Two options for punishing Miguel Cabrera, neither of them good
Clearly, the Tigers need to do something to show Miguel Cabrera how furious they are. At least, I assume they're furious: Their best hitter drank deep into Saturday morning at the Townsend Hotel with at least one friend from the Chicago White Sox, wound up in a physical altercation with his wife, and was still bombed enough to blow a .26 when he was collected around 6 a.m. by the Birmingham police.
Then he went out that night against the Sox, in a huge game for Detroit, and stunk.
The question is, what do you do about him?
Theory one: Park his juvenile rump on the bench for Tuesday's playoff game against the Minnesota Twins, the one that will determine which team proceeds into the post-season. That becomes a particularly attractive option when you learn that after an August altercation at the Townsend's Rugby Grille, the team had warned him to stay away from the place.
Theory two: A whomping fine.
The problem with suspending him for the playoff game is that it also potentially punishes his teammates, the Tigers' fans, and every bar, restaurant and T-shirt merchant who figure to boost business if the team reaches the next round.
The problem with fining him is that his contract, which runs through 2015, is worth $152.3 million. Assuming an arbitrator upheld a breathtaking fine, say in the $100,000 range, would he even notice it?
From the Tigers' standpoint, the greater issue here may be that five weeks after being banned from the Townsend, he went back. His behavior Saturday was deplorable on all counts, and that's assuming he didn't drive himself home, in which case it was both deplorable and criminal. But his choice of drinking establishment, unless he finessed the direct order by drinking exclusively in his friend's room, was outright insubordination.
The Tigers probably should have taken action Saturday and sat him down. Heaven knows they'd have been better off without him. As facts continue to wriggle out, both he and the team look increasingly -- and deservedly -- bad.
Having let him play Saturday and Sunday, it's hard to now turn around and bench him on Tuesday. But the thing to do Saturday would have been to sit him down -- and fine him.
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Cabrera should have sat
Could not agree more. Instead of the Tigers trying to sweep it under the carpet (like nobody would find out) they should have just been up front. This is what happened and this is how we are going to handle it. Case closed.
If Cabrera had a big game, would we even be talking about this? Clearly, not as much. But it's compounded now by an incredibly bad game. His poor judgment should have been dealt with by the Tigers. Not covered up. A message needed to be sent. Now it's too late.
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