Orlando Cabrera: Classify Him As "Most Overlooked" MLB Player

**philliesfiend55** · 05-20-2010, 03:25 PM

What do you guys and gals think about Orlando Cabrera's chances of being a first-time all-star at age 35? His spirited play is part of the reason that the Cincinnati Reds lead the NL Central.
Here's a guy with close to 1800 major league games under his belt and a .275 lifetime average who's never been selected an All-Star. He played on the 2004 Worlds Champion Boston Red Sox team that "broke the curse" . Cabrera also played for other division winners such as the '05 & '07 Los Angeles Angels, '08 Chicago White Sox and '09 Minnesota Twins in the last half of the last decade. He's had All-Star like numbers such as a .297 year in 2003 in 626 at-bats with the Expos and a career-high .301 year in 638 at bats for the '07 Angels, but there always seems to be a Derek Jeter or some other superstar blocking his way to the all-star game.
Cabrera is a very good ballplayer but also a very overlooked one. He ought to be an All-Star this year, even if his selection carries something of a "Lifetime Acheivement Award" connotation.
Probably the thing that has hurt Cabrera's chances of being an all-star the most is that he's moved around the majors quite a bit through trades and free agency. It can take years to build hometown support in all-star voting, something the highly mobile Cabrera has never enjoyed.

P.S.: Cabrera is not the only 35-year old Red enjoying a nice season. Scott Rolen, always a great defender at third base, seems to hitting with much more authority than he ever did at Toronto, and his performance this year might signal a return for him to all-star status.

-philliesfiend55- (Dennis Orlandini)

**CokeMachineGlow** · 05-20-2010, 03:41 PM

Originally Posted by philliesfiend55

What do you guys and gals think about Orlando Cabrera's chances of being a first-time all-star at age 35? His spirited play is part of the reason that the Cincinnati Reds lead the NL Central.
Here's a guy with close to 1800 major league games under his belt and a .275 lifetime average who's never been selected an All-Star. He played on the 2004 Worlds Champion Boston Red Sox team that "broke the curse" . Cabrera also played for other division winners such as the '05 & '07 Los Angeles Angels, '08 Chicago White Sox and '09 Minnesota Twins in the last half of the last decade. He's had All-Star like numbers such as a .297 year in 2003 in 626 at-bats with the Expos and a career-high .301 year in 638 at bats for the '07 Angels, but there always seems to be a Derek Jeter or some other superstar blocking his way to the all-star game.
Cabrera is a very good ballplayer but also a very overlooked one. He ought to be an All-Star this year, even if his selection carries something of a "Lifetime Acheivement Award" connotation.
Probably the thing that has hurt Cabrera's chances of being an all-star the most is that he's moved around the majors quite a bit through trades and free agency. It can take years to build hometown support in all-star voting, something the highly mobile Cabrera has never enjoyed.

P.S.: Cabrera is not the only 35-year old Red enjoying a nice season. Scott Rolen, always a great defender at third base, seems to hitting with much more authority than he ever did at Toronto, and his performance this year might signal a return for him to all-star status.

-philliesfiend55- (Dennis Orlandini)

Hmmm.

I think you are overrating Cabrera. He is an above-average player that can boost a team but his skills aren't All-Star capability.

**dgarza** · 05-20-2010, 04:30 PM

Cabrera is having one of his least productive years at the plate. .265/.293/.364 What exactly about him makes him AS quality?

**Rich the Giants fan** · 05-20-2010, 04:50 PM

Well if you don't mind lousy defense, a lousy on-base percentage and no power, then yeah, he's pretty good.

**ol' aches and pains** · 05-20-2010, 04:59 PM

You can add lousy teammate to that list. In 2008, his one year in Chicago, Cabrera quickly got on the wrong side of his teammates and manager Ozzie Guillen. He displayed a selfish, 'me first" attitude that rubbed people on the team the wrong way. Several times after being charged with an error, Cabrera would call the official scorer on the phone, during the game, and lobby to get the error changed to a hit, or if it was a throwing error, to get it charged to first baseman Paul Konerko. This didn't sit well with the club, and they let it be known before the season even ended that Cabrera wouldn't be back.

**SamtheBravesFan** · 05-20-2010, 08:33 PM

Cabrera botched a bouncer in the ninth that contributed to the Reds' downfall in today's game. Plus, Dusty Baker thinks he's still a leadoff hitter. Is he over-criticized by us? Maybe. But attempting to make him the face of the Reds' intangibles doesn't make him an All-Star.