Detroit Tigers veteran Miguel Cabrera has been with the team for most of his career, but his time to say goodbye to MLB may be approaching.
Detroit Tigers veteran Miguel Cabrera has had a lengthy career in MLB, and he’s spent most of it in Detroit.
His time to say goodbye to the league, however, may be approaching according to a tweet by Lynn Henning.
Henning wrote, “I suspect Miguel Cabrera, being a man of immense baseball pride, will not push to play in 2023. His contract will be fulfilled if he and the Tigers agree it makes sense for him to retire, and have a Grand Farewell Day.”
Evan Petzold of Detroit Free Press threw more salt on the wound by sharing that Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said he “needs to sit down with Miguel and talk to him.”
Cabrera, nicknamed “Miggy,” has been around for quite some time, so it’s not surprising that retirement seems to be in the near future. However, it’s certainly a hard pill to swallow as the beloved slugger has been around for so long.
Considering Miggy’s length of time in MLB and his downfall in performance, new Tigers GM A.J. Hinch could likely push him to retire early. Miggy once had a huge impact, but he’s unfortunately not cutting it anymore.
Miguel Cabrera is a huge part of Tigershistory
Cabrera may not be as good as he once was, but for most of his career, he was one of the staples of Detroit’s limited success. He joined the team in 2008 after playing with the Marlins for five seasons, and he’s been in Detroit ever since.
Up until the past four seasons, he was an incredibly powerful hitter. Over his career, he hit .308/.384/.525 for an OPS of .909. He’s lost his steam, likely just a result of aging, and is currently having the worst season of his career.
This season, he’s hitting .258/.307/.319 for an OPS of .626. As shown by his career averages, he’s done much better throughout most of his career.
Just three seasons after joining, the Tigers made it to the playoffs four consecutive seasons after only making it once since 1987. Detroit also played in the World Series in 2012 with Miggy, but they unfortunately lost.
Though the Tigers are still far from being a successful team, Cabrera helped bring the team postseason success more consecutive seasons than ever before.
He may have been losing his steam over the past few years and no longer helping the sinking team, but Miggy will surely be missed if he retires after this season.