Miguel Cabrera recently hit his 500th home run, a marquee achievement for one of the most accomplished players in MLB history. Asked by Sage Steele of ESPN this morning how long he planned to continue his illustrious career, Cabrera said he expects to conclude after the 2023 season (h/t to Chris McCosky of the Detroit News).
“Two years, that’s it,” Cabrera told Steele. “My right knee is really bad. I need to take care of this in the offseason and prepare myself for next season. I’m going to play two more years. I think that’s enough. I will be happy with 20 years in the big leagues if I can make it. I would say thank God for the opportunity and I say two more years and I’m done.”
While it’s not surprising to hear Cabrera is planning to retire two years from now, today’s comments were notably more conclusive than when he addressed the subject last September. At that time, Cabrera left open the possibility of playing beyond 2023. Obviously, improved health or performance over the next couple seasons could change the calculus, but Cabrera’s comments this morning mark the 38-year-old’s most definitive declaration to date of his long-term plans.
It’s no coincidence that the guaranteed portion of Cabrera’s March 2014 contract extension concludes at the end of that 2023 season. Cabrera will make successive $32MM salaries in 2022 and 2023, in addition to an $8MM buyout of a $30MM vesting option for the 2024 campaign. (Cabrera’s option would only vest if he finished in the top ten of MVP award voting in 2023, which is obviously extremely unlikely).
Still, it wasn’t out of the question Cabrera could’ve looked for another opportunity in free agency over the 2023-24 offseason. Instead, it seems he’s content to wrap things up once his time with the Tigers comes to an end. In addition to reaching 500 home runs, Cabrera should record his 3000th hit at some point over the next calendar year (he’s at 2958 currently). As he mentioned, Cabrera will also reach twenty years of MLB service time in 2023, assuming the Tigers keep him on the roster through the end of his deal. Reaching those milestones over the coming seasons will symbolically cement his status as one of the greatest hitters of all time.
Nah he tweakin
Marlins will retire his number to boost attendance for one game.
He would deserve it anyway
Lol, not a bad idea for them. They need something to draw fans to the game and something to celebrate
Some players play one season too many…
Give someone else your roster spot.
Why? If teams are dumb enough to sign anyone and I mean anyone over the age of 30 for more than a year than the player should keep cashing the cheques. Soon all the gms would be Ivy League grads who won’t and the simpletons here will yell about collusion again.
Money isn’t everything
that’s easy to say if you’re not the one with money to lose.
Can I get tree fiddy?
Barry Sanders went out on top!!
I’m not a Lions fan, but Barry Sanders is among my favorite football players not just for the classy way he played (hand the ball to the referee after a touchdown instead of dancing, etc.) but for how he retired when he could have easily played another year or two.
Damn you Loch Ness Monster !
@Lloyd if I give you tree fiddy today you will just want another tree fiddy tomorrow. Damn loch ness monster
You know the reason Sanders and Calvin Johnson retired early was because they both hated Detroit and the Lions refused to trade either.
He could have played more than a season or two, especially when you consider his running style. He rarely got hit hard. I bet he had 5 seasons left.
Barry had more than just a year or two left in the tank.
Agreed DarkSide. That’d be a lot of money to leave on the table.
Get out of here lochness monster
@Hulk
Well…I would teach him to fish, but he’d be so busy correcting my grammar I’d probably push him off the boat.
Hand outs it is.
But not from me. So.
Didn’t hate the city, hated the management
30 mil is a lot of money
Realistically, part of it was the gamble in hoping that (or stupidity in expecting that) someone who looks like an all-time great at age 27,or 30 will still be great at age 38 or 40, particularly before the crackdown on stimulants. But part is using high salaries in later years of this kind of contract, Pujols’s contract, Bryce Harper’s contract as an unofficial deferral Instead of paying them $40 to 45 million when they are superstars, you average it all out over the contract. $30+ million for a 39 year old looks stupid but, to an extent, you are paying what they did early in the contact,
Right only in major league sports does it work like that.
That means that a guy on a 10 year 300 million dollar contract is worth what, 50 million per in his early contract years? 60 million? Just further proves what ridiculous overpays such contracts are.
I suspect the decision to offer Cabrera that long-term deal was motivated at least in part by a desire to establish him as a Tiger for the rest of his career. There’s no question he’ll go into the Hall of Fame as a Tiger, and that’s good for the franchise.
One would think that in this day and age of advanced analytics, that GMs and ownership would be able comprehend elementary arithmetic.
28 years old + 10 year contract = 38 years old.
We’ve now seen Albert and Miggy at 38. Trout and Harper will be no different. Why? Because Father Time is Undefeated.
Except David Ortiz, Nelson Cruz…
But they both had help.
@kcmark you make a great point, in 2002 at 38 Bonds HR production fell by 27 HR, his BA did improve slightly (42 points) to .370, the best of his career, but that was probably due to an additional 13 AB in which he wasn’t walked the year prior. And the giants suffered for it, this obvious decline in production due to age is the major reason I believe they only made it to game 7 of the World Series. Just imagine how much further they could have gone if they had let Bonds go and used the money to get Julio Ramirez like the angels did!
Old guys rule, even in baseball!
The millions lining up on mobile is trippy
Maybe but they didn’t have modern analytics with a full team of bean counters helping them out, so that offsets the chemical argument somewhat if not totally.
And lose out on 72 Mil over the next to seasons including the buyout? He’s not stupid.
Albert: $72 mill will buy an awful lot of counterfeit birth certificates!
Yea, he can still play better than a lot of guys out there and make millions doing so…
bravesfan: Even just his *offensive* WAR has averaged a mere zero point two over the past…FIVE…seasons. To say that he’s a complete and total shell of his former self would be an understatement of understatements.
So he’ll play out his contract and retire. Did anyone expect different?
Well yeah, he could have tried to keep playing after his deal is up. I don’t think anyone expected him to retire before his deal is up, but I don’t think it’s absurd to think he’d try to plata past 40.
Lol
He has a perfectly average 100 OPS+ over the last five years. I don’t know, man, but two more years is probably your best case at this point.
Sad to see the way both Miggy and Pujols are going out…
Still better than Steve Carlton.
That was embarrassing. One of the first games i ever saw opening day1983. Him and seaver in pitchers duel in the twighlite of their careers
And Molina
I disagree. Guys like Tom Brady (and even Nelson Cruz) make it seem like any aging athlete can play at an elite level in their late 30s or 40s, but it’s actually super difficult.
For Miggy to be a roughly league average hitter in his age 38 season is really impressive. If he still loves playing (and getting paid insanely well for it), then I don’t see an issue with it.
He’s a negative WAR player right now. I don’t blame him for taking the money owed to him but he barely belongs on a MLB roster now and not getting better.
Stick your WAR AND ALL YOUR ANALYTICS WHERE THE SUN DON’T SHINE.
WINS LOSSES BATTING AVERAGE HOMERUNS RBIS AND RUNS SCORED. THOSE ARE THE STATS OF HALL OF FAMERS. ANALYTIC GEEKS RUIN SPORTS
Ok, Captain All-Caps, his traditional stats suck too.(And RBIs are a team stat. Don’t have to be a math nerd to understand that.)
Cosmo. I think your sniffing too much of the comets gas. Have you ever played any sport ?? And badminton and wiffleball doesnt count
I wouldn’t care how bad pujols looks if he sticks around long enough to make it to 700 home runs, cause that has a good look to it. One of only 4 to do so and he like Aaron and Ruth didn’t test positive for steriods to do so!
Thanks for the memories, Miggy! Just don’t stick around so long that you completely embarrass yourself.
Exactly
FLotG: “Miguel, take this script and go read it to the fake-journalists-with-access-credentials in the press room.” “My agent ordered me to tell you all that…some say that once the clinically-insane Tigers owners signed me to my asinine monster deal, I totally and completely quit trying. Others say that I was on steroids during my peak years. Still others theorize that I’m actually in my mid-40’s. I’m here to state for the record that none, some, or all of those things might not be true. ¡Muchas gracias!”
That’s great, when he gets released My men’s beer league softball team could use him for a couple years.
Go back in time nd recruit Babe Ruth, he loved drinking. Carlos Lee would sign up to as well as prince fielder
And why shouldn’t he? He’d be the best hitter on the A’s
wtf
Drugs.
Only the FDA approved ones that cause epidemics with Street drugs though right?
Apparently he doesnt know who Matt Olsen or Starling Marte is. I don’t know. Heroin is a hell of a drug.
Cabrera OPS’d 1.078 in 2013. His prime was disgustingly good, arguably the most feared hitter from 2010-2016, and one of my favorites to watch growing up. Hope he bounces back and finishes his career strong.
I thought he was also named on a certain list in 2013 that muddied him as a performance enhancing drug user? Alex Rodriquez trying his best to make yall forget to
No, actually, he wasn’t.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biogenesis_scandal
For your personal reference.
Maybe you can find out if you are actually right next time instead of being a little punk, raining on someones parade just because that’s how you get off.
You’re thinking of Melky Cabrera.
Another idiotic troll moron. He was never mentioned on any list. Go back to slurping popsicles
1600: Unfortunately the odds of him bouncing back to being even slightly feared or even slightly valuable are astronomical. They probably should have cut him three or four years ago and swallowed the big fat lesson pill. All he’s doing is wasting a roster spot.
I’m shocked, shocked to hear Miggy plans to play two more years, which coincidentally are the last two guaranteed years of his deal worth over $70M.
My faith in humanity restored.
lordd99: LOL
Love to see Detroit make a playoff run one of those two final years
Tigers played themselves with this one. His original contract ended in 2016 his last great season. At his age and Weight 8 years was far to many for a guy at tail end of prime. Thought pujols contract was bad but at least angels got 3/4 good seasons.
The late owner, Mike Illich, knew that it was a bad contract, but bequeathed Cabrera’s career (post Miami) to the city of Detroit. He’ll go into the Hall of Fame as a Tiger and will pretty much always be associated with the Tigers.
It was a gift. And, I thank him for it.
His swing has been all upper body for the past few years. Amazing the power he does generate at this point.
That degenerative knee has really forced the issue, as I’m sure you know. Especially not being able to push off. As you pointed out, just shows how strong his upper body is to be able to do that.
Money isn’t everything but 32 mil is close enough.
Not many are making that kind of money, especially at 40.
I can’t argue with that, but I also can’t imagine how humiliating it must be to hit cleanup as a HOF who can’t hit.
Lots of us enjoyed him when he was making relatively nothing with the Marlins, and more of us enjoyed him as a historic hitter when he reached the next level with the Tigers. So if he wants to play out the contract, who’s to tell him no? An incredible career no matter what.
Dave: The team should tell him no. Cut him a massive check, pat him on the head, and show him the door.
He’s actually having an ok year. Probably in the upper 60% of all hitters. Too bad the Tigers won’t compete for a couple years. Maybe they’ll surprise next year. A Verlander return and some other FA’s.
Since the middle of May, the Tigers have been surprisingly competitive. If they sign a few free agents–which seems to be the plan–I see them being competitive next year.
Hes is next year away from 3000 hits so no teadon for him not to come back
I could see the Tigers competing for a playoff spot in 2022 or 2023, especially if they’re able to sign some combination of Anthony Rizzo, Max Scherzer, Trevor Story or Justin Verlander this offseason.
It would be cool to see Cabrera in the postseason one more time.
A shortstop is a must. I think JV is a great fit, and not just a nostalgic suggestion. Can’t see Rizzo … unless he’s at a discount AND they plan on moving on from Miggy – cuz Tork will be up by May, and it won’t be to play 3B.
I would love to see Max & JV back with the Tigers, but it will be incredibly interesting to see just how much Chris Illitch is willing to spend. Will he flirt with or go over the luxury tax like his Dad, or will he be a little more conservative?
Chris: You want to roll the dice on not just one but two pushing-40 starting pitchers whose arms have been overloaded for many years? That’s probably a massive mistake.
I am glad Miggy is being realistic. He’s still a feared hitter but not anything close to what he was in his prime. The injuries have taken a major toll but that was not unexpected. What most people forget is when he had problems with alcohol. I don’t think many exactly realize how close he came to cutting his career short. He seems to have his alcoholism under control. I remember when he was going through the worst of it, costing the Tigers a division championship in 2009, he was assigned a mentor to be with him at all times. I often wonder if he still has one. I remember when they won one of their postseason series seeing him in the clubhouse separated from the team because they were celebrating with champagne and by himself drinking a bottle of water. He’s come a long way in that respect, possibly learned a life lesson and regained his ability to have fun with the game. Last couple of years we didn’t see that Miggy smile much and even when he was hitting.097 as recent as May, it was awful to watch. But now he’s celebrating reaching 500, has done things the greats of the game never accomplished and as a whole he’s one of the greatest right handed hitters in history. I was ecstatic when they acquired him from the Marlins and he’s given us Tiger fans so very many memories. When the only unanimous player to get in to the hall of fame was impressed with a homer hit off of him, all he could do is watch the flight of the ball and say “wow”, you know you’ve got one of the all time greats there. Good luck to Miggy for the next two seasons and hopefully he’ll hit some more memorable homers and clutch hits before he hangs it up.
As he says ” the right knee is really bad”, so obviously, the Tigers have some pretty p poor lawyers……
Huh? He has a bad knee. How would a lawyer help? A doctor,sure. Players can’t be taken to court because they got injured playing the game.
Of course he is planning on playing 2 more seasons, that is what is left on his contract minus vesting options. He knows the additional years will not vest, he isn’t getting MVP votes. He loves playing, no doubt. But he isn’t going to give up %60M+ and neither would any of us. Plus, most likely his child support payments from his second family are likely based on him earning that money.
He isn’t what he once was but still a joy to watch. But my hope is that next year ends up being his last. Tigers should just pay him the money anyways. Make him a special assistant to the GM. Tigers still have too many holes to be a true contender in 2022 and their best young talent is still in the minors. But 2023 there is a chance and to have a chance we’ll need a DH/1B more productive than Miggy has been the past two seasons.
Amazing what sobriety will do for you.
I hope this doesn’t end like Albert Pujols in Anaheim.
The Dodgers picked up what looked like the corpse of Albert Pujols. So who knows. 2 years is a long time but Miggy has looked a lot better than Albert did in an Angels uniform. So if he wanted to play for the minimum—he might just be able to.
Trade him to a contender his last year, so maybe he can make a WS trip as he wraps up his career.
Cabrera needs to get himself a cup of whatever Posey drank this year.
Kapler: Probably the same thing that Cano was drinking.
I see a lucrative 10 day contract with the sugar land skeeters or Long Island ducks in his future.
2 years gives him +600 2Bs +1900 RBIs +500 HRs and +.300 career BA…..a feat only accomplished by 1 other man in the history of baseball!!!!! Can anyone name that man?
Wild guess… Probably either Mays or Aaron. I think I’ll go with Aaron.
For what indie ball team
Two more years gives him a decent chance to put up first ballot Hall of Fame numbers.