Some might not remember, but Tigers legend and future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera played five seasons with the Marlins before being dealt to Detroit. He won a World Series ring in 2003 as a 20-year-old rookie and was a four-time All-Star with the Marlins.
And, apparently, Miami is still "home" for Cabrera. Former Marlins executive and current MLB analyst for CBS Sports HQ David Samson says as much in our latest Miguel Cabrera discussion about him being disgruntled and feeling underappreciated in Detroit, which you can see in the video above.
"What I feel badly about is that he's stuck in Detroit. He always wanted to come back to Miami," Samson said. "Every time I'd see him, over the years, at All-Star Games, [he would say] 'hey, I'm ready to come home.' And we just didn't have the payroll capacity."
Well that's a juicy nugget, no?
The Marlins aren't exactly a winning situation right now, but neither are the Tigers. They are in a rebuild that's going to take a few years while Cabrera is in his age-35 season. As mentioned, he sounds like he's a bit fed up with the situation. Also, let's face it, where would a native Venezuelan rather be if all things are equal: Detroit or Miami? That seems an easy choice for nearly any of us.
The problem, of course, is what Samson mentioned. The Marlins' new ownership group was determined this offseason to slash payroll and would likely continue to have that desire this season. Cabrera is making $30 million this season and has five years and $154 million left on his deal after this season. Unless the Tigers agree to eat the overwhelming majority of that deal -- and why would they do that in order to help the Marlins? -- Cabrera is stuck in Detroit until he retires.
Cabrera's bat has returned this season. He's hitting .323/.407/.516 (147 OPS+) through 26 games, but he's currently on the disabled list and appears ready to take his sweet ol' time coming back, given his disgruntled state.
