Goodbye, Melk Man.
Melky Cabrera, the starting center fielder for the Yankees’ 2009 World Series winning team, has retired.
“I think the time has come for me to retire from MLB,” Cabrera said on social media in Spanish.
Cabrera hadn’t played since 2019. Just three players from the Yankees’ last world title team remain active: Brett Gardner, David Robertson and Robinson Cano, who was suspended for all of 2021. With Johnny Damon in left field and Nick Swisher in right field, Cabrera hit .274 with 13 bombs, 68 RBI and a .752 OPS in 154 games for the Yankees in 2009. The Yankees traded him to the Braves in 2010.
Cabrera played parts of 15 seasons for eight teams, including the Yankees for the first five years of his career.
He finished with 1,962 hits, a .285 batting average and 144 home runs. He was al All-Star in 2012 with the Giants, hitting .346 with 11 homers, 60 RBI and a .906 OPS. His season was cut short when he failed a test for illegal testosterone and was banned for 50 games. At the time, someone connected to Cabrera created a fake website for a nonexistent product, meant to fool the league into believing he inadvertently ingested the banned substance.
Cabrera spent the last two years playing in the Dominican winter league, and he signed a minor-league deal with the Mets in 2020 but didn’t play for the big-league team. The Yankees signed Cabrera out of the Dominican Republic in 2001.
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Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com.
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