Miguel Cabrera Needs His Own Thread

if it's not a physical issue, i assume the insanity in venezuela / threats against his family can't help. :-/

Published before last night's game (during which he weakly popped up in a potential game-winning at-bat, and threw his bat into the ground):

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2017/07/24/cause-miguel-cabreras-slump-mystery-tigers/103968674/

Ausmus comparing 34-year-old Cabrera in 2017 to 27-year-old Bagwell in 1995 (coming off one of the greatest seasons ever) is bizarre. I wonder if he meant Bagwell's last two seasons.

@DetroitTigersPR
With 2 hits today, @MiguelCabrera has tied @TimRaines30 for 79th in MLB history with 2,605 career hits.

Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera is being sued by a Florida woman who says the two-time Most Valuable Player isn’t paying enough to support two children he fathered with her, setting up a legal showdown that could cost the superstar more than $100,000 a month.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2017/10/13/tigers-miguel-cabrera-paternity-case/106604104/

still a tiny fraction of his salary

fun fact: miggy is going to make more money from the beginning of 2017 to the end of his career than he made in the 14 years he didn't suck, and that's before the possible option years

i wish he would just take a year off to get as healthy as he can possibly get at his age and go from there

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/03/miguel-cabrera-tigers-teammates-names-bro-contract-mlb-detroit-spring-training

Miguel Cabrera has hit five balls with a 100+ mph exit velocity three games into season, according to Statcast. His RBI double off Felipe Rivero makes it an 8-6 game in ninth.

— Jason Beck (@beckjason) April 2, 2018

Third terrific play of the day by Miguel Cabrera. It's worth a repeat: Cabrera's defense is the most underrated skill owned by any player in baseball.

— Lynn G. Henning (@Lynn_Henning) April 1, 2018

note the time stamp of that second tweet

Cabrera’s health struggles last season — trying to play despite two herniated discs in his back — have left a scar, there is no doubt about that. He is going to be supremely cautious with this injury.

“I went through a lot last year, so I don’t want to do the same thing,” he said. “Nobody appreciates when you play hurt. I’m going to take my time and play when I am good. I played a lot of years hurt here in Detroit. They (fans) don’t appreciate that.

“When you are doing bad, they crush you. They crush you. They say you are bad. They say you should go home. You don’t deserve anything. You are old. So I say, OK, I’m done playing hurt. Now I am going to take my time.”

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2018/05/15/cabrera-says-past-efforts-play-hurt-appreciated/34957915/

Miguel Cabrera is hurt.

Miguel Cabrera probably doesn't need his own thread anymore.

show some respect

...I say with some sadness. (You may be barking up the wrong tree there.)

Not to harp on this too much, but there's some tremendous parallels between Miggy and Pujols here. The Cards are thankful every day they let Pujols walk after his age-31 season rather than giving him that deal.

— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) June 13, 2018

Officially out for the rest of the season with a ruptured left biceps tendon.

i wish he would just take a year off to get as healthy as he can possibly get at his age and go from there

― qualx, Saturday, October 14, 2017 4:41 AM (seven months ago)

Prescient post.

Not to harp on this too much, but the last thing the team's 85-year-old, championship-craving owner cared about in 2014 (and most other years) was overpaying.

Maybe the Tigers would have been super smart like the Cardinals and let Cabrera walk if THEY had recently won two World Series.

They didn't even need to worry about him walking -- he had two years left on his contract (I'm sure you don't need reminding).

I think there's a good chance Miggy ages like Thome did -- high OBP's and good power, but as a full time DH playing 110 games per year. His iron man seasons with 150+ GP are surely past.

36 today. it's getting ugly : /

think the tigers are going to exercise that second option year in 2025??

It's Miguel Cabrera's birthday!

Let's watch that time he was offered an intentional walk and said "nah." pic.twitter.com/MvDujabTiU

— Cut4 (@Cut4) April 18, 2019

He has looked even worse than the numbers indicate.

poll: if miggy tried to hit an intentional walk pitch today (and if pitchers still threw intentional walk pitches), could he still hit one 2 feet outside for a RBI single

my guess is the pitcher would have to jog forward a little to play it.

after Pujols, is this the worst current contract to be stuck with in baseball?

chris davis is a pretty bad one too

Ooh ya. Three first basemen.

what a moment

With his double in the 5th inning, @MiguelCabrera now has 560 doubles in his career, tying him with Jeff Kent and Eddie Murray for 27th in MLB history.

— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) April 23, 2019

MRI on Miguel Cabrera's knee is still being reviewed by "a lot of different doctors," Ron Gardenhire said.

— Jason Beck (@beckjason) June 2, 2019

Miguel Cabrera diagnosed with “chronic changes to his knee” as the result of a long career, according to Tigers head athletic trainer Doug Teter.

— Jason Beck (@beckjason) June 4, 2019

what the

hmm, a case of "chronic changes to knee"

beginning to see why they sought out a second opinion

sir, i have bad news. it's about your lungs. they...they're changing. chronically.

“Okay, now, the symptoms you describe point to ‘bonus eruptus’, it’s a terrible disorder where the skeleton tries to leap out the mouth and escape the body.”

a bizarre way to say "old" or "arthritis"

I think I have this affliction

There was a four-year stretch when, after final game each season, would ask Cabrera what injuries he was dealing with down stretch. And only then would he answer. The guy just played, especially when they were playing in October. https://t.co/YHtuMpTtvj

— Jason Beck (@beckjason) June 4, 2019

“The only advice I can say to young kids is take care of their body when they have to," Miguel Cabrera said. "When they have something, stop playing for a week and come back. Don’t play through pain, because you’re going to pay the price later.”

— Jason Beck (@beckjason) June 4, 2019

also do your homework and stay in school

Speaking of Cabrera, his 2019 is one of the oddest superstar decline years that I can remember. If you told me back when Cabrera signed his contract extension that he’d be a terrible major leaguer in 2019, I would have believed you (as did the projections). But I wasn’t quite prepared for the shape of the decline; I did not see Cabrera’s decline phase being “really, really slow Vince Coleman.” I expected Cabrera to look more like Albert Pujols does now, maintaining his power but eventually losing everything else. Instead, Miggy has retained his ability to hit singles but has only hit 10 homers in a run environment where records are being shattered left and right. Just for a quick comp list for 2019, I looked up every season within five points of Cabrera’s in BA, OBP, and wRC+, within 10 points of OBP, and with at least 80 strikeouts.

https://i.imgur.com/UVyEfnq.png

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-detroit-tigers-discovered-their-nadir-in-2019/

Kind of gruesome...He's signed for three more seasons; he might need that to reach 500 HR.

nothing more fun for fans than watching aging vince coleman try to reach a round HR number!

signed for 4 more seasons iirc

Kinda puzzled why Fangraphs is so surprised by his "decline" (3 seasons of fairly level shitty/replacement level)? Or is it "odd" to be that shitty for 3 seasons?

i feel like your question is answered in the quote.

I worded my post poorly:

Miggy's 2019 did not forge much of a different vector from his 2018 (injury) nor his 2017 (terrible) seasons. Expecting an outlier on the tailend of 3 seasons of lackluster performance is a bit reckless imho... tho I'm not a baseball blogger.

As was noted in this Chris McCosky pievce last October, Miguel Cabrera's right knee is not going to get better. It's the core reason why he's not hitting. He's in shape, he has the fire -- but not the right knee. It needs, probably, replacing. No go there. https://t.co/dXTIH507P2

— Lynn G. Henning (@Lynn_Henning) August 26, 2020

A ballplayer getting his knee replaced isn't a ballplayer returning to big-league duties. Thus, it seems, the script is nearly written: Tigers will get him to 3,000 hits, try to get him to 500 HRs. And then there will be a parting. All because the knee can't adequately function.

— Lynn G. Henning (@Lynn_Henning) August 26, 2020

Needs 165 hits for 3000 and 19 HRs for 500.

At .198/.297/.327 this year, and has looked as overmatched as those numbers indicate.

Hasn't appeared desperate, at least -- no major deviation in his swing percentages. Making less contact outside the zone.

I dunno.

talking out of my ass here, but i find it hard to believe that a knee replacement would make things worse than they already are