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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Orlando Cabrera To Retire From Baseball

OH NO, EXPO!

Last season, Orlando Cabrera batted .238 with the Indians and Giants, posting a 61 OPS+. The season before that, he posted a 76 OPS+. The season before that, he posted an 85 OPS+. Orlando Cabrera has been declining, and just turned 37 years old. As a free agent, Cabrera didn’t drum up much interest, which I’m guessing is why he’s intending to hang ‘em up. Enrique Rojas:

“Orlando Cabrera to retire from baseball, he said in Colombia radio station. Thanks for memories!”

Cabrera had a long career that’ll be difficult to forget. He debuted with the Expos in 1997, and remained there until the giant Nomar Garciaparra three-way trade in 2004. That year, with the Red Sox, Cabrera won a World Series. He wound up with the Angels, earning the unfortunate nickname “The Wizard of O.C.”, and then he wound up with the White Sox, and the A’s, and the Twins, and the Reds, and the Indians, and the Giants ... He remained a shortstop to the end, and collected 2,055 hits. He will always be remembered as a pest. An absolute pest.

Repoz Posted: January 18, 2012 at 10:06 PM | 23 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: angels, athletics, expos, giants, indians, red sox, reds, twins, white sox

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1. SteveF Posted: January 18, 2012 at 10:25 PM (#4039882)

Judd Nelson tweeted this like 3 days ago.

2. Bhaakon Posted: January 18, 2012 at 11:05 PM (#4039907)

As a Giants fan, this news comes about 8 months too late.

3. BourbonSamurai, vassal of the Harpsburg Empire Posted: January 18, 2012 at 11:24 PM (#4039920)

man, i would definitely have lost a bet about how many hits Orlando Cabrera had.

4. joeysdadjoe Posted: January 18, 2012 at 11:45 PM (#4039932)

He remained a shortstop to the end

Must have missed Cleveland ?

5. Infinite Joost (Voxter)

Posted: January 19, 2012 at 12:31 AM (#4039961)

Judd Nelson tweeted this like 3 days ago.

He is ###### harsh.

6. Andere Richtingen

Posted: January 19, 2012 at 12:44 AM (#4039968)

Funny seeing this item posted right next to the Newsblog entry about Jamie Moyer signing a minor league deal.

In the same season Orlando Cabrera got his first cup of coffee with the Expos, Moyer solidified his comeback in the majors, going 17-5 with the Mariners, at age 34.

7. Crispix Attacks 2: Swag Airlines Posted: January 19, 2012 at 12:58 AM (#4039977)

Orlando Cabrera was born on November 2, 1974 - two weeks after Rollie Fingers got the final out of the A's' third straight World Series title.

November 2 has a birthday team full of interesting characters. Willie McGee, Tom Paciorek, Dick Sisler, Sam Horn, Sidney Ponson, Johnny Vander Meer, Al Campanis, and the least deserving Hall of Famer of them all, Travis Jackson. And Bob Tufts. And Paul Hartzell. And Yunel Escobar and Wilson Betemit.

8 pitchers born November 2 have won at least 20 MLB games. All of them have a losing W-L record except the #1 game-winner, Ron Reed.

8. The Long Arm of Rudy Law Posted: January 19, 2012 at 01:14 AM (#4039982)

Cabrera had a long career that’ll be difficult to forget. He debuted with the Expos in 1997, and remained there until the giant Nomar Garciaparra three-way trade in 2004. That year, with the Red Sox, Cabrera won a World Series. He wound up with the Angels, earning the unfortunate nickname “The Wizard of O.C.”, and then he wound up with the White Sox, and the A’s, and the Twins, and the Reds, and the Indians, and the Giants ... He remained a shortstop to the end, and collected 2,055 hits. He will always be remembered as a pest. An absolute pest.

This is how I imagine Ichiro would roast somebody.

9. Gotham Dave Posted: January 19, 2012 at 01:25 AM (#4039985)

Somewhat surprised Cabrera was never an All-Star. Not that he was a great player - he's no Tim Salmon - but he just seemed like he was pretty highly regarded, especially early in his career.

10. Squash Posted: January 19, 2012 at 02:01 AM (#4039997)

It's funny to hear him called a pest, because early on in his fantasy career he was valued as a shortstop who had some pop. I've always thought of early Orlando Cabrera and late Orlando Cabrera as two different literal players.

11. TDF, situational idiot Posted: January 19, 2012 at 09:29 AM (#4040068)

As a Giants fan, this news comes about 8 months too late.

As a Reds fan, it comes about 2 years too late.

12. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: January 19, 2012 at 09:46 AM (#4040074)

Too bad. I was hoping the Royals would get him instead of Yuniesky Crapencourt.

13. flournoy Posted: January 19, 2012 at 10:26 AM (#4040089)

Must have missed Cleveland ?

I wouldn't say he missed it, Bob...

14. Smyly Smile (Walewander) Posted: January 19, 2012 at 11:01 AM (#4040106)

Farewell to my favourite Expo, who I cheered for during my turn of the century stint in Montreal.
I will never forget the walkoff vs the Jays and the summer you grew a fro out all season.

15. Borussia, Du bist so wunderschön! (Mark Edward) Posted: January 19, 2012 at 11:20 AM (#4040121)

So how many players who wore the Montreal Expos uniform remain active? There's Colon, Vlad if he signs anywhere, does Shawn Hill still pitch for anybody? Oh yeah Jon Rauch too.

16. JJ1986 Posted: January 19, 2012 at 11:25 AM (#4040123)

Scott Downs is still out there.

17. DanG Posted: January 19, 2012 at 11:31 AM (#4040133)

Somewhat surprised Cabrera was never an All-Star.

Four points regarding this:

--The basic reason is he was never quite an all-star caliber player. Best years in WAR: 3.8, 3.3, 3.0, 2.9.
--Big offense gets all-star votes. Best years in OWn%: .568, .504, .480, .479.
--A good first half gets you an all-star berth. In his career his best hitting months are Sept/Oct and August. His worst is April.
--Since he's always played for good teams, he's always had a teammate who was a better pick.

18. DanG Posted: January 19, 2012 at 11:36 AM (#4040139)

So how many players who wore the Montreal Expos uniform remain active?

According to the PI, these are the players active in 2011 who played for les Expos:

Rk              Player WAR/pos   To    G From   To   Age   PA
1    Vladimir Guerrero    32.4 2011 1004 1996 2003 21-28 4220
2      Orlando Cabrera     6.3 2011  904 1997 2004 22-29 3592
3      Brian Schneider     4.1 2011  388 2000 2004 23-27 1268
4          Endy Chavez     2.7 2011  309 2002 2004 24-26 1211
5        Jamey Carroll     1.3 2011  223 2002 2004 28-30  595
6       Javier Vazquez     0.9 2011  192 1998 2003 21-26  441
7      Livan Hernandez     0.6 2011   69 2003 2004 28-29  179
8          Juan Rivera     0.3 2011  134 2004 2004 25-25  426
9           Bruce Chen     0.2 2011   15 2002 2002 25-25   13
10          Luis Ayala     0.1 2011  146 2003 2004 25-26   11
11           Jon Rauch     0.1 2011    9 2004 2004 25-25    6
12      Guillermo Mota     0.1 2011  133 1999 2001 25-27    5
13           Ted Lilly     0.0 2011    9 1999 1999 23-23    6
14      Miguel Batista    -0.1 2011   99 1998 2000 27-29   77
15         Matt Stairs    -0.1 2011   19 1992 1993 24-25   46
16         Scott Downs    -0.2 2011   14 2000 2004 24-28   25
17       Bartolo Colon    -0.2 2011   17 2002 2002 29-29   43
18      Maicer Izturis    -0.3 2011   32 2004 2004 23-23  121
19        Val Pascucci    -0.4 2011   32 2004 2004 25-25   74
20         Carl Pavano    -0.6 2011   81 1998 2002 22-26  162
21          Geoff Blum    -0.6 2011  317 1999 2001 26-28 1046
22      Milton Bradley    -1.5 2011  109 2000 2001 22-23  413 

19. JJ1986 Posted: January 19, 2012 at 11:39 AM (#4040142)

Wow, that's a lot.

Cabrera and Stairs are retiring and Vazquez is probably retiring. I'd guess Bradley and Pascucci are done too, but that leaves 17.

20. AROM Posted: January 19, 2012 at 12:39 PM (#4040198)

I wonder if Cabrera wants to be a manager. He always struck me as a smart player who might end up managing.

21. AROM Posted: January 19, 2012 at 12:43 PM (#4040203)

Way too early to narrow down candidates for the last Expo. I'd lean towards Bruce Chen right now.

22. Jose Can Still Seabiscuit Posted: January 19, 2012 at 12:48 PM (#4040210)

I think Ayala and Rauch have the best chance. Position and age really helps them though Chen is hanging around a lot better than I expected and Downs has the LOOGY thing going for him.

23. SoSH U at work Posted: January 19, 2012 at 12:59 PM (#4040227)

I like Chen as well. He was on pace to shatter fellow last active Expo candidate Matt Stairs' shared record of most teams big league teams played for (10 teams by age 32), but he's gotten way too stable the last few years. Here's hoping he can resume his vagabond ways and really push that record to incredible heights.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Orlando Cabrera To Retire From Baseball

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