Here is what I wrote about Jorge Cantu in my “Free Agent Primer” post…
“Best Low-Risk, High-Reward Hitter: Jorge Cantu. I know I am definitely in the minority with Cantu, and I know he was poop with Texas, but there are a couple of things I like about him.
1. He is only 29. It’s not like he is 36 and toast.
2. The last time we wrote off Cantu, he responded with a 29-HR season in 2008.
He would be a nice fit with the Seattle Mariners or Kansas City Royals.”
Cantu didn’t sign with the Mariners or Royals as I suggested, but he signed a one-year, $850,000 contract with the San Diego Padres on Tuesday.
Cantu hit .256/.304/.392 with 11 HRs in 127 games with the Florida Marlins and Texas Rangers in 2010. Cantu really had a miserable second half of the season, as he hit just .246/.282/.324 with just one measly HR.
That second half was the main reason why Cantu didn’t draw much interest this offseason on the free agent market. It’s the Jermaine Dye effect.
Dye had a great first half with the Chicago White Sox in 2009, had a debacle in the second half, and couldn’t find a job in 2010.
Now, the difference between Dye and Cantu was that Dye was 35 last offseason and Cantu is only 29. With the Padres, Cantu is expected to platoon with Brad Hawpe at first and occasionally fill in at third for Chase Headley. And I do think Cantu has something left in the tank.
Remember, the last time we deemed Cantu finished, he responded with a .277/.327/.481 slash line with 29 HRs in 2008. The year before, Cantu hit just .252 with one HR with the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Cincinnati Reds.
I am not saying Cantu is going to hit 29 HRs in spacious Petco Park, but I would be surprised if he didn’t have a nice bounce-back season in San Diego.
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