LAKELAND, Fla. — Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch was talking with reporters Monday morning when he mentioned introducing Miguel Cabrera during his team’s daily meeting.
Then Hinch caught himself.
“He needs no introduction,” Hinch said.
To put it more accurately, Hinch recognized Cabrera in front of a room full of players. He did the same on Monday for Hall of Fame managers Jim Leyland and Alan Trammell.
That kind of connective tissue — the legends who still show up spring after spring — is important for a franchise. It fuels the mythos this game perpetuates. It creates a feeling of family for an organization, as past generations look after the present.
Cabrera, who is now more than two years into retirement, remains a special advisor to the Tigers’ president of baseball operations, Scott Harris. Cabrera’s involvement these days is far from hands-on. Still, whenever Miggy shows up, he still captivates attention.
“Miggy is full of energy,” Hinch said.
Cabrera was down on the field at Joker Marchant Stadium on Monday, working with first basemen, laughing with coaches, even razzing a group of reporters.
For years, people around the Tigers wondered what retirement would look like for someone like Cabrera, a man with childlike qualities, both good and bad, who had known little else except Major League Baseball when he debuted at age 20.
These days, Cabrera looks healthy and happy. Retirement, he said, was not that hard an adjustment. He spent more than 21 springs preparing for long seasons. By the end, his knees ached and his power was diminished.
“In my mind, I understand I played a lot,” Cabrera said. “The last five years, I played through a lot of injuries. It was no fun.”
Cabrera still has a foot in the game. In addition to his role with the Tigers, Cabrera will be the hitting coach for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. Victor Martinez, another former Tiger, will serve as the team’s assistant manager.
“I think it’s going to be a great experience for me,” Cabrera said. “I’m excited. I hope I can do my best to help the hitters and try to win enough games to go to the second round.”
Detroit Tigers special assistant Miguel Cabrera talks to reporters at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida. (Evan Petzold/USA Today Network)
This spring, more than ever, it’s strange to see Cabrera wandering around in a coaching role rather than taking hacks in the cage. That’s because Justin Verlander — alongside Cabrera as the most popular player from the Tigers’ golden years under Leyland — is back with the franchise at age 43. Cabrera was excited to hear Verlander was returning. His phone was also blowing up with calls and texts.
“I told people, ‘I want to come back too,’” he joked.
Cabrera and Verlander share mutual respect from their days together. The hitter greeted the pitcher with a hug on the spring training backfields. Cabrera watched Verlander throw a live session from behind the fence Monday. Jokes aside, he expressed no desire to step back in the box to face his old teammate.
“It’s unbelievable, you know what I mean?” Cabrera said of Verlander’s return. “You have to appreciate his ethic because you see he’s one of these guys who really works hard. Seeing him in Detroit again is awesome. Especially with the team we have, it’s awesome.”
Cabrera has enjoyed watching the Tigers over the past couple of seasons, even if mostly from afar. He was still playing when he predicted great contributions from the likes of Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson. He long praised the organization’s young pitchers. One of them, Tarik Skubal, has blossomed into arguably the game’s best.
“I don’t want to face him,” Cabrera said. “I don’t want to face any pitcher in the big leagues right now.”
Here at camp, Cabrea has knowledge to share. He’s paid special attention to young players of Venezuelan descent such as Eduardo Valencia and José Briceño. He half-jokingly tried to recruit them to Team Venezuela, and spent part of his morning working one-on-one with Briceño at first base while coach Joey Cora hit grounders.
“He has a big presence,” Hinch said. “Fortunately for those guys, he’s very approachable and would always take time to go down to the minors and connect with all of our players.”
Cabrera, too, is an embodiment of a different time. He was a player who thrived on feel and natural ability. In some ways, the game always came easily, which could make it difficult to relate to younger players who are struggling. In the information age, however, Cabrera wants to remind prospects about other aspects of the game. Sometimes keeping it simple can help everybody.
“It’s the approach, it’s slowing the game down,” Cabrera said. “This game, it’s not physical. It’s a mental game. You got to slow down your mind, not try and do too much … Right now, there’s a lot of numbers. You can focus on all that stuff before the game, yes. But when you’re in the game, worry about playing the game. Play the game right and play hard.”
As he watches players such as Greene move into the next phase of their careers, he wants to emphasize the importance of knowing situations and playing to win. Detroit is a tough place to hit home runs, as Cabrera knows well. They moved the fences in slightly before Cabrera’s final season, something he jokes about now.
“They didn’t really move them in,” he said, laughing. “That’s eyewash.”
Cabrera was upbeat but hardly turned reflective or wistful. He said that while there are times he misses playing, he still gets plenty of adrenaline from watching his son, Christopher, play baseball and his daughter, Isabella, play volleyball.
Christopher is in eighth grade, growing into a talented player in his own right. He looks and swings much like a young Miggy.
“I feel nervous,” Cabrera said of watching his children. “I can’t control the games. It’s like, ‘Ahh, I’m anxious.’ But it’s fun.”
Cabrera will be eligible for Hall of Fame induction on the 2029 ballot. He should get in on the first try. Chances are, the Tigers will retire his number. One day, he could even have a statue at Comerica Park.
Cabrera, though, says he doesn’t want to think ahead to that just yet.
“It makes me anxious,” he said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen. I got to wait. Just wait for that year.”
Right now, he’s enjoying the familiar rhythms of spring and looking forward to the WBC. He says he sees a lot of wins in the Tigers’ future. Certainly a playoff appearance, maybe even a World Series run, is coming.
For old time’s sake, you could even say he’s in the best shape of his life.