The Nats got tired of waiting around to hear from Agent Boras and made a deal today. They picked up former Orioles young gun Daniel Cabrera for one year with undisclosed terms.
The Orioles had previously considered Cabrera a key to their future but gave up on him this offseason after four consecutive years of regression. The 6 foot 8 righty burst onto the scene in 2004 with his high 90's fastball and strong slider. In 27 starts he posted a 5.00ERA but had a solid 12-8 record. This was enough for the Orioles leadership to decide he was major league ready as he became a staple in the rotation for the next 4 years.
Cabrera just couldn't make that jump that everyone expected him to in Baltimore. His frame, arm strength and youth suggested superstar potential, but his best year saw him go 10-13 with a 4.52 ERA and 157 K's. That was 2005, since then its just gotten worse and worse. While Cabrera will occasionally have games where he flashes brilliance and dominating stuff, more often than not fans will see him walking too many batter and giving up the big hit in the wrong time. It's that dominating stuff that keeps scouts hoping....
The bottom line is the Orioles very likely ruined Cabrera. He was up pitching a full season in the majors for the O's by the age of 23 before even pitching a game in triple A, he clearly wasn't ready. It took Cabrera 2 seasons to get out of rookie ball at the ages of 20-21, and at the age of 22 he didn't improve much in low A ball either. Regardless he was promoted to Bowie the very next season and in his first five starts he dominated, posting a 2.63 ERA with 35 K's in 27 innings.
What did the Orioles do next? Move him up to Baltimore...naturally...the rest was history.
Perhaps he will mature at the age of 28 and figure it out, and end up being a very good starter for the Nationals. If he does what he did last year, it will be a solid contribution as well. Right now all the Nats need are pitchers to fill out their rotation and get them through the next few years until they can compete.
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