Former Blue Jay Melky Cabrera Officially Retires

A day after former Blue Jays top prospect Travis Snider announced his retirement, former Toronto left fielder Melky Cabrera announced he was retiring from baseball as well on Friday.

Cabrera played two seasons with the Blue Jays in 2013 and 2014, just before the team made their two exciting playoff appearances.

Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos signed Cabrera after a 2012 season with the San Francisco Giants that saw him named to the NL All-Star team and lead the league in batting average, but the season was cut short due a suspension.  The then 28-year old tested positive for testosterone and was suspended for 50 games.

After receiving his suspension, Cabrera was quoted in saying “My positive test was the result of my use of a substance I should not have used” and he would then request to be disqualified from winning the batting title as he led the National League with a .346 batting average.

Anthopoulos would give Cabrera a second chance and the two settled on a two-year deal worth $16 Million, which was the highest total amount of money that the Blue Jays General Manager had signed a player to up to that point.

During his first season with the Blue Jays, Cabrera struggled to start the season, however, during his final 57 games of the season he posted a slash line of .303/.345/.407 before going down to an ankle injury in early August that would lead to season ending surgery.  While out with his injury, doctors also located a benign tumour that they removed from his spine and he was able to bounce back for the 2014 season.

During his final season with the Blue Jays, Cabrera finished third on the team in WAR (3.5) trailing behind Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, while also leading the team in doubles and posting a slash line of .301/.351/.458.  His strong season would lead to a three-year contract from the Chicago White Sox worth $42 Million that offseason.

Cabrera had not played in the major leagues since the 2019 season, but had been playing in the Dominican Winter League over the last two years.  Cabrera retires at the age of 37 with nearly 1,900 Major League games and posted a career slash line of .285/.334/.417.

What will you remember about Cabrera?