Diamondbacks sign third baseman Asdrubal Cabrera

The Arizona Diamondbacks tried to improve their infield, and officially signed third baseman Asdrubal Cabrera of Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela to a one-year deal worth $1.75 million according to Jon Heyman of mlb.com. The Diamondbacks become Cabrera’s seventh Major League Baseball team. He has previously played for the Cleveland Indians, Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, and Texas Rangers.

This past season with the Nationals, Cabrera batted .242 with eight home runs, and 32 runs batted in. In 52 games, 190 at bats, and 213 plate appearances, Cabrera scored 23 runs, and had 46 hits, nine doubles, three triples, 19 walks, a .305 on-base percentage, a .447 slugging percentage, 85 total bases, and four sacrifice flies.

A two-time all-star with the Indians in 2011 and 2012, Cabrera’s finest season came in 2011, when he also won the American League Silver Slugger Award at shortstop. That year he had career-highs in home runs (25), runs batted in (92), runs scored (87), hits (165), and total bases (278). Cabrera also tied a career-high in stolen bases with 17. He also had 17 stolen bases during the 2009 season.

While playing second base with the Indians in 2008, Cabrera made Major League Baseball history by becoming the 14th player ever to record an unassisted triple play. He achieved that mark in a 3-0 Indians loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. In the top of the fifth inning, Cabrera caught a line drive from Blue Jays first baseman Lyle Overbay, and then subsequently got  Kevin Mench and Marco Scutaro out by touching second base and tagging the runner. The only other player to record an unassisted triple play in the last 13 years was Eric Bruntlett of Lafayette, IN, who achieved the mark for the Philadelphia Phillies in a 6-2 win over the New York Mets on August 23, 2009.

In 2019 with the Nationals, Cabrera won the World Series. He batted .286 in 21 at bats as the Nationals defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.

At age 35, expect to see Cabrera play more of a reserve infield role with the Diamondbacks in 2021. Arizona already has an established infield that includes first baseman Christian Walker, second baseman Ketel Marte, shortstop Nick Ahmed, and third baseman Eduardo Escobar.