On December 4, 2007, I was sitting in the library not studying for final exams when I refreshed ESPN.com to see that Miguel Cabrera had been traded to the Detroit Tigers. This was a nice moment for me since I am the type who likes to deliver news to see the reactions. I forgot to mention, I was living in Miami at the time. Now I know what you’re thinking, there aren’t any Marlins fans. Well, they exist, but they are so beaten down that it doesn’t make much difference. Their World Series hero and wunderkind was gone and just like all the others they traded before him, there was nothing they could do about it.
The only Tigers fan I know is Tom Selleck and I obviously don’t even know him. He must have been happy though considering Detroit absolutely crushed this deal. Not to say they didn’t give up a lot, they did, but history has been very kind. In the deal (which included Dontrelle Willis) were tippy-top prospects Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller along with Dallas Trahern, Burke Badenhop, Frankie De La Cruz, and Mike Rabelo. Here’s what happened to these guys:
- Maybin was a consensus Top-10 prospect in all of baseball. Somehow, he played until he was 34 despite never really breaking out. He managed a 4.4 WAR season with the Padres in 2011 as a 24 year old, but regressed the following year. He just never could put all of his athletic talents together.
- Andrew Miller seemed like a can’t miss starting pitcher and was also a consensus Top-10 prospect at the time of the trade. He missed though and missed BADLY as a starting pitcher. It wasn’t until 2014 when the formerly meek looking Miller turned into a snarling relief badass. The term “fireman” was basically invented due to the deployment of Miller for the Yankees and Cleveland. If your lead was in trouble with the heart of the opposing team’s order coming up, you called for Miller and he put the fire out. His renaissance lasted about 4 years late in his career but it was a thrill.
- Burke Badenhop managed 8 solid years as a reliever with 5 teams, but mostly the Marlins
- Frankie de la Cruz had a -1 career WAR and an 8+ ERA
- Mike Rabelo lasted 34 games as a backup catcher with the Marlins that season, but never made it back up to the Bigs
- Dallas Trahern never made it to the majors
To give you a feeling of what this trade was, imagine the Phillies offer up Andrew Painter and Aiden Miller only for the Marlins to hang up and laugh. By the time he was traded, Cabrera had established himself as one of the premier talents in baseball. At 24 with the Marlins he already had MVP votes in all 5 of his seasons including 2 Top-5 finishes, 18 WAR, and 138 HRs. Oh yeah, and he won the World Series as a 20-year-old rookie. He was on his way to being an all-time great and hadn’t even hit his prime yet.
Why would the Marlins make this deal? Because they are the Marlins. A resume like Cabrera’s at that age means a damn near record contract. Had Cabrera hit the free agent market in 2025, he would get a deal like Juan Soto’s (lot’s of Cabrera similarities). The Marlins don’t do things like that. They claim they can’t afford it, but that’s bullshit. They don’t want to afford it. Who would want a generation of fans to experience a Triple Crown from the kid who won them a World Series anyway?
Who made this deal? Dave Dombrowski. This was the Dealing Dave who shopped at the highest of high-end stores. He didn’t just get a hitter, he got THE hitter. Maybe the best hitter since young Frank Thomas, but he did it for longer. Detroit got 9 years of the highest level hitting from Cabrera that included 2 MVP awards, 4 batting titles, 1 HR title, and the first Triple Crown winner in 45 years.
That Triple Crown season was in 2012 when he won his first MVP award. His final line was 44 HRs, 139 RBIs, and a .330 avg in 161 games. The crazy thing is that the following year was even better! His 44 HRs, 137 RBI and .348 avg in 148 games won him his 2nd MVP. The only person stopping him from a second Triple Crown was an incredible 1-off season from Baltimore’s Chris Davis. Had Cabrera not missed those 14 games he had a shot (would have taken 9 HRs though).
In his 21 seasons, Cabrera hit 511 HRs, 3174 hits, had a .306 average, and 67 WAR (despite being a constant negative on defense). He also made $393m!1 The last 7 were unfortunately marred by injury and Father Time, but they did not nothing to tarnish his legacy. He is eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2028 and should make it first try.
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