Yankees Birthday of the Day: Melky Cabrera

As someone who was perhaps the perfect age for the Yankees’ 2009 World Series win, it’s difficult to come up with many players more fondly remembered from those days than Melky Cabrera. A fleet-footed outfielder who had plenty of great moments in New York, and later broke out in his post-Yankee days, Cabrera was an energetic and downright fun player.

While his reputation certainly took a hit from a PED suspension a few years after he left the Bronx, “The Melk Man” was a fan favorite, who was a very good player for stretches, and did enough to stick in the big leagues for 15 years.

Melky Cabrera
Born: August 11, 1984 (Santo Domingo, DR)
Yankees Tenure: 2005-09

Born in the Dominican Republic in 1984, Melky Cabrera originally signed with the Yankees as a 17-year-old in the fall of 2001. After a three-year stretch climbing the minor league ranks, the switch-hitter rather quickly ascended to the Majors, making his debut on July 7th in the 2005 season, at the age of 20.

Melky had just a cup of coffee in that ’05 campaign (making an ugly misplay at Fenway in his last appearance), but he’d quickly earn himself a near full-time role in New York. After an impressive spring training and some timely injuries on the Yankees’ roster, Cabrera earned another call-up in May of that season. He’d go on to play in 130 in that season, and while he at least posted a 95 OPS+ with 35 extra-base hits—including a walk-off homer against Seattle on July 18th—the defense was the calling card in earning his way to 3.0 bWAR. It was a defensive profile that provided a top-notch highlight in June of that year, snatching a potential game-tying homer away from Manny Ramírez in a Yankees/Red Sox classic.

For the 2007 season, Cabrera still had to battle for a full-time role with the Yankees, but his defense and mostly palatable bat kept his role fairly significant. He appeared in 150 games, hitting eight homers with an 88 OPS+, and while it was perhaps a step back, he did enough to get plenty of run in the outfield. The same did not quite ring true during the ’08 season, however, as he took a significant step back with the bat, slashing just .249/.301/.341, eventually resulting in a brief demotion to Triple-A in August.

Melky wouldn’t stay away for long, however, as he returned for the 2009 campaign in what would be a much-needed bounce-back. Initially competing with Brett Gardner for the center fielder job, Cabrera took hold of the job relatively early on, thanks to a season filled with some big-time moments. On April 22nd, Cabrera belted the first walk-off homer at the new Yankee Stadium, the first of many in a thrilling season filled with them.

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Later on in the season, Melky hit for the cycle in Chicago, the first Yankee to do so since Tony Fernandez in 1995; he remains the last Yankee to achieve the feat, 17 years later.

It was an exciting year for the switch-hitter, as Melky had fully established himself as a fun player out in the outfield, with a knack for the big moment now and then. Ultimately, 2009 was a nice rebound for the then 24-year-old, who set career-highs with 13 home runs and a .416 slugging percentage. He was up-and-down during the postseason, but was a major contributor during the ALCS, recording nine hits and four RBIs in the pennant win. Of course, he would capture a World Series ring during that season.

After a nice run in pinstripes and plenty of memorable moments, Melky Cabrera’s time with the Yankees would come to a close with a trade to the Braves in December 2009. Although he was popular, he was expendable given the presence of the ascendant Gardner, and more relevantly, their recent trade for All-Star Curtis Granderson. As a highlight-reel defender, and no stranger to fun moments on both sides of the ball, he had certainly made his mark.

Cabrera was awful for Atlanta in 2010—beyond modest reliever Boone Logan, the deal didn’t really work out for either side, given Javier Vázquez’s Yankees struggles—but broke out in a big way with the Royals a year later. In 155 games, Cabrera hit 18 homers with a 121 OPS+ that was a significant high-water mark, while hitting over .300 for the first time in his career. In 2012, now with the Giants, Cabrera picked up right where he left off, hitting on a pace even more impressive than his breakout the year prior. He was batting .373 through the end of May and earned a starting spot with the National League All-Stars, eventually winning himself All-Star Game MVP honors.

Hitting .346 with a whopping 157 OPS+, Cabrera’s season and ascension in the league hit a screeching halt, when he was handed a 50-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. The story only got stranger with controversy over his side creating a fake website. He would miss out on a chance to win a batting title (recusing himself to pave way for teammate and Buster Posey), and of course, celebrate another World Series when the Giants swept the Tigers that October—though the team did grant him a ring.

With a reputation certainly a bit tarnished, Cabrera would stick around in the bigs for some time. He played until the 2019 season, spending time with Toronto, the White Sox, Kansas City again, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. Although he never came close to the pre-suspension heights, he still enjoyed some nice seasons, including a 3.5 bWAR season in ’16 with Toronto, part of a four-year stretch with at least a dozen homers in each.

Melky Cabrera played his final game in 2019 with the Pirates, putting a cap on a nice 15-year-career in the Major Leagues. Having registered 383 doubles, 45 triples, and 144 homers in addition to a World Series win with the Yankees and an All-Star Game MVP with the Giants, he certainly had some impressive highs across that decade-and-a-half. Melky continued to play in the Dominican Winter League but finally hung up the spikes in January 2023.

Here’s to a happy 42nd for the Melk Man!

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