Not long after his formal release by the Rangers, veteran infielder Asdrubal Cabrera has agreed to join the Nationals, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). It’s a major-league deal, per the report.
Because Cabrera was cut loose, the Rangers will remain obligated to him for the remainder of his $3.5MM salary. But they’ll save a pro-rated portion of the league minimum for whatever time Cabrera remains with the Nats.
It has been a few years, but Cabrera is a familiar face in D.C. He spent the last few months of the 2014 season with the club after a trade from the Indians, his long-time team. Cabrera has appeared with four additional teams in the intervening years.
The match is a clear one given the current roster demands faced by the Nationals. Howie Kendrick just joined Ryan Zimmerman on the injured list, leaving the team with light-hitting utilityman Adrian Sanchez as its lone reserve infielder.
It remains to be seen whether Cabrera will be a temporary fill-in or key roster piece down the stretch. His performance will no doubt help dictate the situation.
The switch-hitting Cabrera will be looking to bounce back from a brutal run with the Rangers. Not only did he limp to a .235/.318/.393 batting output, one of the worst extended runs of his career, but Cabrera was actually fortunate to post those numbers in light of the low-quality contact he made (.308 wOBA, .287 xwOBA).
Didn’t even hear about his being released. That’s a dumb move by Texas. Glad the Nats are taking a chance on him. He deserves to be in the majors.
Very good glove. He exceeded expectations coming in after Beltre left
Great hands but no range at his age.
Dumb move? Was he the key to a Rangers playoff spot this year?. You can’t trade anyone after July 31 any more, all you can do is dump dead weight, which is what he was. The Rangers want to get younger guys more playing time.
No but he was a depth piece that could have benn dealt at the deadline for… something
You mean “dumb move by the Nats”. Wait til you see him hit..
Good for the Nationals.
Where does he play?
he takes Howie Kendricks spot until he is healthy. Which I assume is 1b against lefties, and giving days off at 3rd and 2nd.
Asdrubal has never played 1st. Adams and Parra can man 1st base (Adams surprisingly has better splits against southpaws this season). Asdrubal can platoon with Dozier at 2nd and play 3rd when Rendon needs a rest.
a major league deal lol
Damn Nats! I was hoping Mets would bring him back but I understand why they weren’t in a rush with their infield depth.
Welcome back to DC!
He was good the first month AT HOME / after that was terrible!
Good luck
Surprised he didn’t sign with Rangers east ( Baltimore). Rangers should have traded him at the deadline for PTBNL, International $$ and a bucket of balls.
Pretty sad once again that the Nats have no one to bring up and we are depending on Asdrubal Cabrera to be our savior? WTF?
He’s not even going to play. They have Kieboom, but won’t bring him up to sit on the bench.
Relax. This signing is very simple reasoning. Nats had Adrian Sanchez on the bench and figured Cabrera would be a low-cost/better replacement for him..
They do have Kieboom tearing up the minors, so it’s not like they have “no one to bring up”. I was thinking they’d give him another short-term shot at the major league level, but Cabrera is a known commodity and can play every infield position.
Cabrera didn’t hit much for the Rangers this season, but he was nothing but a pro in Texas. I’m glad to see him getting another shot and hope the success he had at the plate in his last 10 or 12 games with the Rangers carries over to his time in Washington.
Good move Nats don’t know why the Mets didn’t go after him or maybe they did he plays 2nd correct or can play 2nd