Detroit Tigers

Detroit Tigers first baseman/designated hitter Miguel Cabrera and his wife, Rosangel, have donated $250,000 to Detroit-area children for COVID-19 relief. 

Per Jason Beck of MLB.com, $140,000 will go towards the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Michigan, Detroit Police Athletic League and Brilliant Detroit.

Another $50,000 each will go to the Detroit Public Schools Community District and Detroit Public Schools Foundation.

The final $10,000 is earmarked for G1 Impact's 100,000 Masks for Detroit Families and Children Initiative.

Cabrera, who has been with the Tigers since 2008, explained to Beck how much the city of Detroit means to him and his family.

"We always feel like Detroit is a part of our family," he said. "When a city has done so much for me and my family, when we have a chance to give back to the community, especially during this hard event, we try to do that. It's not just about playing baseball and making money. It's about being part of the community."

On that note, Beck outlined Miguel and Rosangel Cabrera's active charity work even prior to the $250,000 donation:

"Miguel and Rosangel have played an active role in supporting youth causes over the past several years, helping renovate baseball fields in Detroit while providing assistance to the Detroit Police Athletic League (PAL), and establishing a permanent college scholarship endowment for students in southeast Michigan. With the pandemic creating a wide-ranging crisis in the city, the Cabreras broadened their charitable reach, and partnered with the Detroit Tigers Foundation, an affiliate of Ilitch Charities, to identify the greatest needs in Detroit."

Cabrera's contributions will help an area that has been significantly impacted by COVID-19.

Per Michigan.gov, Wayne County (the county in which Detroit is located) has had over 8,900 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Over 1,000 people have died.

According to Keith Lang of the Detroit News, Michigan's unemployment rate has risen to 22.7 percent. Unemployment claims reached an all-time high of 1,048,000 in April.

Cabrera's donation comes in partnership with the Detroit Tigers Foundation.

Former Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Armando Galarraga retired the first 26 Cleveland Indians he faced on June 2, 2010, but he lost his chance at perfection after first-base umpire Jim Joyce erroneously called Tribe shortstop Jason Donald safe on an infield ground ball. 

Ten years later, The Athletic's Cody Stavenhagen (h/t Bill Baer of HardBall Talk) caught up with Joyce and Galarraga, and the pitcher noted that he hoped MLB would recognize his effort as a perfect game in his lifetime.

"Why not? Why wait for so long? I don't want to die, and then they'll be like, 'You know what, he threw a perfect game.'"

Galarraga retired the next batter and went into the books as throwing a complete-game shutout and one-hitter.

Galarraga was unlucky that instant replay could not be utilized—MLB adopted the system in 2014. Had instant replay been allowed in 2010, Galarraga would have authored just the 21st perfect game in MLB history.

Every pitcher who has thrown a perfect game—from superstars such as the Los Angeles Dodgers' Sandy Koufax to the handful of journeyman pitchers who had everything working on one night—gets their name etched in the sport's storied history.

Galarraga was denied that chance, but he seems intent on rectifying that.

"I was like, what can I do to have a better finish to the story?" Galarraga said. "How can Major League Baseball give me the perfect game? Because it was perfect, right?"

Per Stavenhagan, then-commissioner Bud Selig and MLB considered doing so but decided against it.

Galarraga notably has the backing of Joyce on this endeavor. 

"I agree with him," Joyce said. "I agree. Because he did it."

If the out call was made, Galarraga would have become the third pitcher to throw a perfect game in less than a month. The Oakland Athletics' Dallas Braden and the Philadelphia Phillies' Roy Holladay both did so in May 2010.

No one has thrown a perfect game since the Seattle Mariners' Felix Hernandez in 2012.

MLB Hall of Famer Al Kaline died Monday afternoon in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, according to John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press. He was 85. 

Lowe wrote, "John Morad, a close friend of the family, confirmed the news to the Free Press after speaking with Kaline's youngest son, Mike."

Kaline spent his entire 22-year career (1953-74) with the Detroit Tigers, hitting .297 with 399 homers, 1,582 RBI, 1,622 runs, 3,007 hits and a career .855 OPS. He was an 18-time All-Star, 10-time Gold Glove winner, won the 1955 battling title and a World Series title in 1968.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980.

MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark issued a statement on Kaline:

Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark issued the following statement on the passing of Al Kaline:https://t.co/faL1TCIy6k pic.twitter.com/VIPfkRGqmW

— MLBPA Communications (@MLBPA_News) April 6, 2020

A number of current and former players paid tribute to the legendary outfielder and first baseman after learning of his death:

Such a kind and generous man who meant so much to so many. I hope you knew how much I enjoyed our conversations about baseball, life, or just giving each other a hard time. I am honored to have been able to call you my friend for all these years. R.I.P. Mr Tiger, Al Kaline.

— Justin Verlander (@JustinVerlander) April 6, 2020

https://twitter.com/ABREG_1/status/1247253486116450307

Sad to hear we’ve lost a beloved member of our HOF family one of the nicest and sincere I’ve ever met Al Kaline you will be dearly missed my friend thoughts and prayers go out Louise and family RIP Al 🙏

— Wade Boggs (@ChickenMan3010) April 6, 2020

Tony Clark, who played the first seven seasons of his career with the Tigers and was an All-Star with Detroit, released the following statement on the passing of Al Kaline: pic.twitter.com/vYULuBRFkX

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) April 6, 2020

https://twitter.com/29alltime/status/1247260401986940930

Mr Kaline truly is one of the kindest most welcoming ppl Ive ever met. From shaking his hand the 1st day I was a tiger to seeing him every single Sunday at the park, he was always genuine. Greeting every player with kindness and a listening ear. I’m going to miss you Mr Tiger.

— Matthew Boyd (@mattboyd48) April 6, 2020

Rest In Peace to the legendary Al Kaline. Your stories & advice brought a smile to everybody’s face on a daily basis. You will be truly missed, and never forgotten. #MrTiger pic.twitter.com/dVnrrX67LG

— Grayson Greiner (@ggreiner21) April 6, 2020

Al Kaline was one of the best people and players of all time! I always enjoyed our conversations and will forever cherish those! #RIPMrTiger

— Jake Rogers (@_JROG_) April 6, 2020

https://twitter.com/CMo_27/status/1247259654306086912

"There have been a lot of great defensive players," fellow Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson once said of Kaline, per Joe Posnanski of The Athletic. "The fella who could do everything is Al Kaline."

Robinson was a great fan of Kaline.

"When you talk about all-around ballplayers, I'd say Kaline is the best I ever played against. And he's a super nice guy, too," he said in Kaline's last season, per Lowe. "There aren't too many guys who are good ballplayers and nice guys, too. Your attitude determines how good you're going to be—in life as well as in baseball. He's got a great attitude."

After his playing career, Kaline spent time as an announcer and team consultant, and he was often around the team at spring training and other events. 

"To this day,  I can't believe the life I've had," Kaline said on his 80th birthday, per ESPN. "I wanted to be a baseball player—and do the one thing I was good at. Even now, I love it so much."

The Detroit Tigers have added some much-needed help to their infield by agreeing to deals with Jonathan Schoop and C.J. Cron. 

The team officially announced both signings on Saturday.

Per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, Schoop's agreement with the Tigers will be worth $6.1 million for one year and includes performance bonuses. 

Cron's one-year deal is also worth $6.1 million, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. 

Schoop will be a significant upgrade for the Tigers at second base. The 2017 All-Star hit .256/.304/.473 with 23 homers in 121 games for the Minnesota Twins last season. Gordon Beckham, Detroit's primary second baseman in 2019, had a .215/.271/.372 slash line. 

Cron can play first base and also gives the Tigers insurance at designated hitter if Miguel Cabrera continues to battle injuries. The 29-year-old has hit 55 homers combined over the past two seasons and had a .253/.311/.469 slash line with the Minnesota Twins in 2019.

The Tigers remain deep in rebuilding mode coming off a 47-114 record in 2019, but they are also a franchise that still needs to have players on the roster that can get them through next season as they start to integrate more prospects into MLB. 

By giving Schoop and Cron one year deals, Detroit has also given itself two potential trade chips that it might be able to flip during the season for prospects who can help the organization when its next contention window opens.

The Detroit Tigers are reportedly interested in former Chicago Cubs shortstop Addison Russell.

Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported the news Thursday, noting multiple teams are interested in the 25-year-old.  

This comes after the Cubs announced they non-tendered Russell on Monday and decided not to offer him a contract for the 2020 season.

Any signing of Russell is going to make headlines for more than just baseball reasons since he was suspended 40 games at the end of the 2018 season and the beginning of the 2019 season for violating Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy.

His ex-wife, Melisa Reidy, detailed allegations of Russell's physical, emotional and verbal abuse on her personal blog prior to the suspension.

The Cubs also sent him to the minor leagues last season after he admitted he was somewhat unfamiliar with the team's signs in his fifth season with the club.

From a baseball perspective, Russell is still a young player with plenty of upside. It wasn't long ago he finished the 2016 season with 21 home runs and 95 RBI. He also helped Chicago break its 108-year World Series drought with two critical home runs in the National League Championship Series win over the Los Angeles Dodgers and a grand slam in Game 6 of the Fall Classic against the Cleveland Indians.

Yet he saw his wins above replacement totals drop from 2.6 in 2015 and 3.3 in 2016 to 1.5 in 2017, 1.4 in 2018 and 0.5 in 2019, per FanGraphs.

Detroit is in rebuilding mode after finishing with a 47-114 record last year. It could take a flier on Russell and hope the cliche change of scenery helps him rediscover his old production.

There's a faint silver lining in Detroit.   

By losing 5-1 to the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night, the Detroit Tigers secured the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 MLB draft.

The Tigers are a league-worst 46-111. With five games left to play, their maximum possible win total is 51, which is below MLB's second-worst 52-106 Baltimore Orioles.

This season is the club's third sub-.500 campaign in a row, but the Tigers haven't owned the league's worst record since 2003 when they finished 43-119. That team set the record for most losses by an American League squad and came without one defeat of tying the 1962 New York Mets for the most single-season losses since integration (h/t CBS Sports).

Their reward? Justin Verlander, and we all know how that turned out.

However, the Tigers don't have to go as far back to remember the last time they owned the top overall pick. In 2018, they took right-handed pitcher Casey Mize out of Auburn. 

"Unlike the 2018 Draft in which the Tigers drafted Casey Mize, next year's Draft has the potential for an elite hitter to go first," MLB.com's Jason Beck wrote. "By most accounts, Arizona State first baseman Spencer Torkelson has the chance to be a slugging star. And though it's rare to see a first baseman drafted first overall, Al Avila was part of the Marlins scouting department that last did it, drafting high-school slugger Adrian Gonzalez in 2000."

To Beck's point, the Tigers have scored the fewest runs in the league (569). Additionally, Miguel Cabrera made the shift to primarily playing as a designated hitter this season.

With Cabrera as one of only three remaining members of the 2014 Tigers (Buck Farmer, Drew VerHagen), the last group to make the postseason, it's time to usher a new era into Detroit.

Minor league catcher Chace Numata, who spent most of the 2019 season with the Detroit Tigers' Double-A affiliate, died Monday, three days after being involved in a skateboarding accident. 

The Tigers released a statement confirming his death:

Detroit Tigers statement regarding the passing of Chace Numata: pic.twitter.com/H6TCAQO1S8

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 2, 2019

Police in Erie, Pennsylvania, received a report of an injured man in downtown around 2:15 a.m. Friday and discovered Numata, 27, unconscious and bleeding from his head in the road, according to the Detroit Free Press' Kirkland Crawford, Joe Guillen and Jeff Seidel.

Erie police Sgt. David Stucke told reporters Monday that surveillance footage from the area showed Numata falling off a motorized skateboard.

"It appears he just fell on the skateboard and landed headfirst on the ground," Stucke said. "It appears he was unconscious as soon as he fell. He was knocked out."

Numata made 71 appearances for the Erie SeaWolves, batting .239 with four home runs and 26 RBI. He also played six games for the Toledo Mud Hens, the Tigers' Triple-A affiliate.

SeaWolves hitting coach Brian Harper spoke highly of Numata's impact in the clubhouse over the year: "If you took a poll of the guys, who is your favorite teammate, it would be Chace Numata, 25-0. If you took a poll of the staff, it would be 8-0 Chace Numata."

Derrell Coleman II, a former clubhouse attendant with the Detroit Tigers, filed a lawsuit Thursday that alleged "a culture of racism was tolerated by the upper echelons of management as African American employees were treated differently than their similarly situated white counterparts."

Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press provided details of the lawsuit, which was filed in Michigan's Wayne County Third Circuit Court. Coleman, an African American who worked for the club in 2017 and 2018, previously said former Tigers pitching coach Chris Bosio had made "discriminatory remarks" toward him.

Detroit announced Bosio was fired in June 2018 after an investigation into Coleman's initial allegation, which stated the former coach called him a "monkey":

"Effective immediately, the Detroit Tigers have terminated the contract of pitching coach Chris Bosio for his insensitive comments that violated club policy and his uniform employee contract. The organization holds all of our personnel to the highest standards of personal conduct both on and off the field. We have zero tolerance for this type of behavior. The club will have no further comment on this matter."

Coleman said the club tried to get him to sign an "affidavit in support of the organization" before his departure. The Tigers released a statement to the Detroit Free Press through a spokesperson about the lawsuit:

"When this allegation was first brought to the attention of club management, we took swift and immediate action. We strongly refute the allegations against our organization made in Thursday's filing. We hold all of our personnel to the highest standards of personal conduct both on and off the field, and we have a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate behavior and workplace harassment."

Coleman alleged multiple team officials, including assistant general manager David Chadd, promised him career opportunities within the MLB franchise but didn't follow through, per Fenech. He was informed in January the team was "going in a different direction."

The 22-year-old also said in the lawsuit he believes the Tigers "took advantage" of the fact that he suffers from Asperger's Syndrome.

Coleman is seeking over $25,000 in damages.

Meanwhile, Bosio told Bob Nightengale of USA Today following his dismissal that he planned to hire an attorney to explore a wrongful termination lawsuit and denied using "monkey" in a "racial and disparaging context," saying it was directed toward white pitcher Daniel Stumpf.

No update has been provided on whether Bosio pursued legal action.

Nick Castellanos has spent his entire seven-year major league career with the Detroit Tigers, but he wishes he could play more games away from Comerica Park. 

"This park is a joke," the right fielder said Sunday, per Chris McCosky of the Detroit News. "It's to the point where how are we going to be compared to the rest of the people in the league in terms of power numbers, OPS, slugging and all that stuff when we got a yard out here that's 420 feet straight across center field?"

The 27-year-old has seen the cavernous field cut into his own numbers this season while seeing long fly balls either turn into outs or fall short of the wall.

While Castellanos leads the league with 34 doubles on the year, he only has 11 home runs. Eight of those homers have come on the road in 2019, while his .922 road OPS is much better than the .720 mark at home.

Overall in his career, only 44 of his 104 career home runs have come at home.

It's no surprise he is lobbying for the organization to bring the fences in to make it more fair for the hitters.

"I mean, they can move in center and right-center field," Castellanos said. "There's no reason I hit a ball 434 feet off (Nationals right-hander) Anibal Sanchez and it goes in the first row. That shouldn't happen. But, I'm not in charge of that, either."

The long shot off Sanchez came in June but he is apparently still upset about it.

Despite the personal disappointment with the stadium, the numbers indicate Comerica Park isn't too much worse than others around the league.

According to ESPN, the Tigers home stadium ranks 17th in home run rate, putting it slightly below average. Baseball Reference lists the one-year park factor at 104, meaning it actually favors the batters (100 is league average and anything below favors the pitchers).

Detroit could still choose to adjust the dimensions, but it's likely not egregious enough to be a real concern.

Save for one inconvenient truth, the Detroit Tigers' rebuild is progressing well.

Events such as trades of Justin Verlander, J.D. Martinez and Justin Upton in 2017 and the drafting of Casey Mize in 2018 have helped transform the club's farm system from one of Major League Baseball's worst into one of its best.

Further trades of Nicholas Castellanos, Shane Greene and possibly Matthew Boyd ahead of this year's July 31 deadline should outfit Detroit's system with even more talent. And after 2020, there will be only one big-money contract left on the club's books.

But therein lies said inconvenient truth: Miguel Cabrera isn't going anywhere.

Or so it would seem safe to assume. While nobody from the Tigers—who are on track to follow 98-loss seasons in 2017 and 2018 with 111 losses this year—is insisting that Cabrera is staying put, that there hasn't even been speculation to the contrary reflects where the 11-time All-Star and two-time American League MVP's trade value is.

After playing in only 168 games over the last two seasons because of injuries, the 36-year-old has at least been "healthy" enough to play in 88 games in 2019. Those quotations are necessary, however, because he's playing through a chronic knee condition that has effectively ended his career as a first baseman.

Cabrera is strictly a designated "hitter" now. But once again, quotations are necessary because he's working on a career-low .718 OPS with only five homers.

Cabrera's .283 batting average and .346 on-base percentage confirm that he still at least has the fundamentals of an all-time great knack for hitting. He's also been clutch with a .438 average with runners in scoring position.

Trouble is, he just can't hit for power anymore.

The right-handed swinger's fly balls are lacking in exit velocity (88.6 mph) and frequency to his pull side. Factor in his utter lack of speed to leg out doubles and triples, and it's no accident that his .089 ISO (isolated power) is fourth-worst among qualified hitters.

It's going to take some time for Cabrera to hit the 30 homers he needs to join the hallowed 500 home run club. And it's a good thing he already boasts enough career wins above replacement to qualify as a Hall of Fame-caliber first baseman, because he's probably only going backward in that category.

Meanwhile, Cabrera isn't getting any cheaper. At the outset of 2019, the eight-year, $248 million contract extension he signed in March 2014 still had five years and $154 million remaining on it.

The only hypothetical situation in which the Tigers can trade Cabrera involves them swallowing a huge portion of his remaining contract and getting little or nothing of value back in return. If the choice is between that and simply continuing to pay the man, the latter might be the better option.

Of course, none of this is Cabrera's fault. He hit all the right notes in defense of both himself and other big-money players to Bob Nightengale of USA Today in March:

"I don't know why people get mad at us. They don't like it when we get money. Why weren't people mad the first five years when I wasn't getting paid?

"People can say I'm not worth this contract. They can say whatever they want, really. But they're not going to hurt my feelings.

"I'm not going to apologize. Why should anyone be sorry? I don't see any teams losing money. They all have it."

Indeed, all Cabrera is guilty of is being human.

First, in taking a huge sum of money that was offered. Second, in succumbing to the effects of his age and his odometer, which has racked up 2,407 regular and postseason games (he's right to feel unappreciated about that, too) since he debuted with the Florida Marlins in 2003. Third, in continuing to cash his checks anyway because, well, why wouldn't he?

It's fair enough if Cabrera considers his current salary to be back pay for what he did in his prime. He averaged a .976 OPS and 35 homers per year between 2004 and 2013. Of those seasons, the last two netted him AL MVPs by way of the first Triple Crown season since 1967 and an even better season (see here, here and here) a year later.

Yet as brilliant as Cabrera's 2013 season was, the back end of it was marred by a groin tear which eventually required surgery. Given that he was already on the wrong side of 30, it didn't take a monumental leap of logic to conclude that probably wouldn't be his last serious health issue.

To boot, pressure on the Tigers—specifically former general manager Dave Dombrowski and late owner Mike Ilitch—to lock Cabrera up was virtually nonexistent. He was already signed to a $153.3 million contract that had two years and $44 million left on it. The deal they signed him to in 2014 wouldn't officially begin in 2016.

The Tigers at least got a vintage season (.956 OPS and 38 homers) out of Cabrera that year. His $248 million deal has otherwise played out as disappointingly as any skeptic could have imagined, and Detroit's contention window hasn't survived in spite of it.

After going at least as far as the American League Championship Series in 2011, 2012 (when they went to the World Series) and 2013, the Tigers won only 90 games and got swept out of the American League Division Series in 2014. Then came a 2015 season marked by 87 losses and Dombrowski's ouster, followed by a modest recovery to 86 wins in 2016.

And then, finally, came 2017. The combination of Ilitch's death and poor returns from an aging and expensive roster gave GM Al Avila little choice but to finally pivot to a rebuild.

The Tigers might have begun rebuilding earlier with a deal of none other than Cabrera. According to Jon Morosi of MLB.com, at least one team was interested in him after 2016:

#Astros will pursue Miguel Cabrera or Edwin Encarnacion. Payroll increase is coming. They have only two players signed beyond 2017. @MLB

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 9, 2016

It's hard not to wonder about how the Tigers trading Cabrera to the Astros might have altered baseball history. Maybe the Astros are the fallen powerhouse with an immovable albatross right now. Meanwhile, maybe the Tigers are a rising power built around a core of exciting homegrown talent.

In this reality, however, Cabrera's journey with the Tigers can probably only end well if he's still capable of contributing to the contender that's currently under construction.

Perhaps this isn't entirely out of the question. For their part, the Tigers will soon be graduating prospects to the majors and buying any other parts they might need. For his part, Cabrera might get a second wind from his new duties as an everyday DH. It's conceivable that these two things will combine to form something special by 2023.

That's the happiest ending the Tigers can hope for, anyway. In the meantime, all they can do is keep playing Cabrera and revel in whatever reminders of the good ol' days he provides.

                    

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.