The Blue Jays effectively terminated any hopes of re-signing Cabrera earlier in the month when they traded starting pitcher J.A. Happ to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Michael Saunders.Kevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail
It was September in Boston and members of the media were kept waiting for what seemed an eternity until Melky Cabrera presented himself to talk about a broken right pinky finger that had ended his season prematurely.
Most of the interview was conducted in Spanish, with third base coach Luis Rivera translating the left fielder's answers into English.
At the end of the session, Cabrera – who could speak and understand English better than he let on – was asked if he wanted to stay in Toronto, And he was asked if he could respond in English, to make the television cameras happy.
"I stay in Toronto," Cabrera said.
You want to stay, a reporter asked?
"Yeah," Cabrera answered.
The 30-year-old may have been responding truthfully, that he wanted to be a part of a Toronto Blue Jays organization that took a chance on him two years earlier when he signed a deal after a steroid controversy.
What else was he going to say, really?
But in the end, Cabrera let his pocketbook dictate his future and on Sunday it was reported that the free agent has agreed to terms on a new three-year, $42-million (all figures U.S.) deal with the Chicago White Sox.
The White Sox have not confirmed the signing which, according to ESPN.com, will not become official until Cabrera passes a physical exam that is to take place early next week.
The terms of the contract were actually surprising since it was felt that Cabrera, who turned down a qualifying offer of $15.3-million for one season from the Jays, was seeking a new deal that would extend at least four to five years.
Still, it is a substantial raise from the two-year, $16-million deal he signed with the Blue Jays following the 2012 Major League Baseball season.
That came after Cabrera was suspended for 50 games by MLB following a positive test for testosterone.
The acquisition of Cabrera concludes a busy week for the revamping White Sox after trading for pitcher Jeff Samardzija and the signing of free-agent reliever David Robertson.
The Blue Jays effectively terminated any hopes of re-signing Cabrera earlier in the month when they traded starting pitcher J.A. Happ to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Michael Saunders.
At the time of the trade the Victoria native was told by general manager Alex Anthopoulos that he would be Toronto's everyday left fielder for 2015.
After a disastrous 2013 campaign where his performance was compromised by a benign tumor that was discovered in his back after the season had concluded, Cabrera made an impressive comeback for Toronto this past season.
Batting second in the order ahead of Jose Bautista, Cabrera, a switch-hitter, batted .301 with a .351 on-base percentage with 16 homer runs and 73 runs batted in.
Cabrera played in 139 games before his injury and, despite his limited range, was surprisingly effective defensively in the outfield.
His 13 outfield assists was second only among American League left fielders to Yoenis Cespedes, who amassed 16 over the course of the season with the Oakland Athletics and then the Boston Red Sox.
While the Blue Jays will miss Cabrera's bat, they will be getting a defensive upgrade in left with the fleet-footed Saunders. The team is hoping that Saunders will be able to revert to the offensive form he displayed in 2012, when he swatted 19 home runs and batted .247.
In an injury-marred 2014 that limited him to 78 games, Saunders batted .273.
And Saunders certainly comes cheaper than Cabrera. He is projected to earn approximately $4-million through arbitration.
The one upside to Cabrera signing with the White Sox is that the Blue Jays will receive a valuable compensatory pick after the first round in the 2015 draft.
The Blue Jays had lost their first-round pick to the Pittsburgh Pirates after they signed free-agent catcher Russell Martin.