Giants not expected to welcome Melky Cabrera back for a potential NLCS, World Series run

CSNBayArea.com’s Andrew Baggarly had this two weeks ago, and now it’s close to being made official. Here is Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle:

Manager Bruce Bochy said the Melky Cabrera decision will be announced “before the end of the homestand,” but not today. I can see why they’d wait. The Giants, Major League Baseball and the Players Association had a press conference at the ballpark today to outline plans for the 2013 World Baseball Classic. News on Cabrera’s fate would overshadow the WBC announcements. My best guess is Thursday.

Just like Baggarly suggested on September 14, Schulman says that all indications point to Cabrera being told that he can’t come back when his 50-game PED suspension ends five games into the postseason.

It’s an odd decision given how productive Cabrera has been in a Giants uniform. And when you consider that Guillermo Mota -- who served a 100-game suspension earlier this year -- is currently on San Francisco’s active roster, it seems a little hypocritical. But the Giants are 25-11 since the Cabrera punishment was handed down by Major League Baseball and clearly believe that they can keep rolling without him.

Cabrera was batting .346/.390/.516 with 11 home runs and 60 RBI through 113 games this season.