The 2017 season for Asdrubal Cabrera was full of peaks and valleys.
After laboring through a lingering thumb injury and requesting a trade out of Queens, the infielder rebounded to finish his season on a high note.
This, along with his veteran presence, will see the Mets pick up his $8.5 million option for 2018, tweets Marc Carig of Newsday.
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 wants to stay here.
“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.
While a name like Mike Moustakas would be appealing to man the hot corner, chances are he will be too rich for the Mets pallet. Todd Frazier could be an option as well as Eduardo Nunez, but with it becoming all the more likely the team picks up Cabrera’s option, you may be looking at your Opening Day third baseman.
Of course, someone like Nunez could be signed to hold down the keystone, but New York also has Wilmer Flores, T.J. Rivera and Gavin Cecchini returning next season.
Bringing back Cabrera is a smart decision for the Mets, though. With his offensive skill set and his veteran presence, it makes perfect sense.
Last month, Michael Mayer posted an article about whether the Mets should bring back Cabrera or Jose Reyes, which can be found here.
