White Sox player review: Orlando Cabrera

October 16, 1:40 PMChicago White Sox ExaminerJJ Stankevitz

Previous Next

12 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Chicago White Sox Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

The Cabrera-for-Garland trade was a success for the Sox.

The player:

Orlando Cabrera

Position: Shortstop

Vital statistics
Batting average: .281
OBP: .334
SLG: .371
OPS: .705
Home runs: 8
RBI: 57
Runs: 93
BB/K: 56/71
SB/CS: 19/6

Just 13 days after winning the first Gold Glove of his career, Orlando Cabrera was traded from the Angels to the White Sox for Jon Garland. On the outset, the trade looked to be incredibly even—as the White Sox filled a hole at shortstop and the Angels shored up their rotation with a proven winner in Garland.

However, the trade never was as even as people made it out to be. Garland was going to make $12 million in 2008, while Cabrera $9 million. On top of that, Garland was projected—correctly—to be a type B free agent in the offseason, while Cabrera was projected to be a type A free agent. If the White Sox offer Cabrera arbitration, the team that signs the 33-year-old shortstop will have to give up two draft picks to the White Sox between picks 17 and 55.

The White Sox would not have received that second supplemental draft pick if they were losing Garland. So not only did the White Sox get an extra draft pick, but they saved $3 million that can pay nearly 60% of Alexei Ramirez' contract.

On top of all that, Cabrera had a far more successful season that Garland, who went 14-8 but with a 4.90 ERA and had the highest BB/9 (2.70) of his career since 2004. While it would have been nice to have Garland in the starting rotation while Jose Contreras was on the disabled list, he would have pushed either Gavin Floyd or John Danks to the bullpen for the first three months of the season. When you consider that Floyd and Danks were the two best pitchers for the White Sox early in the year, keeping Garland would likely have hurt the White Sox' playoff chances.

The Cabrera-for-Garland trade does not need any more justification—it was an excellent move by Kenny Williams. But how did Cabrera fare once the season started?

Cabrera never was a fan favorite on the South Side. Billed as a great team player, Cabrera dynamited that perception when it was reported that he called the press box more than once to get an error that was charged to him changed to another player. Then, there was the ensuing "feud" between Cabrera and Ozzie Guillen that likely was blown out of proportion—but it still existed. Cabrera also had a penchant for stealing third with two outs, and on a muggy July night in Kansas City, he and Jermaine Dye nearly came to blows in the dugout over it.

While the White Sox were struggling in September, Cabrera called out the team's attitude in the press. Granted, Cabrera backed up his talk to the tune of a .330 batting average in September, but it was just another example of Cabrera not being that "team player" he was hyped up to be.

It was these moments that gave White Sox fans a negative impression of Cabrera, but the fact is that Cabrera did a decent job leading off and an excellent job defensively in the field. Cabrera, who always was an excellent No. 2 hitter, adjusted nicely to the switch to the leadoff spot that came in May. He took the most walks—56—of any season in his career and also saw more pitches than he ever had in his career.

While some of his other numbers—WPA/LI and RC/27, most notably—were not impressive, on the whole, Cabrera adjusted nicely to the leadoff spot. He certainly was better than the alternative—which would have either been Ramirez or Dewayne Wise, most likely.

Defensively, Cabrera made White Sox fans realize how spoiled they were with Juan Uribe's cannon arm, but he made almost every play he was asked to. It's hard to say that Cabrera had anything but a good season defensively at shortstop.

Cabrera likely won't be remembered too fondly on the South Side—especially if he signs with Minnesota—but, in 2008, he was an important piece of a team that won the division for the first time since 2005.