The Mets have announced that shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera is heading to the 10-day DL with a sprained left thumb. He’ll be replaced for the time being by infielder T.J. Rivera.
While Cabrera launched two home runs yesterday, the lingering issue with his thumb has evidently become significant enough to warrant a rest. His prognosis is not specifically known, though it seems there’s little reason at this point to expect an extended absence.
As Marc Carig of Newsday notes (Twitter links), the switch-hitting Cabrera has been bothered especially while hitting from the right side. With left-handed starters scheduled for the next two days, the club evidently found the timing right to allow him to rest up.
At the same time, the Mets are surely at least thinking about alternatives. The 31-year-old Cabrera has not replicated his productive 2016 season at the plate, though with a .244/.321/.392 slash he hasn’t been a problem at the plate. (That’s good for a 94 wRC+, just under league average.) Trouble is, Cabrera relies on the bat to carry him as an everyday player. Thus far, he has rated as a clear negative in the field and on the bases.
Adding to the intrigue is the fact that Jose Reyes has scuffled to a .188/.261/.293 batting line. He’ll likely slide over to shortstop for now, with the hot-hitting Wilmer Flores stepping in at third. But there’s obvious appeal to the idea of promoting top prospect Amed Rosario, who is performing quite well at Triple-A. The Mets are understandably uninterested in using him as a patch, but at some point perhaps they will decide he’s ready to try to take over the shortstop position more permanently.
I think Reyes may be fine and dfa wouldn’t be surprising with Ahmed coming up. Asdrubal as a bench piece when he comes back.
Reyes is a bum, the fact that he was kept on the team and Rivera was sent down initially, instead of Reyes being cut is just proof that Collins and Alderson have some sort of odd love affair with a average defensive player whose OPS is worse than Jacob Degrom’s.
Lol.
Should the Mets pick up Cabrera’s option? I think he’s still productive enough to warrant the $8.5 million option but he obviously will be replaced by Rosario. Could he move around the infield?
What option? Thought that was the one they picked up from last off season. He’s gone at the end of this year, either way…
No. Mets have an option third year which is next year.
They’re first going to switch Reyes and Cabrera in the infield. If that works- I’d pick up his option to have someone mentor Rosario. Can’t hurt to have someone who can play 2B-SS-3B
Reyes will refuse. He is such a talented player who is so beloved in the clubhouse that he can play anywhere any day. It’s purely up to his whim and has commented in the clubhouse that “It will be fun simply screwing with TC in a daily basis. Remember that I played for Bobby V so I have loads of experience with dopey managers.”
I agree. Cabrera is a huge mentor and a very positive presence in the clubhouse. He played injured all of last season while others on the team (Harvey) cry about absolutely everything. Reyes was great back in the day but the time is over to give him a 2nd chance at redemption after he got caught abusing his wife. I do like Reyes but it is time to go.
Why can’t they bring him up as a patch? Strikes me as the perfect time to do it, takes a lot of pressure off of both Rosario and management. Bring him up, tell him that as soon as Cabrera is healthy, he’s going back down. Bat him 8th, talk about how all you are asking at this point is for him to play defense. If he happens to do exceptionally well, then you have what’s known as a good problem. If he is average or less, he goes back down for more seasoning.
Couldn’t agree more
I wonder if MLBTR has a “Mets put (player name) on the DL” template that they just use for everything, with a summary article already written.
Instead of that option, the cheap Wilpon family has just entered into an agreement to become the official sponsor of the DL. So going forward all MLB communication will read, “let’s look at the DL, sponsored by the NY Mets.
That is unless a Brooklyn Dodger goes on the DL, where Jeff will try to sign them to a long term contract
I think it really comes down to Rosario needing just a little more time to work on plate discipline, so not quite ready to come up yet. A month or two should be fine and here to stay. Smith in September unless Duda is traded or injury.