Former White Sox outfielder Melky Cabrera announces his retirement

The Chicago White Sox were not a very good team in the 2010s but they certainly had some fun players. One of them was Melky Cabrera. He had a big personality that was very fun to watch. Cabrera played Major League Baseball for 15 seasons from 2005 to 2019 and announced his retirement this week. 

Cabrera’s long MLB career came split between eight different teams across both leagues. He played for the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, Atlanta Braves, and Cleveland Indians.

3 of the years came with the White Sox where he was a very good year. Over 407 games with them, he slashed .287/.331/.427 for an OPS of .758 with 39 home runs and 219 RBIs. That isn’t All-Star stuff but it is certainly the production of a good player that provides depth to a lineup.

When the White Sox started rebuilding, Cabrera was one of the pieces traded away. He was sent to the Royals along with cash in exchange for Andre Davis and AJ Puckett. Neither of them has made an impact at the MLB level since but that happens sometimes with prospects. He was one of the pieces traded away that didn’t land the Sox all that much.

The Chicago White Sox had some good years with Melky Cabrera in the OF.

The White Sox are the team that Melky played for the most besides the New York Yankees who he spent five years with. 8 of his 15 seasons came with those two teams and he was very good with both of them.

However, his one All-Star season came with the San Francisco Giants in 2012. In that game, he was awarded the MVP of the game for his performance. In addition to that accomplishment, he also won the World Series with the Yankees in 2009. That is not a bad resume to have if you are a player like Melky.

It will be interesting to see if there is anything for Melky in baseball during his post-playing days. He had a very vibrant personality that could do something one day if he wanted. There is always stuff to do in this great game and Melky would be great for it. Hopefully, he is able to enjoy retirement and people remember him for being a very good baseball player.