Late night Melky Cabrera deal continues great offseason

Jul 27, 2014; Bronx, NY, USA; Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Melky Cabrera (53) makes a diving catch to end the game against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

If the late night deal for Melky Cabrera becomes official, does this make the Chicago White Sox the winners of the offseason?

Thus far this offseason the White Sox have signed or traded for Adam LaRoche, Zach Duke, David Robertson, Jeff Samardzija, Dan Jennings and possibly Cabrera.

Did we forget anyone?

What other team has had an offseason with that type of improvement? The Boston Red Sox? The Chicago Cubs? Those are the only two teams that can be in that top category with the White Sox this offseason.

Here is what we had on the potential Cabrera deal as it was first reported by Bruce Levine of 670 The Score late Saturday evening.

Here is the original tweet by Levine that broke news of the potential signing:

Source tells me Melky Cabrera agrees to three year deal with WhSox pending physical .
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) December 14, 2014

Besides the .301 batting average Cabrera can bring to the White Sox batting order, what I like about the reported signing of the left fielder is he’s a switch hitter, which is like the cherry on the top of this signing.

Baseball Reference has Cabrera batting 130 games as a left-handed batter (416 at-bats) with 129 hits, 26 doubles, two triples and 11 home runs. He also had 53 RBIs as a LHB with an average of .310.

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From the right side of the plate, Cabrera played in 72 games from that side (152 at-bats) with 42 hits, nine doubles, one triple, five home runs and 20 RBIs. In that span at the plate, Cabrera batted .276 with 15 strikeouts. He struck out 52 times as a LHB.

The on-base percentages are pretty close from either side of the plate with a .355 as a LHB and .337 as a RHB. The slugging percentages are .462 (LHB) and .447 (RHB).

This should be fun nonetheless when Cabrera steps to the plate for the White Sox in ’15 once (and if) the deal becomes official.

As for the deal becoming official, Cabrera did retweet this tweet by White Sox centerfielder Adam Eaton last night:

The Melk Man!!! Welcome fella!! @TheMelkman53 #NewTeammates #SouthSide
— Adam Eaton (@AdamSpankyEaton) December 14, 2014

This signing leaves the White Sox starting lineup at (not a batting order): Tyler Flowers (C), Jose Abreu (1B), Micah Johnson/Carlos Sanchez (2B), Conor Gillaspie (3B), Alexei Ramirez (SS), Cabrera (LF), Eaton (CF), Avisail Garcia (RF) and LaRoche (DH).

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