Santos Cabrera only played for
Pasaquina,
Municipal Limeño and
Luis Angel Firpo. Cabrera played with Pasaquina of the "Liga de Ascenso" (Promotion League) at El Salvador in 1994. Then, he returned to El Salvador and found himself playing with Municipal Limeño in 1996. Santos Cabrera debuted at the Salvadoran Premier League on February 22, 1996 in a game where Limeño won
El Roble by 5–1. After 2 seasons at Municipal Limeño, Cabrera played for Firpo. Cabrera started playing as an alternate. Later on, he held as a starter in Firpo and therefore was called by Carlos Recinos to
El Salvador. In 2000, after a tour with Firpo in New York, he received an invitation from
MetroStars (now known as New York Red Bulls) to try out. He convinced the team but a groin injury left him out. That same incident left him out of the final against
ADET. Before his retirement, he was claimed for Águila, Alianza and San Salvador but did not want to establish conversations with all due respect to Firpo. "While I had contract, I respected the institution where I played", he said. He played both with Firpo and El Salvador with number 8. ==International career==