Melky Cabrera quickly became a fan favorite in San Francisco. He came over for Jonathan Sanchez, who completely imploded, and he led the National League in hits a year after leading the American League. Fans in “Melk Man” costumes were regularly shown on the Giants’ home broadcasts. The phenomenon might have peaked when Cabrera was named the All-Star MVP after surging past Ryan Braun in the final voting.
Kawakami: Melky Suspension A ‘Gut-Shot’
That seems ... oddly poetic now, for some reason.
Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News takes a look at the contract situation for Melky, who was a pending free agent:
Now you have to wonder about Cabrera’s future, and what the Giants knew or suspected before they reportedly offered what was thought to be a fairly modest contract proposal last month.
About three years, $27 million for a player leading the league in hits, hovering near .350 all season?
The point is that there were some concerns about Cabrera even before this news hit–how did he get so good so fast after being so bad just two years ago?
And if he ever thought he’d get a $70 million contract… that is absolutely gone now. I’d say even the $27 million offers are probably vanished.Melky Cabrera was close to a big, big contract. He will not get one now. And it’s hard to know if the Giants would even entertain the idea of re-signing him after this. They’re a little touchy about the whole performance-enhancing drug thing, you know.
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