Report: Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera will return in 2023

The Detroit Tigers’ future hall-of-famer will be back for one more season

Ever since the All-Star break, more and more question marks have risen about Miguel Cabrera’s future with the Detroit Tigers. Would he come back for one last ride? Would he retire? Or would the Tigers buy him out of his contract?

Well on Saturday, we officially got that answer. A.J. Hinch confirmed Scott Harris’ quote from an interview with Mitch Albom on Friday that Miguel Cabrera would be returning for the 2023 season. Chris McCosky of The Detroit News was the first to break the news.

Miggy hasn’t been the same hitter he was in the first half of the season. He has just a .460 OPS in the second half compared to a .670 OPS in the second half. His knees and biceps have been giving him fits.

This has become a controversial issue amongst Tigers fans. Some say they can’t afford to keep him on the roster anymore, saying his production and age no longer justify his spot, which is a fair argument. Paying a player $32 million to produce a .615 OPS with a -1.1 bWAR isn’t exactly smart spending.

Others argue that he is a legend and should be able to go out on his own terms, which is also a fair argument. He was the best hitter of his generation in his prime. He’s hit both his 500th home run and his 3,000th hit in a Detroit Tigers uniform. He is truly one of the best to ever do it.

The main reason he’s sticking around is the aforementioned $32 million he’s owed next year. Cabrera isn’t walking away from that kind of money, and the Tigers aren’t going to eat such an exorbitant amount of cash.

But for now, it looks like the Miggy supporters are going to get their wish. He’ll be around for the 2023 season. Who knows, maybe there’s something the organization will think of to make him more productive.