5* More Free Agents The Yankees Should Avoid This Winter

Mandatory Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports

#3. Melky Cabrera, Corner Outfielder

Former Yankees and reunions in the Bronx generally don’t work out too well. It didn’t work with the beloved Tino Martinez making one final run in the Bronx, Nick Johnson was a dumpster fire, and the Alfonso Soriano experiment crashed and burned last season after making a triumphant return mid-season, 2013. Add free agent Melky Cabrera to that list, and mark him off just as quickly.

Sure, he won’t have the distraction of Robinson Cano around to goof off with, but the 30-year-old outfielder, who was a member of the 2009 World Series team, has found his share of trouble and bad times since leaving the Bronx. Wasn’t it bad enough that he was dealt to Atlanta for another Bronx reunion gone bad in Javier Vazquez? Bounce from team to team like a journeyman, win or cheat your way to a National League batting crown, get suspended, not be welcomed back by your teammates once your suspension was over, participate in an attempted cover-up of your PED use, and then find your way back to the AL East in Canada of all places? That’s enough nonsense to last anyone a lifetime, and the Yankees simply don’t need the distraction.

The Bombers will have enough on their plate in 2015 with the return of Alex Rodriguez, there is no reason whatsoever to consider a Melky Cabrera reunion in pinstripes. The Melk Man had a nice season in Toronto, posting a .301 batting average, with 16 home runs and 73 runs driven in. His game has always translated well to the Stadium, but again, can you really trust this guy not to screw up?

He might be entering his prime, and is coming off of a contract of $8 mil per, but my guess is Melky is looking for a raise, and expects teams to forget about his past. Cabrera belongs some place like Seattle, with his buddy Cano, or some place else that can or will live with his issues. It just can’t be the Bronx, no matter how much of a solid fit he’d be in both the outfield and the lineup.