DIGNITY FOR A DH

by Holly Horning

He’s got the worst slash line on the entire roster – .177 BA, .244 on-base %, .215 SLG and .459 OPS.  Even Nick Maton has bested him in 3 of the 4 stats. And it’s not even close.

His name?

Miguel Cabrera.

This is getting particularly ugly, folks.  And it’s increasingly becoming an issue that ownership must address for several reasons.

It was really brought home the other day when Cabrera struck out at the plate with the bases loaded.  It was his first at-bat of the game and thus he couldn’t be removed.  As a result, the Tigers failed to score and went on to lose the game.

How many more of these games will the Tigers allow the team to lose?  At the very least, to be seriously handicapped at the plate?  They need as much offensive help as they can get and Miggy is no longer the answer.

As the Tigers struggle to stay in second place and try to reach that .500 goal, finding a solution is even more important.

And the more he plays, the more blame that has to go to ownership.  Miggy’s presence in the lineup comes from above.  Not from Harris.  Not from Hinch.

If you’re going to blame Cabrera for anything, it’s that he never really took care of his body for the long run.  And it doesn’t help when you are 40 years old and have bad knees, that you can’t come to spring training having lost some weight to help ease the stress put on those knees.  It’s puzzling that the Tigers did not put a plan in place years ago to help him manage his weight as other teams do.  

Miggy’s deterioration is much faster than previously expected.  There’s been a huge fall-off since 2022.  He remains with only 4 RBIs to his name.  No HRs and not much of anything else.

But Cabrera can no longer be blamed for anything that happens.  Responsibility now rests with Chris Ilitch.

It’s a battle between preserving dignity vs the money grab.

Let’s quickly review the factors at play.

Miggy has a seriously damaged knee that prevents him from creating power at the plate.  It is so bad that he can no longer run even when he puts the ball in play.

As a result, it takes him over 3 hours to prepare his body for a game. He’s in a lot of pain.

Last year, the pain was so bad that he hinted at it being his last year.  It caused quite a stir in the baseball world and the Tigers were very quick to come out with a statement almost immediately afterwards saying that Miggy was misunderstood.  They made him retract his comments.

When a player of Cabrera’s caliber is signed to these monstrous contracts, there is a strategy put into place at the signing to monetize that contract.  Strategies that involve publicity, ticket sales, tv contracts and merchandise revenue, to name a few.  The bottom line is to make that contract more palatable by increasing revenue to help offset the sting.

It is the Tigers’ intent to milk Miggy’s last year as much as they can.  Especially since the team finished in the red last year.

Aside from the money grab, it is an extremely dangerous proposition to bench or release a first-ballot Hall of Famer.  Everyone saw the media maelstrom created by the Cardinals when they allowed Albert Pujols to walk.  It continued for years until the Cards brought him back for his final year in order to placate the fans.

Everyone in baseball was watching and no one is going to repeat that mistake.  Including the Tigers.

But now the situation has changed.  No one thought that there could be such a huge difference in Miggy’s performance between the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

It’s become highly embarrassing.  And it’s increasingly becoming a topic throughout MLB and the national media.

Writers – and fans – are wondering just how bad it has to get in order for Miggy to be removed from the lineup.  Because now it becomes an issue about dignity.

And if you’re asking why Miggy doesn’t just hang it up, it’s not up to him.  The reports about playing him emanate from the very top.

Cabrera has a legal binding contract so he can’t leave unless he’s granted permission. Even if he wanted to, there is the issue of having to forfeit the rest of his $32 mill salary plus the $8 mill buyout.

The problem is that ownership doesn’t want to walk away from the many special events they’ve planned throughout the year that will boost attendance and sales.  Say what you will about Cabrera’s performance but he is still overwhelmingly the fan favorite.  No one gets the cheers he receives every time he hobbles up to the plate.

Fans are coming out this year to say that final goodbye.  If Miggy’s not around, who then will inspire fans to come to the park?

The only reason why fans will buy tickets this year, other than to see Cabrera, is if the Tigers start flirting with .500.  If they start to hint at respectability.

They are close.  And that brings up another dilemma.

How can a team that wants to do better keep someone like Miggy in the lineup?

How will fans be comfortable knowing that some games are going to be lost because there isn’t a better hitter in his place?

How will fans feel about the potential for some quality games to be sacrificed because ownership is putting the farewell and money-earning potential ahead of performance and not giving fans their money’s worth?

If the Tigers were having another really bad year, this would be easier.  Miggy’s last year would soothe some fans and act as a distraction for another poor year.

But now that the team is showing hints of possibly becoming respectable, decisions have to be made.

It’s not that Miggy is blocking anyone from coming up.  It’s that he’s now a liability and creates a problem for the Front Office, manager and coaches.  Having him in the lineup doesn’t give them much of a work around.

He is the DH.  And the job of a DH is to hit.  But Cabrera can no longer hit.

Every time he gets up to bat, he’s almost always an automatic out.  If there are runners on base, he’s killing offense on a team that remains near the bottom in generating runs.

It’s a very selfish move for ownership to allow Miggy, his teammates, his manager, coaches, PoBO and the fans to suffer.  All for the almighty dollar and out of fearing bad publicity.

It’s gone beyond giving him a proper and well-deserved send-off.  It now needs to be about dignity.

The old expression “If you love someone enough, you have to be able to let them go”  is what needs to be done now.

There are ways to manage this smoothly.  Keep him with the team, just not playing. Or bring him late in games to pinch hit when there’s nothing much on the line.

The Tigers could easily put him on the 60-day IL.  Then bring him back in the late summer.  Just hope that the Tigers are doing well enough but not too well to jeopardize any standing or potential wild card playoff.

Keep him with the team.  Give fans multiple Miggy sightings.  Have him bring out the lineup card for each game.

Keep him in the dugout.  Make him an assistant coach-in-training.  Many teams allow a retiring player to shadow management so they may learn about coaching.  Remember when Ian Kinsler did it?

It makes sense given that Cabrera has stated he’d like to remain with the organization in some kind of coaching position.  Have him work with players in the batting cage.  Have him assist the hitting coaches.

But something has to change.  Miggy is not going to get magically better. If anything, a long baseball season will only make things worse.

No one, including Cabrera, wants this year to end as it is trending.  If ownership really wants what’s best for him, they will come up with a plan that values and honors him while taking him out of the lineup.

You can’t put a price on dignity.

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