A shortstop returning from injury who has one home run and seven RBI might seem like another ho-hum July transaction, but this one could be different.

Asdrubal Cabrera is no Hanley Ramirez, but he's no Everth Cabrera, either.

The Tribe shortstop played Tuesday night at Minnesota, his first major-league action since he made the mistake of getting near Jhonny Peralta on May 17, a move that resulted in a broken forearm for Cabrera when Peralta clumsily fell on him.

Cabrera is a career .287 hitter who was surprisingly productive in 2009. Last season, he batted .308 with 81 runs, 52 extra-base hits, six homers, 68 RBI and 17 steals.

I wouldn't expect him to reach double figures in steals this season, considering in his other three major-league seasons (2007, '08 and '10), Cabrera has five steals in 194 games. But I would expect him to hit for a quality average, score runs and drive in more runs than most shortstops.

There's also this: Entering Tuesday, only four shortstops had more than nine homers, and six had 42 RBI or more this season. Even Derek Jeter, a career .315 hitter, was struggling to bat .270.

At the position, there is Ramirez, Rafael Furcal, Jose Reyes, Jeter .. and not much else, at least until Troy Tulowitzki is healthy (the Rockies shortstop is expected to return from a wrist injury in the next eight days).

After those five, Elvis Andrus, Alex Gonzalez and Erick Aybar are certain fantasy starters. Alexei Ramirez has rebounded from an awful start, and Clint Barmes is hitting for power in place of Tulowitzki in Colorado.

I would slot Cabrera in the No. 10 range at the position, meaning he's an everyweek starter in most formats.

At least until the next time Peralta thinks he should be the first to get to a ground ball between third base and shortstop.