, and didn't have the arm to make cross the diamond throws to first, and he was terrible, so they ended that experiment quickly. He is a second baseman. He is not going to the AL to DH either. When he signed his last contract 6 years ago, his exact quote was, "I'm going to be a Phillie for life". He will retire before being traded, I'd bet. — laser5
- My man Ben Davis mentioned the same thing about Brown taking a bad route on that ball that was in the air for a long time.— EL Zorro
- Impact number one: his price just dropped significantly. He was looking at a 10 mil/yr payday. no mas, Melky.— scootch
- Melk-A-Roidi..........the San Francisco Treat— NewMick314
- EZ>>>>>both Melk and Brownie took bad routes— NewMick314
- Melky Cabrera was never a real centerfielder; more like a 4th outfielder who could play center in a pinch-like Mayberry. Now, as he's gotten older, he's not even close; Melky is now a decent left fielder who can fill in elsewhere. To even think about playing Melky in center would be inviting disaster.
—The Phils might want to look into picking Michael Taylor back up though. Is back in Triple A for the A's. Had injuries for a couple of years that set him back and now when he comes back to the bigs can't get around on a ML fastball. His swing is messed up, but it's a recent thing(this year); looks like a technical issue; just the kind of thing that Charlie could clean up once they make him him batting coach and manager emeritus.
—Platoon Mayberry and Brown in Left, Schierholtz and Taylor in Right and sign . . I don't know . . .maybe Shane Victorino to play center. If the Dodgers fold in the end—as they most likely will—Shane should be almost affordable.
— aintnorep - Hahaha, NewMick, you're right.
— EL Zorro - Sign Victorino.— ACBaughman
- If Melky Cabrera was to be our answer in 2013, all hope totally is lost, already. Please. I would like to see us sign scrappy ballplayers in the John Kruk and Dave Hollins mold. Cody Ross comes to mind right now. They play baseball -- hard -- and want to win. Give me 4-5 of those guys at $5 million a year and I like my chances. I don't care what outfield position they end up in.— eman
- I would pass on Cabrera now. Funny, I also thought he had lost power with the Yankees then he came on so strong. I guess we know why. His numbers are bound to fall off now. The only positive might be that price/years falls off with this news. But I'd pass even at a discount.— s
- vic. tor. i. yes.— bubba church & granny hamner
- Im hoping they bring back Shane. Still young enough to do well. I always felt hitting him leadoff is a strong option. Also fill need for someone who hits lefthanders.— don whitman
- The great news for the Phillies is that we all found out about this NOW. Can you imagine signing him to a megadeal and then later finding out about his drug problem? We'll find somebody else to play outfield.— nmlawyer
- @ s good posts on Ruff. Can Ruff be another Gregg Luzinski? Problem is the team already gave one spot in the OF to Brown for next season. You can't have two young OF with question marks. Right now, it seems Brown is swinging to make contact instead of driving the ball. His swing is too slow for a young player and still with a big loop. His swing too defensive. He needs to be a little bit more aggressive. Also, if he is happy getting singles and walks, at least try to steal a base. He has been on base 19 times (13 hits, 6 BB) in 15 games and have zero SB attempts. And his defense is still questionable, although improved a little bit. It seems this kid can't put it together and he'll be 25 in a few weeks. There is also 3B to think about and Utley looks like he can't play solid defense anymore. This team has a lot of holes.— EL Zorro
- Poor Ruf ! I guess all the home runs he hits are a mirage because he is 26 years old.
What a handicap to have when playing for the Phillies. Maybe Amaro can work out a deal for a much older non performer, after all we wouldn't want a healthy first baseman in the wings to upset Howard. He could also be a threat to "Slugger Mayberry'' or "Dazzling Domonic."
Move him to AAA, and if he has the talent , bring him up next season to replace one of the sacred cows on the team.
— phineas - Take a deep breath and recite the name "Matt Rizzotti" a few times. Another power hitting 1B the Phillies had. His AA numbers in 2010-2011 were similar to Ruf's (better in some regards but fewer HRs). The other difference is Rizzotti was a questionable fielder even at 1B. There was no real shot at converting him to an outfielder ... I think they may have tried though. Rizzotti came back down to earth when he hit AAA after he was traded. He's now in AA with Oakland and hitting well again. He's also 26 years old. Maybe his ceiling is AA/AAA. He wouldn't be the first.
And with a guaranteed contract no 1B in the wings is going to bother Howard. There's no place to send RH unless be somehow becomes tradeable. Good luck unloading that contract.
One thing Looper said that every armchair GM should consider: He discussed the yin/yang of baseball, how for every strikeout there's a positive on the other side of that (the pitcher in that case) and perspective is all about which side you're riding. But he then extended that to the roster: For every guy you want to add, someone else has to come off. They're certainly not going to rush a AA guy like Ruf to the 40 man roster in that regard. Let him show he can continue what's he done this year and his ascent will take care of itself.— s - As for Melky, I never was a fan. When two great organizations like the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees gave up on a promising young player and the player has been traded so many times before his 28 birthday and before being eligible for FA, something has to be wrong with him. His revelation this year that he takes advice from his good friend A-Rod was not good either.— EL Zorro
- They should only sign guys ready to better them self by juicing!! It is so much fun watching a team of meat head juicers smash the ball all over the field... Tell me 1993 wasn't fun?? That whole team was juicers.. Dykstra, Hollins, Daulton, Incavilia, Eisenrich, D. Jackson, T. Greene, & Mitch Williams... ALL JUICERS :)— FetchDixon
- Since this is a first offense, I would show a little forgiveness and take a run at him with a strong drug clause in the contract voiding it if there is another infraction. He has been a good solid player since his early days with the Yankees. Unless he is a clubhouse cancer, he might even come at a slightly less cost because of the damage he has done to his reputation. The way the Phillies are going, they need something different to fill a very big hole in their lineup in one of the outfield spots. I could see Brown in right, Cabrera in Center and a platoon of Pierre and a righty in left. I do not believe that they should take a run at Hamilton who has a high pricetag a high upside but a higher drug risk than anyone because of the nature of his addiction. Andm I would suspect that he is an "old" 31 because of his long and deep drug history.— gotedge
- Where is Freddy Galvis now? I know he was suspended but isn't that over? There should be enought time this season to see if he could handfle third base.
North Jersey fan— CarlCW - Without the soup how much pop will he lose? Sign Shane on the cheap and sign a big bat plus Pierre.— Mystified
- Phils should get Mike Young(2B/3B), Cody Ross and Torii Hunter for outfield, and bring Ryan Madson back for setup. Release Ryan Howard and replace him with Ruf. Bring up Jake Fox for bench and use him at 3b when Young is filling in for Utley at 2B. That would be a much improved offensive team with some power and a shutdown bullpen.— fafink
- I think the Giants should vacate the wins that they accumulated with Cabrera.— skolman
- cabrera is a loser. he'll probably test positive again. These guys never stay away from the juice— phoenix phlash
- Wait. The Phillies could use a right handed power hitting lst baseman. Our present lst baseman has trouble hitting , sliders, sinkers, curves and some fastballs.— tulsaphil
- If anything, this drives his price down. Now maybe Rube won't have overpay him as much as he otherwise would have.— Only in Philly...
- Duh! So he misses the first month of the season...how long did we wait for Utley and Howard, Galvis, etc. Frankly, this should lower his value. He's a juicer.— ngfs66
- Ruf. A 26 yr old tearing up AA. Wow. A real stud for sure.— JodyMac
- True story: Game 3 of the 2009 Phils-Yanks WS. After a long rain delay, the game takes place. The Phils end up losing, but Melky, a Yankee outfielder at the time, taunts & taunts & taunts the Phillies outfield crowd. He kept pointing to his hat and primping his jersey, pointing to it to taunt the Phillies crowd. I was there, and I saw it first hand. So to me, this couldn't happen to a nicer guy. And he is not welcome in the Phillies outfield. I would rather see Kenny Lofton out there— bumpi16
- Steer clear of anyone accused of cheating. Artificially inflated numbers on the field are no indication of the future accolades of a "juiced" player. Take chances elsewhere but leave tis guy alone.— SocialReject
- I don't get the headline. Actually, I don't get how a lot of the stupid mistakes get through editors, but this headline is idiotic. How exactly does Cabrera testing positive hurt the Phillies? If anything it helps them. They know not to blow money on someone who's juicing.— JayOfDaJungle
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