Olney: Yankees have asked about Asdrubal Cabrera “repeatedly”

Via Buster Olney (subs. req’d): The Yankees have “repeatedly” asked the Indians about shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera. I assume that means both in recent weeks and further back to previous years, but who really knows. I speculated the two teams had the framework of a trade in place during the Winter Meetings, but was wrong.

Cabrera, 27, is hitting .251/.312/.421 (103 wRC+) with seven homers in 287 plate appearances this year while battling a quad strain. It’s a good offensive year that represents his worst since 2010. Cabrera is a bit below-average defensively at short, and he has experience at both second and third bases. He’s owed less than $3.3M for the rest of this year and is under contract for $10M in 2014. Considering the uncertainty surrounding Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez as well as the fact that his switch-hitting bat would really balance out the lineup, Cabrera makes an awful lot of sense for the Bombers both this year and next.