DETROIT -- The first question of what should be a busy offseason for the Detroit Tigers has already been answered: Miguel Cabrera will be back in 2023.
“We expect Miggy to be here. We expect him to do his part in the offseason to prepare himself to be healthy and productive and the icon that he is,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Saturday.
The 39-year-old future Hall of Famer is under contract through next season, so in that sense this news comes as no surprise. But Cabrera has battled injuries and struggled at the plate over the second half of 2022. He very briefly floated the idea of retirement earlier this summer before reconsidering the next day.
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Cabrera recently met with Hinch and new president of baseball operations Scott Harris, who has been doing a “listening tour” of sorts before formally beginning his new duties on Oct. 6.
“This homestand is about listening to all aspects of the organization and different perspectives about what he’s inheriting, and Miggy is a big part of that,” Hinch said. “I thought it was a very productive meeting.”
Hinch said he sat in on the chat and wanted to make sure Cabrera’s personality shined through to the new boss. It did.
“Miggy was very much himself,” Hinch said. “(Harris) needed to hear his laugh, needed to hear his jokes, needed to listen to what he’s experienced, both good and bad, and then where he needs to be going into next season.”
Cabrera reached 3,000 hits in April and was one of the club’s most productive hitters up until the All-Star Break. But a balky knee has taken its toll and he spent time on the injured list with a biceps strain. Over his last 40 games, he’s hit just .146 with a .424 OPS.
Hinch said Cabrera has been frustrated with his lack of production and is committed to working this hard this winter to be prepared for 2023. Hinch also suggested that he’s willing to be flexible about his role, much as he has this year. As Cabrera’s injuries mounted and production declined, so did the frequency of his starts.
“I think Miggy is very realistic with where he’s at both health-wise and performance-wise,” Hinch said. “He’s very much about winning. He wants to finish on a much better note (as a team) than his last few years have been. So I think Miguel is on board with whatever we need to do make things better.
“He’s been on board with me and what we’re trying to do 100 percent since my first day. That hasn’t changed and it won’t change going into next year.”
Hinch said Cabrera was at his healthiest at the outset of 2022 and he expects the same will be the case in 2023. It’s the cumulative wear and tear of a 162-game season that takes its toll.
“He’s always felt better after (rest), so he’s probably not going to feel any better than he’s going to feel when he starts next year,” Hinch said. “I think we saw that this season. In the first half, he was holding up pretty well physically. And then with the first sign of distress, it became harder for him to bounce back. So we’re going to monitor him. We’ll try to come up with a game plan that works best to fit the roster that’s going to be built over the next six months.”
Although it would have been an awkward goodbye for a franchise icon, the Tigers could have moved on from Cabrera by cutting him a big check this winter.
Cabrera, who turns 40 next April, is due to be paid $32 million in 2023, the final season of the massive extension he signed in 2014. After that, the Tigers could buy out his option years in 2024 and 2025 for $8 million.
Instead, Cabrera will attempt to play out the final season of his celebrated career.
“We don’t have all the answers today, but I’m glad Miggy’s going to be around,” Hinch said.
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