January 14th, 2022
Melky Cabrera, an outfielder in the Majors from 2005-19, announced his retirement Friday, according to Héctor Gómez of the Dominican Republic’s Z101 Digital.
Cabrera, 37, was signed by the Yankees in 2001, out of the Dominican Republic, and played his first five MLB seasons for New York, including in ’09, when he hit .391 with a pair of doubles in the American League Championship Series against the Angels to help the Yanks reach — and then win — the World Series.
The Yankees traded Cabrera to the Braves in December 2009. He appeared in 147 games for the Braves in ’10, posting a .671 OPS. He was released that offseason and signed with the Royals. Cabrera had a breakout campaign for Kansas City in ’11, slashing .305/.339/.470 with 18 home runs and 20 stolen bases.
The Royals traded Cabrera to the Giants, for whom he was an All-Star in 2012, taking home All-Star Game MVP honors after going 2-for-3 with a home run in the National League’s 8-0 victory at Kauffman Stadium. Later that season, Cabrera was suspended 50 games for violation of MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. In 113 games that year, he hit .346/.390/.516 with 11 homers and 13 stolen bases.
From 2013-16, Cabrera remained productive at the plate. He hit .288/.334/.423 in 536 games with the Blue Jays and White Sox over that span. In ’17, Chicago dealt Cabrera to Kansas City at the Trade Deadline. In his second stint with the Royals, he had a .702 OPS in 58 games.
As a free agent that offseason, Cabrera signed with Cleveland, then posted a .755 OPS in 78 games in 2018. In ’19 — Cabrera’s last in the Majors — he hit .280/.313/.399 with seven homers in 133 games with Pittsburgh.