SB Nation - Jolbert Cabrera

Heroes of the Zeros: Left Field

Slyde — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:00:29 -0000

Of all of the positions on the All Decade Team, this one should be the clearest no-brainer. One person started 53% of the games in LF during the decade and had the best offensive numbers. The Reds did have some decent other hitters in LF, but none of them had the playing time to match up in my opinion.

Ballot is after the jump.

Click header to sort table by column
	Years	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	wOBA	WAR
Wladimir Balentien	2009	40	125	110	12	29	7	1	3	11	15	27	.264	.352	.427	.779	104	.345	0.5
Russell Branyan	2002-2003	158	460	393	56	91	21	1	25	65	61	155	.232	.337	.481	.818	112	.348	2.2
Jolbert Cabrera	2008	48	126	115	17	29	6	1	3	12	8	29	.252	.310	.400	.710	84	.305	-0.3
Brady Clark	2000-2002	151	242	206	29	47	7	0	6	29	28	27	.228	.325	.350	.674	73	.291	-0.6
Chris Dickerson	2008-2009	128	421	357	51	101	22	5	8	30	56	101	.283	.383	.440	.823	116	.361	2.7
Adam Dunn	2001-2008	1087	4562	3727	678	920	192	8	270	646	755	1212	.247	.380	.520	.900	130	.376	22.2
Jason Ellison	2007	37	56	48	7	9	1	0	1	2	5	15	.188	.278	.271	.549	41	.247	0.3
Jonny Gomes	2009	98	314	281	39	75	17	0	20	51	26	85	.267	.338	.541	.879	127	.367	0.6
Quinton McCracken	2006	45	60	53	5	11	1	1	1	2	4	9	.208	.263	.321	.584	47	.247	0.2
Darnell McDonald	2009	47	111	105	12	28	6	1	2	10	5	31	.267	.306	.400	.706	84	.309	-0.3
Laynce Nix	2009	116	337	309	42	74	26	1	15	46	22	81	.239	.291	.476	.767	98	.318	2.0
Deion Sanders	2001	32	83	75	6	13	2	0	1	4	4	10	.173	.235	.240	.475	21	.215	-1.0
Dernell Stenson	2003	37	93	81	14	20	5	0	3	13	11	24	.247	.333	.420	.753	100	.331	0.8
Dmitri Young	2000-2001	294	1179	1088	136	329	65	9	39	157	73	157	.302	.348	.486	.835	108	.350	1.4

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used Generated 12/22/2009.
WAR data made available from BaseballProjection.com
wOBA calculated via the formula included in The Book and does not include SB data.

All Assumptions-Are-Dangerous Minor League Free Agent Team

Jeff — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:07:19 -0000

Dave at Fangraphs passed along a link to this year's crop of minor league free agents. A popular thing to do with this information is pick out a handful of guys that would make interesting and potentially worthwhile pick-ups. This is not that. This is a full team made up of guys who, years ago, were supposed to go on to do some big big things, only to end up on the fall 2009 list of mlFA's. Consider this just another reminder that you should never ever ever take a prospect's future for granted.*

C: JR House
1B: Ryan Shealy
2B: Josh Barfield
SS: Antonio Perez
3B: Dallas McPherson
LF: Wes Bankston
CF: Joe Borchard
RF: John-Ford Griffin
DH: Josh Phelps

BENCH-C: JD Closser (does Ben Davis still count?)
BENCH-INF: Eric Duncan
BENCH-OF: Dave Krynzel
BENCH-UTIL: Donnie Murphy

SP: Jerome Williams
SP: Greg Miller
SP: Kenny Baugh
SP: Humberto Sanchez
SP: Bobby Brownlie

RP: Jose Capellan
RP: Wes Littleton
RP: Casey Fossum
RP: John Van Benschoten
RP: Chad Orvella
RP: Clint Everts
RP: Andrew Brown

If there were a 26th spot, I'd give it to Dee Brown, but it would just be so damn easy to include him that I had to find an alternative. Also among the free agents are formerly established Major Leaguers like Chris Capuano and Chad Cordero, along with the astonishingly driven Jolbert Cabrera. Jolbert just wants to win. Come on, Yankees. Take the plunge. Win one for Jolbert.

If there were a 27th spot, I'd give it to Mark McGonigle, because, really? McGonigle?

* never take any player's future for granted

The Battle for 25th Man

SC — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:32:13 -0000

One of the first things I ever did on this site was give way too much of a crap about the Chris Gomez v. Enrique Wilson utility infielder battle of Spring Training 2005. Gomez won. All was right with the world. Gomez then hit .279/.359/.342 in 2005 and poked even more singles around in spot duty the next two seasons, and now he's back in camp, but he's really too old now and his numbers in '08 with the Pirates (.273/.322/.333) show his usefulness fading.

Still, Enrique Wilson got 22 ABs with the Cubs in 2005 and never played again.

This spring it's not really a battle. There's a super sub role open with the team, and though the O's traded for Ryan Freel who fills the role nicely, there's also Jolbert Cabrera -- who was once shot in the buttocks -- and I think he deserves a long look.

Numbers this spring:

Player	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG	BB/K	SB/CS
Ryan Freel	35	.257	.366	.314	2/11	6/0
Jolbert Cabrera	24	.417	.400	.542	0/3	1/0

Freel's going to play a lot if they can help it. He adds plenty to the team in theory. He's got plate discipline, which makes him a viable pinch-hitter even if his contact abilities have slipped and his power has become basically negligible. He runs really well. He can handle center if he has to, plus the corner OF spots and second base. He's probably a lesser shortstop than Cabrera, who's probably not as good a CF as Freel, although we also have Pie if Jones goes down or whatever, and Pie might be the best center fielder on the team. Freel is also injury-prone and has played in 77 and 48 games the last two years.

Cabrera isn't as good a base-stealer as Freel, but he's not a slow runner and can be used just for extra wheels in a tight situation, same as Freel likely will be at several times this year should he stay healthy.

I know Freel came over in trade for Fat Ramon Hernandez and Cabrera is just a spring training scrub for all intents and purposes. If Freel is healthy, he's the guy. But here's what I'm actually more intrigued by: Does Jolbert Cabrera have a place on this team sometime in 2009?

Assume the Birds go north with 13 pitchers and 12 position players. We know we'll have:

C: ZAUN + one, probably Robby Hammock, who can play other positions

1B: Huff

2B: Roberts

3B: Mora

SS: Izturis

OF: Markakis, Jones, Pie, Scott

1B/3B/2B/DH: Wigginton

That would leave one open spot. It'll be Freel. But should he come up lame, Cabrera seems like a guy that would fit in. He can play a lot of positions, including a better short than Freel, and Izturis is going to have days he has to sit, or he's going to have times where he'll need to be hit for late in a tight game.

I'd rather have Freel, with Wigginton also offering some level of positional flexibility (as well as Hammock) than see Cabrera over Freel right off, and with the way Gomez is hitting (.095/.269/.143) he's well out, too. Donnie Murphy isn't doing anything, either.

It's simply food for thought with little going on. The battle isn't much since Freel is all but guaranteed, but if (when?) Freel goes down, who comes up?

The All-Time LA Dodger Team: Utility Man

Eric Stephen — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:50:07 -0000

All-Time Lineup: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8
All-Time Starting Pitchers: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5
All-Time Bullpen: Closer | Fireman | RHP Setup | LHP Setup
All-Time Bench: Catcher

Rick Dempsey easily won the backup catcher spot on our all-time team. At least now we know fans will be entertained during rain delays.

We now move on to the utility man spot. We want our utility man to be able to fill in at multiple positions, giving our team optimal flexibility. I have an idea of the guys I want in this role, but lets see just who qualifies.

I looked at players to play at least 50 games at 2B, SS, and 3B, since that would provide flexibility. There are four players who qualify: Billy Grabarkewitz, Ted Martinez, Derrel Thomas, and Dick Tracewski.

Ideally, however, I envision our utility man as someone who will also be able to play some outfield if asked. I found six players to play 50 games at 2B and OF: Thomas, Jolbert Cabrera, and Lee Lacy (Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, and Jim Gilliam don't count here since they were starters).

Being able to play both middle infield and the outfield is important. I found only two players to play 50 games at SS and OF: Thomas and the ineligible Russell.

I feel pretty comfortable limiting this position to three candidates. Here are their games played by position as LA Dodgers:

Player	C	1B	2B	3B	SS	LF	CF	RF
Jolbert Cabrera	0	8	60	8	9	34	38	5
Lee Lacy	0	0	224	25	2	79	25	61
Derrel Thomas	5	1	80	53	97	28	229	54

Sadly, none of them ever pitched. Here are their stats as LA Dodgers:

Utility Man	Years	Total G	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS+
Jolbert Cabrera	2002-2003	138	.284/.335/.437	105
Lee Lacy	1972-1978	497	.270/.324/.390	101
Derrel Thomas	1979-1983	522	.257/.330/.347	90

Eric's Pick

For me, Jolbert Cabrera just wasn't here long enough to be on the team, at least not with two better options in Lacy and Thomas. Lacy was the better hitter, but I'm fascinated by Thomas. I never saw him play with the Dodgers, but I do remember seemingly every other pack of 1986 Topps had a Derrel Thomas card with the Phillies.

Thomas was an odd man, that's for sure. He was once voted by his peers to be the biggest "hot dog" in the National League. According to a 1987 Sports Illustrated article, about Thomas' firing as a manager:

As a player, Thomas was something of a flake—he was once discovered washing his car while a game was in progress.

No, his dismissal did not bring to mind the words of Campanis, but rather the words of Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda. When told that Thomas would be a manager, Lasorda said, "I have lived long enough to see it all."

Well, we're not choosing a manager here, but rather a utility man. Thomas comes out ahead of Lacy because of his increased versatility -- more games at SS and CF than Lacy. And he was a switch hitter, making him even more flexible! But the real reason I'm picking Derrel Thomas is those 5 games at catcher in 1980.

Phil's Pick

The pickings are slim. Derrel Thomas could play all the positions but the only one I remember he being good at was CF. He just wasn't much of a hitter. he was a poor mans Tony Philips. He did have some reported drug problems in his day and real drug problems after he retired but is now doing his best to remain on the right path. I'm afraid Manny Mota might beat out Lee Lacy for right handed pinch hitter so I'm going to vote for Lee here. He didn't play much infield besides 2nd base while he was with the Dodgers but he could have. Russel or Cey just didn't take much time off. He didn't play catcher but he did play a fine outfield and one vivid memory I have of him is Vinny describing him catching a fly ball near right field line, hitting the brakes and doing a 180 turn and throwing the runner out at home. Vinny described it as a Roberto Clemente type play, and his enthusiasm for the play has always remained with me. In 1978 he hit 13 home runs in only 245 at bats posting a plus 500 slug%. I'll take that from my utility player. Dusty Baker the regular left fielder only hit 11 home runs in 522 at bats that year.

Poll

Who is the all-time LA Dodger utility man?

Jolbert Cabrera

14 votes

Lee Lacy

52 votes

Derrel Thomas

39 votes

105 votes | Poll has closed