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Melky Cabrera was putting together a career-best season for the Giants this summer when it was revealed that he tested positive for testosterone.
Just days after acquiring a group of stars from the Miami Marlins, the Toronto Blue Jays made another striking move Friday, signing the All-Star Melky Cabrera, whose 2012 season was cut short by a 50-game suspension for a failed drug test.
The two-year deal is worth $16 million, according to a person in Major League Baseball with knowledge of the contract.
The signing comes loaded with intrigue. Cabrera, 28, was putting together a career-best season for the San Francisco Giants this summer when it was revealed that he had tested positive for elevated testosterone. The controversy took a bizarre turn when it was discovered that an associate of his had created a fake Web site in an effort to create evidence for his appeal. Cabrera was ultimately suspended 50 games, and the Giants decided not to activate him during their playoff run, which ended with a World Series victory.
Because of the failed drug test, Cabrera?s true potential as a player has become a matter of uncertainty. He batted .305 for the Kansas City Royals in 2011, but he was a .267 hitter during his five seasons before that with the Yankees and the Atlanta Braves. Last season, Cabrera played 113 games, compiling a .346 average and .906 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. He was named most valuable player of the All-Star Game.
After he was suspended, it seemed unlikely that Cabrera would procure a deal of more than one year, and this contract is another indicator of the Blue Jays? sudden aggressiveness.
The Blue Jays, who last won a division title in 1993, appear to be trying to shake up the tight, competitive hierarchy of the American League East. This week, they gave up prospects and supporting players to acquire Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, Emilio Bonifacio and John Buck from the Marlins.
Cabrera, a switch-hitting outfielder, will further buttress a lineup that already included sluggers like Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. Revamped and retooled, the Blue Jays could present a serious challenge to their division rivals: the Yankees, Tampa Bay, Baltimore and Boston.
A?S-PADRES TRADE Oakland sent pitcher Tyson Ross and the minor league first baseman A. J. Kirby-Jones to San Diego for infielder Andy Parrino and the left-hander Andrew Werner.
Ross, 25, was 2-11 with a 6.50 earned run average in five stays with the A?s last season. He made 13 starts during his first four stints and then had five relief appearances in September.
Kirby-Jones, 24, hit .248 with 21 home runs and 69 runs batted in at Class A Stockton.
Parrino, a 27-year-old switch-hitter, batted .207 with one home run and six R.B.I. in 55 games with San Diego. Werner, 25, went 2-3 with a 5.58 E.R.A. for the Padres. (AP)
BRAVES SIGN LAIRD Atlanta agreed to a two-year deal with the backup catcher Gerald Laird, who played in the last two World Series, with St. Louis in 2011 and Detroit this year. (AP)
CARDINAL CITY Next season, the Cardinals? uniforms for Saturday home games will bear the city?s name. It has been 80 years since St. Louis appeared on a Cardinals home jersey. (AP)
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/sports/baseball/mlb-baseball-roundup.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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