The Toronto Blue Jays are continuing their wheeling and dealing in the off season.
Former San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera is heading back to the American League and will reportedly ink a two-year, $16 million contract with the Jays. According to ESPN , it will be a done deal as soon as Cabrera passes a physical.
Cabrera, who is a free agent, served a 50-day suspension after testing positive for performance enhancers in August, and the Giants — who went on to win the World Series in a four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers — declined to reinstate him to the post-season roster even though the suspension ended four games into the playoffs.
At the time of his suspension, Cabrera was leading the National League in batting average at .346 but in September withdrew his name from consideration for the batting title. Giants teammate Buster Posey, the National League MVP, ultimately won the batting title with a .336 average.
In addition to Cabrera, the Blue Jays are also in the process of acquiring shortstop Jose Reyes, starting pitchers Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle, catcher John Buck, and infielder/outfielder Emilio Bonifacio from the Miami Marlins in a blockbuster trade that is still pending approval from the Baseball Commissioner’s office.
Cabrera, a lifetime .284 hitter, was also the MVP of the 2012 All-Star Game, which gave the San Francisco Giants home field advantage in the World Series. He made his MLB debut with the New York Yankees in 2005. He was traded to the Atlanta Braves in 2010 and played for the Kansas City Royals in 2011 before being traded to the Giants for the 2012 season.