Former Met Asdrúbal Cabrera and the Texas Rangers have agreed to terms on a one-year pact, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The deal, pending a physical, is worth $3.5MM – per ESPN‘s Jeff Passan – and will most likely slot the 33-year old Cabrera in as the team’s starting third baseman following the anticipated retirement of Adrián Beltré.
Across three years and 374 games toiling along the middle of the Mets’ infield, Cabrera hit .279/.339/.464. He posted a 9.1 oWAR in that time, though his -16 DRS as a shortstop ultimately pushed him to alternating roles between second and third base.
Cabrera was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies prior to the July 31 deadline in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Franklyn Kilome, and struggled to the tune of a .228/.286/.392 line with a 32.3% hard-hit rate that fell nearly 10% from his 41.2% as a Met.
Cabrera had expressed a desire to return to New York earlier this past week via Instagram, lamenting that “the team preferred other players.” Having signed Jed Lowrie and traded for Robinson Canó and J.D. Davis, the decision to move on from Cabrera seemed imminent.
His .803 OPS in a Met uniform is the franchise record among shortstops, and despite ranking ninth in plate appearances with just 1,515, he finishes fifth in RBI (179), fourth in extra-base hits (142), and second in home runs (55).
