Miguel Cabrera makes an error on a hard-hit ball on Yoenis Cespedes, and Oakland takes a 1-0 lead on Detroit in the top of the third inning. Miguel more than makes up for his fielding with his bat, but in a particular game, an extreme weakness like his glove can hurt a team.
Personally, I think Detroit has a weakness in that they’re using two DH’s as defensive players – Miguel Cabrera & Prince Fielder. I think they should trade one of them for a young 3B and use the other at 1B.
If I were a hardcore Tiggers fan, it would be a sliver under my fingernail ever since they signed Fielder. This past season he’s arguably the worst defender at 1B in all the majors. In 2012, he was not as bad, but he wasn’t much better. He’s just going to get worse with age, he ain’t wine. He’s a DH disguised as a first baseman.
Cabrera is obviously not great defensively, but don’t judge him by what you’re seeing now. He is extremely limited by his injuries and he’s much better when healthy.
It’s not just this year. Cabrera was arguably the worst third baseman in the majors last year and was one of the worst fielding first baseman’s in 2011.