Asdrubal Cabrera

by SmokeyJoeWood on Jun 7, 2007 9:21 AM EDT

Before 2007, the 21-year-old SS for the AA Akron Aeros was typically considered a defensive infielder.

However, this year he is looking more like a complete 5-tool guy: .320/.406/.503, 23/26 K/BB, 16/17 SBs.

Does anyone know if this is for real, or just a small sample hot-streak? And, can he stick at SS in the majors?

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Drubie

This is the upper limit of his offensive production, but Drubie's always had very good bat control, a solid approach, and a good feel for the strike zone. He hit somewhere in the neighborhood of .300/.400/.470 as a 19y/o in the midwest league, but a year and a half of being rushed through the Ms' system made people forget that his bat was interesting enough to consider him a future league-average major league hitter.

I wouldn't expect him to put up a .300/.400/.500 line in the majors ever, but he's shown this year that he's a legit future major league regular.

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by jhelfgott @ Minor League Ball on Jun 7, 2007 9:37 AM EDT reply actions

yep

Good wrap-up. Because he was rushed by the Mariners, I think a lot of people forgot that he was supposed to be an o.k. hitter.

The only thing that has been surprising to me is his power development. I didn't expect him to be more than a 10-15 HR per season guy before this year, but normally if I saw a 21-year-old doing what he's doing in the Eastern league I might expect a little more than that in his prime.

by FI @ Minor League Ball on Jun 7, 2007 10:01 AM EDT up reply actions

Cabrera or Lillebridge

who would you rather have long term (for fantasy purposes obviously)?

Cabrera is 21 in AA. Lillebridge is 23 in AAA. Cabrera is better than Lillebridge this year (by far), but Lillebridge has been much better in previous years.

by Curtis Pride on Jun 7, 2007 10:52 AM EDT reply actions

i would take

lillibridge and his stolen bases for fantasy, but cabrera and his better defense and more complete game in reality.

by kaisertown on Jun 7, 2007 1:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Cabrera could be a bit like Renteria I think

by Bravesin07 on Jun 7, 2007 12:35 PM EDT reply actions

okay

there have been four diaries in the last two weeks about cabrera. do a search and read what people thought about him.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/?op=search&offset=0&old_count=30&type=diary&section=& amp;string=asdrubal&search=Search&count=30

by jpahk on Jun 7, 2007 12:58 PM EDT reply actions

mom, is that you?

yes, I made my bed this morning. No, those are Jessica's dishes in the sink - not mine.

by I Love Oakland As on Jun 7, 2007 1:02 PM EDT up reply actions

chill out and have a quaalude

I checked the last 50 diary titles, and figured that was enough to repel any pretentious mouthbreathing thread police. Alas, I was apparently wrong.

Aw, I'm just kidding.

http://www.deweyshouse.com

by SmokeyJoeWood on Jun 7, 2007 1:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Speed and Power

I think he has ML SS written all over him. I wonder if the maturing process has led to the improved power and speed. He is still young but I do not believe anyone projected the speed at all. BA has called him average at best. The Tribe's prospect board has changed a great deal this year but Cabrera is probably the biggest upward mover.

by sdtribefan on Jun 7, 2007 4:47 PM EDT reply actions

Some thoughts on Cabrera!

Hello everyone,

You can read more of what I mentioned about Cabrera via the search link above, but a few additional thoughts:

He's 16/18 in steals, just being caught twice recently, once at 3rd base.
He's got an impressive 26 BB/23 K ratio at AA in 180 ABs.
Some were concerned about his power numbers, but 6 HRs in 180 AA ABs in the Eastern League (which I believe is either a neutral or a pitchers' league) is not bad at all - I think 10-15 HRs at the ML level is not out of the question.

I agree with the others who have said that Cabrera was sort of forgotten or overlooked because he didn't do well at AAA, not taking into account enough the fact that he was rushed up there before he was ready - 20-YO is extremely young for AAA, even a year younger than Andy Marte (21 at AAA Richmond,) Jhonny Peralta (21 at AAA in his first exposure, but was 22 when he had his MVP year in 2004,) and Brandon Phillips (21 in his first exposure at AAA, but was 23 when he hit .303 at AAA in 2004.) I was surprised BA didn't put him in their Indians' Top 10 Prospects List entering 2007, but at this rate, he'll likely be on that list entering 2008.