Miguel Cabrera

About the Miguel Cabrera

Jose Miguel Cabrera Torresfor the Florida Marlins and Detroit Tigers. Debuting in 2003, he was a two-time American LeagueMost Valuable Playeraward winner, a four-time AL batting champion, and a 12-time MLB All-Star. Although he primarily played in left and right field before 2006, he spent the majority of his major league career at first and third base. He claimed the 17th MLB Triple Crown in 2012, the first to do so in 45 seasons. Cabrera is one of three players in MLB history to have a career batting average above .300, 500 home runs, and 3,000 hits, joining Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. Cabrera is regarded as one of the greatest hitters of all time.

At 16 years old, Cabrera was signed by Tigres de Aragua of the Venezuelan Winter League, where recorded his first hit as a professional in December 1999. Cabrera was signed in 1999 as an amateur free agent by the Florida Marlins, and progressed through their minor league system. He made his MLB debut in mid-2003 at the age of 20, and contributed to the Marlins’ World Series victory later that year. Over the next four seasons, Cabrera was a regular player for the Marlins before being traded to the Detroit Tigers before the 2008 season.

In 2012, Cabrera became the first player since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 to win the batting Triple Crown, leading the AL with a .330 batting average, 44 home runs, and 139 runs batted in (RBI), earning him the AL MVP award that year. In the first half of 2013, Cabrera was on pace to shatter his numbers from his prior Triple Crown season. He became the first player to ever reach 30 home runs and 90 RBIs before the all-star break and was on pace to bat .366 with 53 home runs and 167 RBIs at that time. However, injuries plagued much of the latter half of the season and both his performance and playing time were reduced as a result. Overall, Cabrera still improved on his previous year’s batting performance, including a career-high .348 batting average, and received his second consecutive AL MVP award.

Cabrera won four AL batting titles, including three in consecutive years (2011-2013), and batted over .300 in 11 different seasons. He hit 30 or more home runs in ten separate seasons and drove in over 100 runs in 12 separate seasons (including 11 consecutive seasons, 2004-2014). Cabrera is the all-time leader in career home runs and hits by a Venezuelan player, surpassing Andres Galarraga and Omar Vizquel respectively. He joined the 500 home run club in 2021 and the 3,000 hit club in 2022; he was the seventh player in MLB history to reach both milestones. Cabrera retired after the 2023 season and will continue working with the Tigers’ organization as a special assistant to the president of baseball operations.