Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera asks Justin Verlander to return home on social media
There's a segment (loud majority?) of the Detroit Tigers fan base that would love to see a reunion of sorts at Comerica Park next season.
The Tigers are in need of starting pitching and have money to spend in free agency as they hope to turn the corner in their rebuild. The guy they traded to official start that rebuild four years ago was Justin Verlander.
And guess who's a free agent this offseason?
Now, the best Tigers hitter of this generation wants the best Tigers pitcher of this generation to come back home.
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Verlander posted a video on Instagram of his young daughter greeting him on the field after a pitching workout. The soon-to-be 39-year-old is recovering from Tommy John surgery and expects to be ready for the 2022 season. After making $66 million the last two seasons, who knows what Verlander would command on the open market.
A who's who replied to Verlander's video, including his brother and baseball media rising star Ben Verlander, tennis superstar Caroline Wozniacki and Kelly Stafford, the wife of former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. But front and center (and early) in the replies was Miguel Cabrera, Verlander's teammate from 2008-17.
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Cabrera, who will also be 39 next season, was direct in his plea to his fellow former MVP.
"Come back to you familia the D," Cabrera wrote from his official Instagram account, along with a few heart emojis and a praying hands emoji.
Cabrera is signed with the Tigers through the 2023 season and has gone on the record that the next two seasons are his final two in the majors. He'd obviously like to get back to the playoffs: he and Verlander led the Tigers to four AL Central Division titles and one World Series appearance in 2012.
HE SAID IT: Verlander: 'I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about' returning to Tigers
Tigers fans lament not cashing in on a championship with Verlander (MVP in 2011) and Cabrera (MVP in 2012 and 2013) in their primes. Who wouldn't want to see them team up to make good on it a decade later?
Contact Kirkland Crawford: kcrawford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @HiKirkHere.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera asks Justin Verlander to come back
