The Pittsburgh Pirates have come to terms with veteran outfielder Melky Cabrera on a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training. The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel was first with the news.
The 34 year old Cabrera slashed .280/.335/.420 with six home runs over 278 PAs for the Cleveland Indians last season.
In his prime, Cabrera’s strong batting average and on-base percentage were reliant on a high BABIP clip. Now that he’s lost a step, his BABIP and total offensive output have dropped to roughly league average levels over the past few years.