Report: White Sox agree to terms with Melky Cabrera on 3-year, $42M deal

The busy offseason on the south side of Chicago continues.

The White Sox have reportedly agreed to terms on a three-year deal with outfielder Melky Cabrera, according to 670thescore.com's Bruce Levine. Multiple reports confirmed that the deal is worth $42 million. CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports Cabrera turned down a four-year offer from an unknown club in order to join the revamped White Sox.

Cabrera was arguably the best position player left on the free-agent market, and the 30-year-old had a bounce-back season in Toronto in 2014, after having a benign tumor removed from his spine in September 2013. 

Cabrera hit .301/.351/.458 in 139 games and 621 plate appearances this past season, with 16 home runs and 73 RBIs. His 125 wRC+ was the second-highest of his career, along with his home run and RBI totals. They could have been higher, but a broken right pinkie finger ended his season in September after he was hit by a pitch. 

Defensively, Cabrera struggles. Make no mistake, the White Sox have added him for his bat. His play in left field was four runs below average in 1,134 2/3 innings in 2014. He's projected to hit .291/.340/.430 and be worth 1.7 Wins Above Replacement in 2015, according to FanGraphs. 

The switch-hitting Cabrera will presumably take over in left for Dayan Viciedo, who hit .231/.281/.405 in 145 games last season, and who is also a nightmare defensively. In the end, this is a massive upgrade for the White Sox, and Cabrera should hit near the top of the order, as he did in Toronto.  

The Blue Jays offered Cabrera a $15.3-million qualifying offer, which he rejected, meaning Toronto's in line for a compensatory draft pick from the White Sox. 

By signing Cabrera, Chicago will lose its third-round pick, according to ESPN, as its first-round pick, eighth overall, is protected, and the club has already forfeited its second-round pick to the New York Yankees. 

Cabrera's reported signing caps a very busy week for the White Sox. The club traded for Jeff Samardzija from Oakland in a six-player deal and signed closer David Robertson to a four-year, $46-million deal. 

Cabrera was thought to have been looking for a deal longer than three years, but it seems he finally got an offer he couldn't refuse from the White Sox, who are doing their best to ensure they'll challenge in the always up for grabs American League Central.