It's been a wild thirteen months for Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Melky Cabrera.
Not long after being named MVP of the 2012 All-Star Game, Cabrera, then with the San Francisco Giants, was suspended 50 games after testing positive for high levels of testosterone. This, of course, caused the switch hitter to not only forfeit his batting title, but also…miss the World Series.
Then, in the off season, Cabrera inked a two-year, $16 million deal with the Blue Jays. It wasn't long before the 29-year-old's name was being mentioned, again, in connection with PEDs. This time, however, he was included as part of the Biogenesis scandal. And we all know how that panned out.
In August, the .284 career hitter had season ending surgery and now, take a deep breath, now there's this.
According to reports, Cabrera is recovering from having a benign tumor removed from his lower back.
According to Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos, Cabrera had been in pain for months, but hadn't told anyone. Apparently, the tumor was even pushing on nerves in his back and caused the injuries that had been plaguing his less-than-stellar 2013 campaign.
"You give him credit because he doesn't want to come out of the lineup, wants to play, would have to be dragged to the training room, didn't want treatment, did not want to make excuses, ever, for his play. That's something that you admire. I think he's just relieved that now he knows he's going to be fine," Anthopoulos said. "I'm glad he finally came forward. I'm not glad that we found something, but I'm glad it can be corrected and we should be good to go."
Early indications are that Cabrera will be ready to go by the time Spring Training opens next spring.
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