The date was June 23rd. After being activated off the disabled list, the Mets informed Asdrubal Cabrera he was no longer the Mets shortstop. Instead, he would be the Mets second baseman. 

Cabrera responded by demanding a trade. 

Given his play and the Mets trending towards being sellers, the Mets informed Cabrera they would be happy to oblige. The Mets seemed committed to trading Cabrera, who was due a $2 million buy out at the end of the year, but the team found no takers by the July 31st non-waiver deadline. 

With the uncertainty surrounding Jason Kipnis‘ right hamstring, Addison Russell going on the disabled list, Carlos Correa dealing with a thumb injury, and whatever other issues teams may have with their infield, there was hope the Mets could move him by the August 31st waiver deadline.  That went double when you consider Cabrera is a second half player.  It didn’t work out that way. 

Neil Walker and Brandon Phillips were the only two middle infielders traded. What happened?

Mostly, Cabrera happened. Since his trade demand, he’s only hitting .271/.340/.393 with 15 doubles, four homers, and 21 RBI. 

In the field, he’s posted a -2 DRS at second, -1 DRS at third, and a -9 DRS at short. Fact is, he hasn’t even looked that good. 

With the leg issues, he lacks mobility. As a result, he lacks range at all infield positions. He can’t run the bases. 

The issues were obvious to everyone, and his manager did him no favors. Terry Collins pencilled his name in the lineup day-in and day-out. This didn’t allow Cabrera to rest his legs. This also allowed for all of his flaws to be consistently exposed to teams that MIGHT have been interested. 

In the end, it was Cabrera’s play on the field that led to no one stepping up to obtain him. Considering the $2 million buy out, he wasn’t even a cheap option. 

Overall, the guy who wanted the trade was the veteran who wasn’t traded, and he has no one to blame but himself with his poor play on the field.