Melky Cabrera

I hope the Cubs get Melky Cabrera away from the Yankees. After the Milton Bradley fiasco, and even though they brought it on themselves, the Cubs are due a break, and Melky just might be it.

Melky is a just-better-than-average defensive centerfielder, he had a career best .752 OPS in 2009, and he’s still only 25 years old in 2010. In other words, he’s a good risk for the Cubs to take. The Cubs have been so desperate for a real centerfielder, they played Kosuke Fukudome 113 games in center last year. KF is a good defensive rightfielder, but a bad defensive centerfielder.

Aside from the improved defense, the Cubs would have a balanced top-to-bottom line-up in 2010, even if Melky barely improved at the plate over his 2009 performance. Even though they will an average age of 33.25, the Cubs have a reasonably good chance that they’ll get more offensive production as a group out of Derrick Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano and Fukodome in 2010 than they did in 2009, due to the injuries Ramirez and Soriano had.

I also like the chances for Giovanni Soto to bounce back in 2010. He’ll be 27 next year, and even hitting only .218 in ‘09, he still had a .702 OPS, an acceptable number for a catcher.
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Melky Cabrera

Arodys Vizcaino

Meet the Braves new left fielder, who last year put up nearly identical numbers to the man he'll replace, Garret Anderson.
Melky Cabrera, acquired today from the Yankees along with two pitching prospects for Javier Vazquez and Boone Logan, hit a career-best 13 home runs last season -- same as Anderson. Cabrera, nicknamed "The Melk Man," drove in seven more runs than Anderson and finished with a slightly higher batting average.

Excited yet?

While Cabrera's numbers may not wow you, the native Dominican has carved a niche as a useful player who does nothing great but most everything well. Braves fans will appreciate his flair for the dramatic; last year he had three walk-off hits in the season's first seven weeks. He was named Major League Baseball's Clutch Performer of the Month in May.

Cabrera, 25, is the eldest of the three players the Braves received from New York. The youngest, reported to be 19-year-old Arodys Vizcaino, could be the most special. Baseball America recently rated him the Yankees' third best prospect.

If only he could hit.
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Arodys Vizcaino