Feb. 16, 2008
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Even though Ulises Cabrera ended his baseball-playing career after two seasons in the Texas Rangers organization, he really never ended his career in baseball. A former shortstop and two-year letterwinner for Vanderbilt’s baseball team in 2000 and 2001, Cabrera now works for Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles as the director of the Latin American Baseball Division.
An Academic All-SEC selection in 2000, Cabrera graduated from Vanderbilt in 2001 with a degree in human and organizational development with an emphasis on leadership. On the field, Cabrera batted .311 with 117 hits in two seasons. In 2000, he led the Commodores in runs with 51, while ranking second on the team with a .353 batting average and tying for second with 67 hits.
Following his senior season at Vanderbilt, Cabrera signed a free-agent contract with the Rangers after going undrafted. In two seasons of professional baseball, Cabrera reached as high as Class A ball in Savannah, Ga., before he decided to pursue other career opportunities.
After retiring from playing, Cabrera didn’t stray far from the game he grew up loving as a child by accepting a job with Louisville Slugger as a professional baseball representative in Southern California. Cabrera also went back to school, earning his MBA from Pepperdine.
“In the minors, I realized that (playing baseball) probably wasn’t the best use of my skill set,” Cabrera said. “Even at Vanderbilt, I didn’t pigeonhole myself into a position. I’d rather look in areas that I was interested in. For me, baseball has always been a big part of my life, but business has always been a big part of my life, as well.
“When I made the decision to go to Louisville Slugger I looked at it more so from the standpoint of which components I am interested in would come into to play, and it combined business and baseball.”
With Louisville Slugger, Cabrera worked on endorsement contracts for major-league players such as Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez.
“Essentially my job was to get the product from Louisville Slugger into the big leagues, and that was basically my focus,” Cabrera said.
Just this past year, Cabrera assumed his current position with Creative Artists Agency, a world-renowned talent agency that represents actors, musicians and numerous athletes such as Derek Jeter, LeBron James, David Beckham and LaDainian Tomlinson.
“At CAA, this is an opportunity for me to leave a positive impact on the next generation of players,” Cabrera said. “To provide them (clients) with a better experience and to know that by the end of the day, it is leaving a positive impact that is going to significantly change the lives and families of our clients is really what it is all about.”
A native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Cabrera’s position as the director of the newly-created Latin American Baseball Division provides him with an opportunity to work with Latin American players.
“Here (CAA) I can leverage my experiences, my skill set, my education and my apprenticeship so that I can help my clients in Latin America raise the bar in terms of what representation is and really look out for my clients best interests having seen how other people operate in the business,” Cabrera said. “I think there is a disconnect between what is offered currently in the marketplace and what I think should be.”
Although he still is getting acclimated to his new position, Cabrera is excited about the future. He can already feel the impact that CAA and his coworkers have had on him.
“Creative Artists is the top agency in the world, not only because of the clients they represent, but because the people that work there, as well,” Cabrera said. “To be in that type of learning environment where you find yourself on the cusp of the most innovative thinking and thoughts in both the entertainment and sports world is really exciting.”
