Melky Cabrera’s Suspension Devastating for Fantasy Baseball Owners
Early on Wednesday morning the report came out that San Francisco Giants’ outfielder, Melky Cabrera, was suspended 50 games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. Cabrera tested positive for Testosterone, and immediately showed his guilt by apologizing publicly, instead of asking for an appeal. Looking at his dramatic increase in muscle mass from his time with the New York Yankees, to his current playing weight should have been an obvious sign of Performance Enhancing Drugs; but nonetheless it still shocked the baseball community.
This news came particularly devastating for fantasy baseball owners, as he has anchored thousands of outfields this season, and especially with the fantasy playoffs only being a couple weeks away. Cabrera was having an insane fantasy season and was ranked among the top-5 outfielders in every format. Cabrera was hitting a ridiculous .346 this season, while also driving in a team-leading 60 RBI. Cabrera was even named the MVP of the All-Star game this year after crushing a two-run homer after reigning AL MVP, Justin Verlander. He was at the top of his fair share of fantasy lineups this season and in many cases was the best player on some rosters, leaving many unfortunate owners scrambling for an outfielder with the playoffs only three weeks away.
The bottom line is that many fantasy baseball owners will be hitting the waiver wire hard this weekend to try to grab a serviceable outfielder to replace the “Muscle Melkman”. The only bright spot is that outfield position is by far the deepest in fantasy baseball, but Cabrera’s numbers will be impossible to duplicate off the waiver wire. It will no doubt hinder former Cabrera-owners heading into the playoffs, and it may have even cost thousands of owners a chance to win their fantasy championship in 2012.
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