Tigers veteran Miguel Cabrera will turn 40 years old in April, shortly after beginning the final guaranteed season of the mega extension he signed back in 2014. Though he’s not quite the hitter he was back then, he’s still going to be a part of Detroit’s plans next season. “We expect Miggy to be here,” manager A.J. Hinch tells Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. “We expect him to do his part in the offseason to prepare himself to be healthy and be productive and be the icon that he is.”
As noted by McCosky, Cabrera’s 2022 got off to a nice start, as he kept his batting average above .300 into July. However, he has slumped badly since then while dealing with various nagging injuries, currently sitting on a batting line of .251/.299/.315 for the year. That production amounts to a wRC+ of 76, or 24% below league average, which is well below Cabrera’s previous low of 92 from 2017.
Going into the season, it seemed as though Cabrera was on the verge of being nudged out of the club’s plans, as they spent aggressively in the offseason to try to compete in 2022. With the promotion of first base prospect Spencer Torkelson, it was fair to wonder if an awkward situation was approaching with the club trying to compete and Miggy standing in the way. Instead, Torkelson and the Tigers both fell way shy of expectations, with the youngster hitting just .197/.281/.301 so far this year and club sporting a record of 64-93.
The fact that Cabrera is still owed $32MM next year doesn’t mean he is immune from being cut from the team if he continues to underperform. Just last year, the Angels designated Albert Pujols for assignment in May while he was playing out the final year of his contract at a $30MM salary. Both Hinch and new president of baseball operations Scott Harris voiced their support for Cabrera being a part of the 2023 club, though how much of a role he gets to play is likely to be determined.
Some more notes from the Central divisions…
- The Cardinals are planning to reinstate right-hander Jordan Hicks from the injured list for their final regular season series, which begins tomorrow in Pittsburgh, according to MLB.com. Hicks went on the IL on September 17, retroactive to September 15, due to right arm fatigue. He has long tantalized fans with his triple-digit velocity but also been frequently set back by command issues and injuries. This season, he’s made 34 appearances and has a 4.92 ERA, 24.4% strikeout rate, 57.5% ground ball rate but a 13.6% walk rate. The Cards have already clinched the NL Central and can use their final games to assess the condition of Hicks’s arm before they begin a series against whichever team winds up in the final Wild Card spot.
- Cubs right-hander Adbert Alzolay seemed to be a potential rotation building block last year, appearing in 26 games with 21 of those being starts, logging 125 2/3 innings with a 4.58 ERA. However, this year, a shoulder strain landed him on the injured list to begin the season and he only made his season debut a couple of weeks ago. This mostly lost season has resulted in several pitchers surpassing him on the depth chart and perhaps leading to a move to the bullpen. Alzolay discussed this possibility with Patrick Mooney of The Athletic and seems fine with it. “If my role is best out of the bullpen, being a long guy, being a guy that can throw in the eighth or close a game or whatever, I feel like I have the weapons to do that,” Alzolay says. “You won’t have me every five days there, but you can have me every two or three days. I can go and throw three or four innings, or I can go and throw one inning late in the game. So I feel like there are a lot more options there, and then that allows the team to go and be aggressive during the offseason.” The Cubs’ 2023 rotation will likely consist of Marcus Stroman, Kyle Hendricks and Justin Steele, with Keegan Thompson, Hayden Wesneski, Javier Assad, Adrian Sampson and Caleb Kilian having put themselves into consideration to varying degrees. With all of those options, and perhaps some offseason additions, it makes sense for Alzolay and the team to consider new ways for him to be a contributing member of the staff.
Alzolay could be a solid weapon in the Cubs bullpen next season. I’d even propose Keegan Thompson I the bullpen, perhaps as a closer. He has dominant splits stats out of the bullpen vs. pedestrian in the rotation. I think the rotation could be Stroman, Hendricks, Steele, Sampson, Wesneski to start the year.
By the end of 2023, Steele and Wesneski could BOTH very well prove themselves to be solid #2 starting pitchers. Cubs gave up a nice RP in Effross – but to get a SP of Wesneski’s ability and potential.
All I can say is, thank you Mr Cashman. Looking forward to doing more business with you.
Keegan looks so dominant coming out of the pen in multi inning roles. It’s fun to think he could be a controllable starter, but I think his value is greatest as a reliever.
Yes exactly. I like Thompson as a starter even, but I see his ceiling as a reliever getting somewhere near Andrew Miller RP status.
Very much agree with all this. As far as Thompson goes, this is a little bit of a reach, but I think he is the kind a guy we’d be very happy to see fill the same role that Andrew Miller filled for his teams about 6-8 years ago. Wouldn’t that be something?
I’d think they’d want to add at least one veteran free agent to that mix rather than relying on three relatively inexperienced arms with no decent depth behind them.
Miguel Cabrera will be the full time DH and number 3 hitter in 2023. Regardless if he takes exposure away from deserving players or if his presence is a the detriment to the team. Its been like this the last 7 years.
Agreed. Miggy’s leadership and presence is a huge important factor to a young tigers team.
Huge factor in losing.
Leader? What in the world has Miggy ever done to be a leader? Are you joking? He changes his answer anytime asked about retirement. He blatantly said he doesn’t know any of the younger players names. Just because he was a great player does not mean he was a great leader.
And that’s great that the tigers org wants Miggy to be a part of the organization next season. Do us a favor; give him a polo, clipboard, and a whistle. This is absolutely ridiculous anymore. This is just one of the many things that separates the successful baseball clubs, and Detroit.
I love Miggy, I love the JaCoby Jones, and the Brandon inges. But you got to know when to move on for the greater of the team
Great point, Hello, Newman!
If they can get that darn Miggy out of there they can get a guy to be the 13th position player on their roster that can lead them to the WS 2023.
I look forward to reading a comment from you here the 3rd week of next April explaining how the Tigers manager messed up their 2023 season by bringing – or not bringing – in a relief pitcher in the previous days game.
April- Relief pitching? What in the world are you blabbering about?
Do they actually have such a guy who can outplay him, though, even as diminished as he is?
Well never know. Most of the players the Tigers brought up were used as part timers and quickly sent down.
Good clubhouse vibes are nice and all, but them alone aren’t going to make you an important player, especially if you’re getting regular at-bats and have an OPS that has steadily declining closer toward .600.
Apart from being old, what exactly makes Cabrera a good leader?
I feel like this is one of those “oh, he’s a veteran, he must be good for the clubhouse” takes. Not all 40 year olds are good leaders.
That’s not my point at all.
I kind of disagree with the ” Full Time ” DH. Cabrera will go down as one of the greatest hitters ever but I think he proved he’s not an everyday weapon anymore. They need to manage his AB’s and use him as a part time DH and part time PH to save wear and tear on his legs. He could still get around 450 AB’s and stay fresh.
Miguel Cabrera is no longer much of a MLB player but for some strange reason, perhaps on the insistence of the owner, he’s put in the 3rd and 4th spot in the order. But, I believe the Tigers will still play him everyday and bat him in the 3-4 spot in the order. I feel Cabrera presence inhibited the development of other players.
How?
Sounds a lot like what people were saying about Pujols last fall. Maybe Miggy needs to go home to Miami for his finale.
No they weren’t. No one was playing Albert Pujols full time and he’s not a drunk either.
To be fair, it’s not like the Tigers have any great fits for the 3 and 4 spots in the lineup.
The Cubs will have one of those “Fun” problems next year in Spring Training figuring out who starts and who goes to the pen. That’s without even wondering who they can add via trade or FA this Winter. They’ve all proven they can pitch in the Majors when healthy. And we haven’t even brought up Wicks and Ben Brown who should start off at AAA next year. But it’s not like I’ve been saying this all year or anything.
I think one of the under radar things that makes this really “fun” is that the Cubs, sometimes as a sacrifice, did a very good job at getting innings out of guys like Swarmer, Norris, Newcomb, Rucker, Leiter Jr., etc (guys not going to around after Wednesday) and not put too much stress or strain on the guys of the future.
Now the key will be the to best figure out what the true quality level is out of the quantity they have. Most of the names we hope for are just that——names—-need to see if those coming can match the jump that Steele and Thompson have shown this season.
I think the track record for this year as the cubs have continued to give their organization’s minor leaguers opportunities to pitch in the majors and they’ve all pretty much stepped up and shown they can get outs is why many of us have hope. It seems to be a good example of the changes they’ve made behind the scenes to better develop their pitching and prepare them for the majors. Not everyone will be a huge success, but it shows that the organization and the players are going about their business the right way. It also sets a standard to the guys still in the minors to keep doing what’s asked of them and they will get their shot too. That kinda confidence will be empowering to the kids as they get their chance.
School’s out on the Professor. Cubs need to just eat his remaining salary and get someone else to take his place in the rotation.
All good things must come to an end. I don’t think you have to cut him anyway. He either:
1. gets injured again in spring and spends all year on the 60 day
2. Starts off the year in the rotation and gets hurt( Same result)
3. Starts off and pitches well and you deal him at the deadline and save one of your young arms some wear and tear.
I’m sure they have insurance on his contract if he gets hurt so no big deal either way.
As far as point number 3 I think you gotta have a 3a and a 3b. 3a- what you said, but I believe this team has turned a good corner and will add a couple players without committing too many years and dollars and may find themselves in a wildcard position next season. The 3b would be Kyle pitching well and helping on a playoff run. If he stays healthy and pitches well he might have to play out his contract before leaving. I’d be ok with that. The end of this season has very much reminded me of the end of 2014 and feeling the cubs were arriving. The huge difference though is back then it was about the offense and having Jake Arietta at the top of the staff. This year it’s just the small ball ability of our offense and our entire pitching staff showing lots of good signs all around.
Agree Hdawg, no need to already bury Hendricks at this point. He still could become a valuable piece next year – and it’s not like we’re going to be over the salary cap.
Hendricks at best, At this stage of his career, Is a 5 inning Pitcher. The only way he can be a part of the rotation next year is if Thompson and Alzolay are in the pen to pick up his slack and save the bullpen by finishing the game. You simply can’t can’t let him go 3 times through the lineup as he will get hammered as Ross knows well because he usually went and got him in the 6th. You keep him through the deadline to save a young arm and deal him to save a few bucks as you’re not getting much back in a deal.
Hendricks is at least still a better option for the rotation than your AAAA pitcher Alzolay.
Cabrera is an overweight .250 singles hitter, need to nudge him to another role.
Red Wings;
That organization has so many things that need to be addressed – many that will take years to get on track before that team can be truly competitive – that obsessing over one player, coach, or popcorn vendor is just a waste of energy.
That’s still better than a good portion of the rest of the Tigers’ lineup.
Miggy has no milestones left. Plus, you don’t want to take a risk that he’ll have a freakish year and/or some rogue baseball writer giving him an MVP vote that would trigger the vested option.
I read it wrong. There aren’t enough rogue sportswriters to push Miggy into the top 10 in MVP voting. Thank you Sportac.
Cabrera HOF tour ’23
Cabrera’s production dropped off significantly after he started dating Billie Eilish.
You’re not from here are you? And by ” Here” I mean Earth.
She’s getting kind of porky, too. So, at least, he won’t crush her during sex.
I doubt that Matt Carpenter will playing for the Patriots given that their season finished this past Wednesday; they won the AA chamoionship.
The Cardinals bullpen hasn’t really missed Hicks. Jake Woodford might lack triple digit sex appeal, but he is a just plain better pitcher. If Hicks struggles to command his pitches against the Pirates, he should be left off the postseason roster. His billing as a weapon is overstated and he hasn’t done enough to automatically earn a spot if healthy.
Thompson and Woodford have pitched too good to lose their roster spots. What pitcher is he going to replace? I think Romero is the only reasonable option, right?
Although, Romero is also a very likely option, as he hasn’t pitched that well.
Tigers need to offer Miggy the hitting coach job with the idea he sits out playing until August if the team needs is bat for stretch run. 30 million dollar hitting coach, but a vaunted member of the organization
I’m glad Miggy has had the Hall of Fame career he has had because it’s crazy to see that the only World Series ring he will have came all the way back in his rookie year
tigers will be hood again when they finally get rid of Miggy and his very bad contract.
Once Miggy’s contract is up, they will only have to build around those terrible contracts for Javy Baez and Eduardo Rodriguez.
In the 2nd half, Miggy was only playing in one game of the series, and sometimes was batting lower than 4th. They will need DH abs for either Meadows or Carpenter.
Question: who do the tiger fans come out to see play? A lot of young players, but any stars to follow? Makes me think that Cabela will stick around. He does not deserve 5 million. But, do you cut Toney the tiger from Detroit?
The more Miggy plays and I don’t think it will be much, the more time he’ll spend on the DL.
Knees have had it
Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Miggies’ BA is 2nd on the team.@.254 behind Hittin Harold’s .271?