According to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag Sports, the New York Mets have decided to pick up the 2018 option for Asdrubal Cabrera. The option will play the veteran infielder $8.5 million instead of what would’ve been a $2 million buyout.
Cabrera, 31, hit .280/.351/.434 with 14 homers and 59 RBI and had a 1.3 fWAR, 111 wRC+ and .338 wOBA in 135 games for the Mets this season. He also had a white hot September and October, registering a .371/.431/.607 clip.
After having a change of heart after requesting his trade, Cabrera reiterated how much he wanted to stay with the Mets.
“I love this team,” he said in August. “We’ve got good talent now, young guys and they’re learning a little bit. It’s going to be a good team next year if everybody stays healthy.”
The displeasure from Cabrera arose when the team wanted to remove him from shortstop full time while shuffling him around the infield.
However, he actually performed better when playing elsewhere. In 350.1 innings at the hot corner, Cabrera had 1 DRS and a -2.6 UZR with six errors compared to at short where he committed 11 gaffs in the field with a -8 DRS and -4.6 UZR.
