Melky Cabrera? Just Say No, Mets

Just about every baseball columnist has come out with an article in recent days about where they think the top baseball free agents will land. Most of those predictions end up to be wrong, but several of them think the Mets will wind up with Melky Cabrera. Bad, bad idea.

To refresh your memory, this is the same Melky Cabrera who was highly touted but was nothing more than mediocre for the Yankees and the Braves. Then came a breakout season for the Royals in 2011 and a push for the batting title for the Giants this past season. The experts said Cabrera had put it all together and was finally playing up to his talent. Then we found out how he put it together — he was busted for PEDs and suspended for 50 games. Then he tried to lie about it and create a fake website on which he would claim to have unknowingly bought a tainted supplement. He got busted for that, too.

The Giants could have reinstated Cabrera for the playoffs but decided not to, in part because the team didn’t want him to ruin its chemistry in the clubhouse.

And some people want this guy on the Mets next season?

The thinking is that if you can get him on a one-year deal for a few million dollars, it would be worth taking a gamble. I don’t agree. We have no idea whether his suddenly improved play is because of steroids or because at age 28, he’s finally entering his prime.

The Mets have been through this before. Remember Guillermo Mota? He was lights out after coming to the Mets late in the 2006 season. He failed an off season drug test and yet Omar Minaya still signed him to a two-year deal. Of course he was awful without the steroids (the fact that he’s won two World Series rings with the Giants is just criminal).

So it is safe to assume that Cabrera is also a product of PEDs, so why would the Mets sign him at all? He’s also a possible clubhouse cancer. The Mets have done plenty of things wrong over the past few years, but they have managed to assemble players that by all accounts get along on and off the field. Why introduce a problem?

So I think the Mets should just say no to Melky Cabrera — something Cabrera should have said.