I‘m stunned by how much attention this has gotten, but there has been speculation on ESPN that the Tigers will have to look to trade Miguel Cabrera. It started with speculation mentioned by someone on ESPN (I’ve heard it attributed to Gammons/Olney/Kurkjian but I don’t know who actually said it) that if the Tigers are out of contention economic forces would make it necessary to trade Cabrera. Boston was the destination that had been mentioned. Somehow this speculation turned into a rumor. Well, now Dombrowski has come out and said what most in Detroit had been thinking, that the rumors are absurd.
First of all, the Tigers are contending at the moment. And all the experts agree that the Central is going to be a tight division. So even knowing very little there is a good chance that every team in the Central will be contending.
Second, Cabrera isn’t just another superstar. He’s a cornerstone type player who is on a Hall of Fame career trajectory and just entering his prime years. Mike Ilitch and the Tigers can afford to pay him or they wouldn’t have inked him to the contract in the first place.
Third, and I may be reading something into this that isn’t really there, but just because Boston or New York want a player doesn’t mean they will get them.
Beck’s Blog: Dombrowski: Cabrera rumors “absurd”
Simmons has been speculating on it all summer, then Gammons threw it out on Mike & Mike a week or two ago. Two big Boston homers spouting nonsense as they watch their boy Ortiz rock a sub-Mendoza BA.
If the Tigers do dump salary, there are many more likely candidates than Cabrera.
it’s sad this has gotten so much traction since there is not one shred of evidence to back it up. life in the big city, I suppose.
This has no chance of happening. If we start struggling very badly, Polanco could be dealt at the deadline and Ordonez and Guillen would also be candidates to be traded at some point. But Cabrera will be a Tiger for the duration of his contract (barring injury, of course).
As Bullettooth mentioned, you can give Bill Simmons credit for creating smoke where there’s no apparent fire. For months, he’s been saying (half-jokingly) that the Tigers are going to be hemorrhaging money (bad economy and several bad contracts combined with what he thinks is a bad team) and will therefore be forced to shed salary. His logic for mentioning Cabrera is that among the well-paid Tigers, Guillen, Ordonez, N-Rob, Willis, and Bondo are all overpaid, so Cabrera is the only one with value. It was purely speculation on Simmons’ part, but the rumor began to gain some legitimacy when Peter Gammons mentioned it.
Hey Zack,
Did you used to live on Strathdale?
Oh yea and this isn’t happening. I mean theoretically it could if we lost maybe 100+ games for several seasons running. Or if Tigers could fly…
Usually the prevailing thought is you don’t trade 26 year old hitting studs who might very well be a Hall resident in 25 years.
Guy has a similarity score to Junior, Pujols, Mantle, Aaron, Cepeda, Kaline, Frank Robinson. These guys aren’t Cobb ;), but they don’t fall off trees either. The only other way he could possibly, but not probably, be dealt by DD and co. is if Boston or NY (Yanks or Mets) offered the Tigers something better that they couldn’t refuse – ie Ryan Braun AND Zack Greinke AND Jake Peavy… Problem is I don’t see that happening either. Some team would have to have crazy pitching depth AND be stupid to do that. In sum, refer back to my first sentence.
I do think though that this is a tired and true truth
IF we don’t win
Then our team-salary will drop
Season ticket sales have dropped dramatically from last year. If income drops so must expenditure, or at least that should work in theory 😉
Let’s start a rumor that the disappointing Red Sox (3rd place?) are going to have to dump Beckett’s salary.
These rumors about Cabrera started almost immediately after he was traded to the Tigers- first it was how could they possibly afford to sign him, and now its how can they possibly afford to keep him. I get the feeling that according to the national media, there are really only 3 teams out there that should have that type of player on their team- the Yankees, Red Sox and Mets. Every other team according to the media, except for maybe the Cubs, should in no way be able to afford a player of Cabrera’s caliber. It gets tiring to hear after a while.
Everyone above is right also- you get the Boston homers that work for ESPN going into panick mode because they see that Ortiz was mostly a product of hitting in front of Manny, and they now see that the middle of that lineup has no pop whatsoever, which leaves the Red Sox hopes pegged to a suspect rotation that already has major injury concerns early in the year. My eternal hope for this year, other than the Tigers winning the Central, is for either the Blue Jays or Rays to win that division.
Chauncy yes yes and YES. I’d add the Dodgers to that list.
I think the Yankees are going to be very strong this year and get on a tear when Arod returns. And CC/Wang/Tex can’t suck forever, and Joba is a good pitcher. The funniest thing is the Yankees’ fans AT LEAST KNOW that they are strong and have a large payroll. That is better than the JUST AS ANNOYING Boston fans, or Mets fans or Cub fans. They feel that they aren’t the Yanks, but they basically are, except w/o the WS rings. That sense of entitlement is annoying as heck.
WHERE ARE THE PUJOLS TRADE RUMORS?!
The Cabrera trade rumors are just that. Logically it makes no sense to trade him due to “the economy”. The economy is bad for everyone, so what team is going to want to take on that contract. The Tigers would likely have to pay a substantial portion of it which isn’t exactly a smart move. After this season some cash is coming off of the books anyway, with Sheffield’s deal finally expired. If I’m not mistaken, Polanco will also become a free agent. That’s close to $20 million in salary. In the unlikely event that the Tigers are out of it at the deadline and become sellers, the most likely candidate to get moved is Ordonez. If Inge is still maintaining his early season productivity (unlikely), they might actually find a taker on him too.
Chauncey, in regards to the Red Sox, I don’t think you have a clue what you’re talking about. Saying Ortiz was a product of hitting in front of Manny is ridiculous. The reason he’s not hitting anymore is because of injuries, pure and simple. He’s still getting pitches to hit, he’s simply not hitting them like he used to.
To say that the middle of the lineup “has no pop whatsover” is pretty dumb too. Youkilis hits cleanup and is tearing the cover off the ball.
And finally, a “suspect rotation”? Seriously? A rotation of Beckett, Lester and Dice-K? With the potential emergence of Masterson and/or Bucholtz? I wish the Tigers could have such a suspect rotation!
You can hate the Red Sox, that’s fine. But you have no credibility when you spout such a load of nonsense.
u are all crazy if u think the tigers will dumpcabbie i add mitt they do some dumb things but i dont think that will be one