Yahoo’s Tim Brown is reporting that the A’s and Orlando Cabrera have reached an agreement on a one-year, $4 million contract, ending speculation that the Cabrera saga would end with the White Sox not receiving any draft compensation.
When Cabrera decline the White Sox’ arbitration offer (which could have earned him over $10 million for 2009), he expected to find a multi-year deal on the market. He obviously didn’t, which really speaks to the state of the economy.
There were rumors that it would take a sign-and-trade for a team to bring in Cabrera—with Cabrera signing a contract with the White Sox and then being dealt to the team that wanted him so that team could avoid losing a draft pick. Another possibility for Cabrera would have been for him to wait until early May so he could shed his type A compensation, making him a more attractive signing.
Luckily for the White Sox, they will get compensation from the A’s for the signing. While the A’s first-round pick is protected, the White Sox will get a second-round pick along with a supplemental pick for Cabrera. While it’s not the first-round pick the Sox were intially hoping for at the beginning of the offseason, at this point, it’s a pair of picks—which were looking less and less likely for the White Sox as the offseason progressed.
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