Gammons makes his usual good points.
His write on 11/8 notes Melky's availability.
Yep, he's only 28. Head strait & ready. Fat gone.
Switch Hitting COF, with a nice (proven) bat.
I'd take a chance.

He's worth a shot on a make good contract, what I suspect he hast to take this off season.

I think Melky could be a good fit here, but I'm not sure that the Rangers want to deal with more off the field distractions. With Josh more than likely gone...that will cause a media circus as it is...let alone adding the whole PEDs issue to the mix. Plus I'm not sure that's the kind of clubhouse presence you want around guys like Profar, Perez, or Font.

Then again, maybe his price will be so low that the Rangers just can't pass it up. I guess we'll see.

He'd be a great fit here and probably a great bargain. I wouldn't worry about his effect on the clubhouse, everyone makes mistakes and I don't think anyone would really care about the PED thing.

I'm guessing most people have forgiven Ryan Braun, who pretty much got OJ'd. If he doesn't test positive again and does well, I imagine it won't come up much.

You're probably right Fireball Feliz...in terms of the players not caring about PEDs. My concern is more about how the coaches and FO may look at it.

If you could get Greinke and Cabrera for roughly the same AAV amount for Josh next year (give or take a few mil), then I'm all for it. Out of all the teams out there, we're probably the best fit for him. (LF, 3rd spot in lineup, Lefty, Ballpark fit, nurturing clubhouse, etc) I'd rather have him than LaRoche.

@Stefen: that seems unlikely, even if Cabrera takes a cheap deal so he can earn cred back. Greinke will probably go for $20-25m AAV, just like Josh. I wouldn't be surprised if their contracts are very similar.

If Cabrera could be had at a price similar to Cruz ($10.5M this season I believe, arb egb again) who would you rather have? That's a pretty easy decision for me and then we could start a thread about what Cruz+ cash would do for a team like the Rays. I'd even send them my jersey.

I don't think the PED issue will cause any discontent within the organization. If we've learned anything over the past couple of seasons it's that PED use is still pretty rampant in MLB. Our manager and (soon to be former) superstar both had coke addictions and I didn't see an exodus from the fanbase because of those guys.

You're probably right Andy. Even if its more, I'd still like the move. Does anyone know the rules on extending a qualifying offer to players? Would we be able to sign him on a 1 year deal and still be able to extend a qualifying offer if he rakes? I know trades have to be 2 years on a team to be able to extend it, so I'm assuming the same for FA.

@The_Henchmen

I hear what you're saying but It's not really about PEDs...its more about how Cabrera's presence could affect the young Latin players. Right now they have Beltre to look up to, but it only takes one bad influence to ruin a clubhouse. What I'm really concerned about is whether or not the FO thinks that a guy like Cabrera would be a negative influence on the impressionable young Latin players on the team...and how much they view that as a possible distraction. That may be enough for the Rangers to pass on Cabrera.

Again, I'm not saying Cabrera IS a distraction, I'm wondering if the FO THINKS he's a distraction.

Then again, maybe it's a non issue.

JV, I'll admit that I've never been a part of a minor league organization but I've got to assume that PED use and guys "like Cabrera" (I'm not exactly sure how you mean that) are even more common in the minors that at the ML level. I'm sure Profar and the other young Latin guys have seen more than their fair share of peers shooting testosterone and whatnot trying to get that competitive edge. I may be way off base with that assumption though.

I do know the Rangers pride themselves on recruiting and signing prospects of high moral character and are probably confident that one players misgivings won't necessarily rub off on the guys who come up through their system. I realize having said that, Cabrera doesn't fit their profile of "high moral character" right now but IMO is a prime buy-low candidate that we've been known to go after recently.

Prior to '11, Cabrera was mediocre at best and in danger of becoming a journeyman who would float from team to team on one-year deals. I'm guessing after ATL dumped him after only one season with the team he got desperate and started taking PED's, so aren't we taking a risk that the bump in production in '11 and '12 were products of PED's? Basically how good is he really without PED's? Unless he's a young player going from year one to year two or from his 2nd to his 3rd, it's always suspicious when someone experiences the kind of power surge and .50 pt bump in BA from one season to the next that Cabrera did from '10 to '11.

Do you think 2 years 22 mill could get it done? Small risk on our part with a contract around those lines

There will be no media circus with Cabrera. He's a cheap Plan B option in case we don't get Upton. If we could sign him to something like a 2-year/$16M deal with an $11M vesting option in the third year, I'd be all for it. That said, if it happens, I think we're going to have to do something of the trade variety with Cruz or Murphy. Or we could use Cruz as the full-time DH and leave Murphy in left.

@The_Henchmen

Just to clarify...guys "like Cabrera"...meaning guys that have had some bad PR or guys (like you alluded to) that do not fit into the high character mold that the Rangers typically go after.

Truthfully my own personal view is pretty much in line with yours...but playing devil's advocate...if I were an owner or FO guy I would not want to do anything to jeopardize the development of guys like Profar or Perez...no matter how small or insignificant the issue may be. If they plan on moving Elvis and putting the franchise on the shoulders of a 19 yr old phenom, I'd want to do everything I could to protect him and keep him focused.

Either way, I do agree with you that Cabrera could be a good buy low option...but I also agree with Kristen that there has to be at least some concern that he cannot duplicate or even come close to those numbers again.

Fireball,

Fangraphs posted an article last week (a good read for those of you who haven't seen it0 with the idea of Melky signing a 2/$16 deal. They doubt he'd even want two years because if he can prove some of his dissenters wrong and put up a decent season it will be his best chance to sign a 2014 FA contract to retire on.

2/$22 is probably higher than what his market will develop at and that's why I'd be very interested for anything under $10M. That's about what we'll be paying Cruz this year and if he puts up good numbers in Arlington we've got the option to make a qualifying offer and get a draft pick if he leaves. I just don't see a ton of downside to this plan. The only questions are if JD can find better value in someone else and what we'll ultimately do with Michael Young (assuming Cruz sees more time at DH).

Kristen W said: "Aren't we taking a risk that the bump in production in '11 and '12 were products of PED's? Basically how good is he really without PED's?"

You nailed it, and I'm surprised how this GIGANTIC issue has been missed or ignored by everyone else. There is no evidence that "Cabrera without PEDs" is anything other than a pure journeyman, and the big question mark in signing him is not the PR one.

@Kristen W:
Just how smart are you?

Kristen W said: "Aren't we taking a risk that the bump in production in '11 and '12 were products of PED's? Basically how good is he really without PED's?"

You nailed it, and I'm surprised how this GIGANTIC issue has been missed or ignored by everyone else. There is no evidence that "Cabrera without PEDs" is anything other than a pure journeyman, and the big question mark in signing him is not the PR one.

I don't consider last year to be a PED-induced season. He only had 11 home runs over the course of the year. Last year was different in that his BABIP was .379, compared to a lifetime BABIP of just a tad over .300 (.309). That 70-point jump in BABIP is why his batting average was so great; PED's don't have an affect on whether your balls in play find holes.

Eric said: 'That 70-point jump in BABIP is why his batting average was so great; PED's don't have an affect on whether your balls in play find holes."

No, but PEDs do increase power/batted ball speed which can increase BABIP. It is a harder line to define than straight HR boosts are, but I think there is most definitely a correlation to BABIP and PEDs. A lot more balls find gaps when a normal grounder is turned into a smoked grounder or liner.