Is Melky the "next" CF?

[TonyStarks]

Watching Melky over the weekend...it made me think.

Is Melky Cabrera THE NEXT great Centerfielder? Did we as Yankee fans overlook him and look right to Austin Jackson too soon?

I've always liked his enthusiasm and loved his defense...especially that canon of an arm, but I wasn't too enamored with his bat. I'd thought he'd be a .280-.305 w/10-13HRs but that was about all.

I may have to amend my opinion of his offensive prowess. This season he seems to be coming into his own and is well on his way to pass up his season high in HR department.

Now, don't get me wrong...I really like Austin Jackson and what I've seen. I'm also a fan of Brett Gardner, but don't know if he's going to have a place on this team. I'm also looking over Jose Tabata's numbers and one word comes to mind, "ouch!". Maybe he's still recovering...I hope!

Discuss.

[DoubleX]

I'm not nearly ready to lump into the "great category" with Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMAggio, or even the next step down with Earle Combs, Bernie Williams, and Boby Murcer, but he does seem to be coming along and could be cementing his spot for the foreseeable future. I think his biggest problem in the past was conditioning - due to his age, he didn't yet have the conditioning to make it through an entire ML season as a regular. I think this is why his OPS+ was up around 112 last August, and then he was abysmal in September. The talent is there, and working out with A-Rod should help him stay productive throughout a season.

[KCGHOST]

I'm not ready to canonize this guy just yet.

[hellborn]

Melky will turn 24 this August...he's a year younger than Dustin Pedroia, and Kevin Youkilis was older than Melky is now when he first played a ML game (sorry for the Bosox examples, I know them best). This is not a guarantee that he'll be a good or great player, but, given that he's been holding his own with the bat as a youngster and plays good D, I think that he'll have a fine career.

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

To be honest, I don't care. As long as he is performing like he is doing now, I am satisfied.

[TonyStarks]

I'm not nearly ready to lump into the "great category" with Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMAggio, or even the next step down with Earle Combs, Bernie Williams, and Boby Murcer, but he does seem to be coming along and could be cementing his spot for the foreseeable future. I think his biggest problem in the past was conditioning - due to his age, he didn't yet have the conditioning to make it through an entire ML season as a regular. I think this is why his OPS+ was up around 112 last August, and then he was abysmal in September. The talent is there, and working out with A-Rod should help him stay productive throughout a season.

There is no way I was tossing him with with DiMaggio or Mantle.
I was thinking more of him being the guy after Bernie.

If he keeps on trucking as he's been doing, there's no reason he can't be similiar to Bernie.

[monkey333]

I'm comfortable with him in center for the time being but I do think A-Jax will eventually replace him. Melky's swing just seems so (*can't think of a good adjective*) that I don't ever really see him hitting for power and his plate discipline regressed last year. But who knows, he could turn into a short, fat Willy Mays.

[Evangelion]

For the time being, but who knows what the teams plans will be. Cabrera could find himself manning LF or RF or back to being a bench player. For the time being he's a starter, but I won't put him in the catagory of even Bernie Williams. Williams was an All-Star level CF. Cabrera a good player, but I never see him being an All-Star level player. I use "All-Star" as a catagory, there's good players in baseball, then there's the next level of players, great players. I'm sure people get what I'm saying, at least I hope.

Of course, it's possible he could become better. It's possible. Whether it's likely or less likely is the question.

[Mission 27]

Melky plays a great CF in my opinion, aside from the occasional wild throw in to 3rd/home. He's a consistently +.300 hitter and he's on pace for a lot of home runs this year. He hasn't shown great power but has shown some, and id consider him a very above average hitter. Even if he gives 15 HR and hits .310 and plays great D, I don't see why we would replace him. I am very confident in Melky manning CF for the next 10 years.

[monkey333]

Melky plays a great CF in my opinion, aside from the occasional wild throw in to 3rd/home. He's a consistently +.300 hitter and he's on pace for a lot of home runs this year.

Melky has not even hit over .280 in the past two seasons or so far this year.

He hasn't shown great power but has shown some, and id consider him a very above average hitter.

Define above-average, Melky hasn't had an OPS+ at or above 100 the past two seasons.

Even if he gives 15 HR and hits .310 and plays great D, I don't see why we would replace him. I am very confident in Melky manning CF for the next 10 years.

Those things can't be assumed because Melky has yet to hit that well. If he stays how he has been the past two seasons while a higher ceiling player comes through the system why wouldn't you replace him?

[Pinstripes]

Melky is an enigma to me. Just when I'm convinced he just doesn't display the skills necessary to be a "highly successful" major league hitter, he surprises me.

I personally like his swing batting right handed better than him batting left handed. He's much more balanced and level RH. He's more of a uppercut-swing-off-your-back-foot kind of guy batting LH, which may hurt him because you obviously get more ABs batting LH.

That aside, he strikes me as a guy with all around "medium" talent. He doesn't get great jumps in the outfield, he doesn't have very good speed, can't bunt, doesn't have a really noteworthy "ability" when it comes to OBP, SLUG, or AVG (all of those remain "average" - there's not one category where he really does well enough to open your eyes).

I honestly see him as putting up numbers that are more representative of a middle infielder than a CF. You never know how much a guy will progress and develop though. He's got a bit of a chubby frame, if he works hard and works on his swing, he could feasibly be a 20 HR, 80 RBI, .290 hitter, which is pretty good all things considered. However, I don't think he'll ever be a .900 OPS guy, which makes me question how long the Yankees will stick with a "low to mid .800 ops" type CF with below average speed for his position.

Of course, if predicting talent were that easy, there would be a lot more "hits" and a lot less "misses" when it comes to projecting how young players will do.

[DisabledMess]

Melky has every thing you want and he's doing great. He scores runs, hits for average and has a gun for an arm.