For many of us, Melky Cabrera’s last two seasons seemed too good to be true. Maybe they were. Today, the MLB announced that the San Francisco Giants All-Star Outfielder tested positive for a banned performance enhancing drug and will be suspended 50 games, effectively ending his season.
Quite a few things that come to mind initially, for both the Melkman and the team:
First and foremost, this positive test just cost Cabrera somewhere in the range of $50 million. Last year, he had over 200 hits in the AL and this year, in the NL, he was on pace to smash that plateau again while hitting .346, trailing only MVP frontrunner Andrew McCutchen. The future could not have looked brighter for the 28 year old outfielder. With teams like the Mets and Phillies desperate for outfield help, Cabrera was all set to make a healthy chunk of change this offseason, likely netting a 4 or 5 year deal. Now, the proverbial black cloud will descend upon his prospects. No one knows what Melky can do if he’s clean. Is he still a 150 hit a year guy? Will he still hit .300? .280? .200? With the question marks abounding, his best bet now is to sign a one year deal somewhere, prove he can play clean, and test the market again next year.
The suspension is of equally large consequence to the Giants. Right now, San Francisco is in first place in the NL West, but share that lead with the hard charging Dodgers. LA just added Hanley Ramirez, Shane Victorino, and Joe Blanton, while the Giants just lost their best hitter. This could be absolutely devastating for San Francisco and may tank their entire season. Pablo Sandoval is just coming back from injury and the deadline addition of Hunter Pence helps, but the Pence acquisition was intended to supplement Melky, not replace him. As it was, the Giants were going to be scrtatching and clawing down to the wire; this just made a playoff berth that much more elusive. If I’m GM Brian Sabean or one of Melky’s teammates, I’d be ticked.
This suspension, in addition with the positive-but-reversed test of Ryan Braun last season, proves that PEDs are still in baseball. We may be at the tail end of the steroid era but it’s not behind us just yet. However, the continued positive tests also give us hope that maybe the drug use prevention system is actually working.
Overall, this suspension is terrible for Melky financially, disastrous for the Giants competitively, and gift from above for the LA Dodgers.
-Max Frankel
