Picture courtesy of baseballlatinamerica.com
The Los Angeles Angels officially released INF Jorge Cantu, allowing him to become a free agent as opposed to placing him on the 25 man roster. Like several other major league players who agreed to minor league deals, Cantu had a clause allowing him to become a free agent if he wasn'r added to the active roster by May 1st. Cantu was terrible for the San Diego Padres in 2011, hitting just .194 with 3 HR and 16 RBI earning his release. So, there is reason to think Cantu may be near the end of the road.
Cantu was playing well in AAA, hitting .290 and 4 HR in 90 plate appearances. Cantu had a breakout season in 2005 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, hitting .286, 28, 117 but dropped off in 2006 (.249, 14, 62) and 2007 (.252, 1, 13 for TB and Cincinnati). He had a resurgence with the Florida Marlins in 2008, hitting .277, 29, 95 and followed that up by hitting .289, 16, 100 for the Marlins in 2009. He has struggled since, hitting .256, 11, 56 for Florida and Texas in 2010, leading to his terrible showing for San Diego in 2011.
At age 30, he is not old by any stretch of the imagination. His decent AAA numbers best profile him to be a major league platoon player or bench player. Many teams should be interested in his services, especially since he will be on a minor league contract. Perhaps the Phillies would be interested. He can play 1B, 3B and 2B, in that order, something the Phillies could use a little more depth with. I thought about his fit with the Mets, but the Mets have everyday players at 1B, 3B and 2B and he is no guarantee to be an upgrade over Justin Turner. I like his potential fit in Colorado; he can play a little 3B to rest rookie Chris Nelson and play some 1B against left handers in place of Todd Helton and Jason Giambi. Perhaps even teams like the Giants, Orioles and Athletics (despite signing Brandon Inge) could take a chance on Cantu to strengthen their bench.
Cantu was playing well in AAA, hitting .290 and 4 HR in 90 plate appearances. Cantu had a breakout season in 2005 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, hitting .286, 28, 117 but dropped off in 2006 (.249, 14, 62) and 2007 (.252, 1, 13 for TB and Cincinnati). He had a resurgence with the Florida Marlins in 2008, hitting .277, 29, 95 and followed that up by hitting .289, 16, 100 for the Marlins in 2009. He has struggled since, hitting .256, 11, 56 for Florida and Texas in 2010, leading to his terrible showing for San Diego in 2011.
At age 30, he is not old by any stretch of the imagination. His decent AAA numbers best profile him to be a major league platoon player or bench player. Many teams should be interested in his services, especially since he will be on a minor league contract. Perhaps the Phillies would be interested. He can play 1B, 3B and 2B, in that order, something the Phillies could use a little more depth with. I thought about his fit with the Mets, but the Mets have everyday players at 1B, 3B and 2B and he is no guarantee to be an upgrade over Justin Turner. I like his potential fit in Colorado; he can play a little 3B to rest rookie Chris Nelson and play some 1B against left handers in place of Todd Helton and Jason Giambi. Perhaps even teams like the Giants, Orioles and Athletics (despite signing Brandon Inge) could take a chance on Cantu to strengthen their bench.
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