Melky Cabrera Hates Artificial Turf, Might Reject Blue Jays

Free agent outfielder Melky Cabrera might reject an offer to return to the Toronto Blue Jays because of his dislike for playing on the artificial turf in the Rogers Centre.

It’s not you. It’s the surface of your home field.

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It’s not as if the Blue Jays have that fancy new hybrid surface, sometimes known as “grasstro turf.” Nope. They just have that good old, rarely seen, concrete-esque artificial turf on their home field at the Rogers Centre.

As he hits free agency in an MLB market that is thin on position players, outfielder Melky Cabrera might be inclined to turn down any offers to return to Toronto because he does not care for the turf.

That’s according to Buster Olney:

Melky Cabrera's preference is to sign with a team other than the Blue Jays so he doesn't have to play his home games on artificial surface.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 28, 2014

To be clear: Melky likes playing for TOR. Teams under impression that all things equal, like w/many players, he'd prefer grass to turf.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 28, 2014

Cabrera is 30 years old. This might be his last chance to truly cash in on a multi-year deal, especially in the context of this particular crop of free agents. One can hardly blame him for wanting to play for a team where he feels his body will hold up better, especially now that he has more options than he did coming off his PED suspension when he signed his first deal in Toronto.

The Blue Jays were the ones to give Cabrera a chance when few wanted him, and now they might be spurned because of artificial turf. It’s a cruel thing, the business of baseball.

Update

Cabrera has responded to these grumblings about his preferences and denied that playing surface will have anything to do with his decision:

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