Phillies Offseason Trade Target: Melky Cabrera
Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said he wishes to get a major league bat in his everyday lineup next season. Could Melky Cabrera be that guy and make a return to the National League East?
This winters free agent market presents few plausible options for the Philadelphia Phillies. While a power bat such as Mark Trumbo or Jose Bautista would excite the fanbase, neither would come to Philadelphia only to be traded in July to an unknown team.
Even someone such as Brandon Moss or Matt Holliday would be difficult to bring in. No player wants to waste their prime seasons or their final at bats playing for a 70-win team.
That leaves the Phillies looking into the trade market with a couple of priorities. The player should be a veteran with experience, have some combination of power and pure hitting, and be in the final year of his contract for trade deadline purposes.
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A name that jumps off the page is White Sox outfielder Melky Cabrera, who finished the past season with 14 home runs, 86 RBIs, and a .298 batting average. The majority of his starts came in left field, however he does have some experience in right.
The 32-year-old is in the final year of a three-year deal worth $42 million with the White Sox. Owed $15 million next season, Cabrera would be the highest-paid player on the 2017 Phillies roster.
Like Philadelphia, Chicago has had a tumultuous run since winning their World Series title in 2005. They will be looking to unload on some of their best assets, and Cabrera could be the easiest to acquire given his age and contract status. A mid-level prospect should be all that is required to bring him into the City of Brotherly Love to mentor Odubel Herrera, Nick Williams, and the rest of the young pups due to arrive.
To put a potential Cabrera deal into comparison, let’s look at some of the recent trades the Phillies have made regarding outfielders. The most relevant is Marlon Byrd, who the Phillies foolishly signed in their final push to contend with an aging roster. Byrd had a 2.6 WAR (wins above replacement) in 2014 at the age of 36 prior to being traded to Cincinnati.
The Reds sent Double-A pitcher Ben Lively, their fourth round pick in 2013, in exchange for Byrd. Lively is now the club’s ninth best pitching prospect, and could make his major league debut next season.
Last season Melky Cabrera had a 2.7 WAR, just .1 points behind Byrd in the season prior to his trade. Klentak won’t have to deal a top prospect to acquire Cabrera, and could potentially receive a package of young players next summer from a desperate playoff team looking for a bat for the middle of the line-up.
Cabrera could be placed in either the four or five hole behind Maikel Franco and Tommy Joseph, providing protection similarly to Jayson Werth and Pat Burrell behind Ryan Howard. This could allow Franco and Joseph to see more hittable pitches and develop them as a hitter.
In many ways this trade is a win-win for Philadelphia and Matt Klentak. They won’t need to move a major prospect, can develop hitters such as Franco and Joseph, acquire a prospect at the trade deadline, and have a veteran in a young locker room who has two World Series rings on his hand.
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