Report: Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera has no plans to retire after all

The 39-year-old Detroit Tigers’ DH intends to return for one final season

Yesterday, Detroit Tigers‘ designated hitter Miguel Cabrera made waves by suggesting that he hadn’t decided whether he would return in 2023, leading some people to speculate that he might retire at the end of this season. Today, however, Cabrera cleared the air on the issue.

Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports that Miguel Cabrera has confirmed that he plans on finishing out his contract and playing in 2023. The chronic knee issue that Miggy has is what promoted yesterday’s comments. It sounds like his knee has been really bothering him lately. A.J. Hinch has said the plan for him is to play every other day on the team’s current homestand and go from there.

Miggy just hasn’t looked the same since the All-Star break. Over the last 21 games, he’s slashing just .125/.220/.194 with a .414 OPS. His batting average was well over .300 just last month, but it has dropped all the way to .268. He can’t use his lower half anymore, which explains why he has become a singles hitter.

Cabrera is owed $32 million next season, so that has to be huge factor in his decision to play through the pain. There are other factors that could have come in to his decision, like a potential new-GM that could just decide to cut him loose or the pain could just become too much for him.

On the bright side, this gives both the Detroit Tigers and the league the chance to give Miggy a proper retirement tour., which is something Tigers fans would love to see, whether they want to admit it or not. Miggy was a generational talent in his prime, and has been through so much with the team. He deserves the chance to go out like a champ.