NASHVILLE, Tenn. – If Miguel Cabrera is serious about straightening out his act, Detroit is the perfect place for it to happen.
Detroit, where he will be teammates with two of his Venezuelan countrymen, Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez.
Detroit, where Jim Leyland motivates players like no other manager.
Cabrera, 24, already has lost 15 pounds this off-season, according to his close friend, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.
As good as he is, imagine how good he can be.
If anything, the bigger question for Cabrera might come if he signs a long-term contract with the Tigers and outlasts Leyland and Co. But by then, he might be a winner of multiple World Series, a mature professional with a strong work ethic, the new Manny Ramirez.
Check out this proposed Tigers lineup:
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Curtis Granderson, CF
Placido Polanco, 2B
Cabrera, 3B
Gary Sheffield, DH
Ordonez, RF
Guillen, 1B
Edgar Renteria, SS
Ivan Rodriguez, C
Jacque Jones/Marcus Thames, LF
Oh, and by the way, the addition of Dontrelle Willis will leave the Tigers with a pretty good rotation, too — assuming that Willis’ decline does not continue in the more offensively oriented American League.
Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman and Willis are all 25 or under. Kenny Rogers and Nate Robertson give the Tigers’ two other left-handers besides Willis.
Many scouts and executives wonder if Willis has been worn down by the number of innings he has thrown since reaching the majors. The Marlins rehired Mark Wiley as pitching coach in an attempt to recapture the success that Willis had under Wiley in 2005, bit didn’t even wait to see whether the relationship would again prove beneficial.
Several other clubs pursued Willis at these winter meetings, and the Marlins decided that the Tigers’ offer — center fielder Cameron Maybin, left-hander Andrew Miller, catcher Mike Rabelo and three minor-league pitchers — was simply too good to refuse.
The downside for the Tigers as they try to take advantage of a two-year window to win the World Series is that they have depleted their prospect corps significantly. Lefthander Rick Porcello, Detroit’s No. 1 draft pick out of high school last June, is the only remaining elite prospect in the system, according to rival executives.
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