In the quiet times of late December, a tweet that the Blue Jays are still talking to free agent second basemen unfortunately qualifies as news. Apparently three American League East teams in the Rays, Yankees, and Blue Jays, as well as the Royals are all still in on Asdrubal Cabrera. The 29-year-old has seen his market slim down and will be lucky to get more than a one-year deal at this point, which would allow the Venezuelan to boost his value and make another run at a larger contract next offseason. Jon Morosi had the rather unexciting tweet:
Yankees, Royals, Rays, and Blue Jays all have kept in touch with Asdrubal Cabrera's camp.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 29, 2014The switch-hitting middle infielder is an average hitter who isn't a liability at the plate although he hasn't aged very well. Unfortunately he's not the greatest defender in the world and seems to be only getting worse with age. During his time in Cleveland he played mainly shortstop and was pretty bad regularly finishing the season with a UZR/150 in the negative double digits. After his midseason trade to the Nationals, Cabrera played second base and was slightly better although he certainly didn't challenge for a Gold Glove. He's a pretty consistent player for what he is and that wouldn't be the worst outcome for a Blue Jays second base role that hasn't been adequately filled for quite some time.
The contract Cabrera eventually receives is anybody's guess, but the risk of a one-year deal is obviously quite low and would provide a sturdy bridge to the perceived future second baseman in Devon Travis. It's not the move that will win the Blue Jays a division title, but it could plug one of the few remaining holes on the team for a fairly low cost.
Edit
To add to the rather unexciting tweets today, Jon Heyman reports that the Blue Jays are still looking for a closer. More importantly, he tags his location as Iowa which begs the question of what Jon Heyman is doing in Iowa. He notes that the team is still in on Francisco Rodriguez, although they would rather trade for a closer which is what Alex Anthopoulos has been saying for weeks.
k-rod is on jays radar, though toronto trying to trade for a closer first
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) December 29, 2014I'm not sure the team is willing to overpay for saves and the solution to the bullpen will probably be something that no one even sees coming. The hot stove has gone so very cold.