Miguel Cabrera, retired from Detroit Tigers, plans to play one final season in Venezuela

Former Detroit Tigers designated hitter Miguel Cabrera, now a special assistant in the front office, retired from his playing career in Major League Baseball at the end of the 2023 season. He walked off the field in tears on the first day of October to conclude a legendary 21-year career.

But Cabrera wants to return to the field in his home country.

Cabrera, who will turn 41 in April, plans to compete for Tigres de Aragua in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League during the 2024-25 season, which begins in late October 2024.

"I would like to play one more year, competing, playing well and winning with these young players," Cabrera told Venezuelan reporters on Monday afternoon, provided and translated by Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. "I'm going to prepare properly, plan my final season next year and make it big like it was in the U.S."

Cabrera won't play this season, which is currently ongoing, because he wants to rest his ailing right knee after playing 98 games in his final MLB season. (He played 2,797 games in his MLB career.)

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"I want to be physically ready," said Cabrera, who was diagnosed with a chronic right knee injury in 2019. "I always say that I don't want to be embarrassed, and if I'm doing something, I'm doing it right."

There are 55 games for each of the eight teams in the LVBP regular season. The best five teams advance to a round-robin format with 16 games apiece. The top two teams from the round robin compete in the best-of-seven final series at the end of January.

Cabrera, who signed with the Florida Marlins in July 1999 out of Venezuela, hasn't played in the LVBP since the 2007-08 season, but he spent the first part of his professional career — his late teens and early 20s — with Tigres de Aragua in Venezuela.

Cabrera competed for Tigres de Aragua in nine seasons, from 2000-08, and won four championships in six tries. He stopped playing in Venezuela after signing the first of two contract extensions with the Tigers in March 2008, just three months after the Marlins traded him and three weeks before his 25th birthday.

It's been 16 years since Cabrera played a competitive baseball game on Venezuelan soil, but Cabrera has supported his native country on the field as the only player to compete in all five editions of the World Baseball Classic, founded in 2006.

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Cabrera shared his plan to play for Tigres de Aragua in the 2024-25 season before and after Monday's Pepsi Home Run Derby in Caracas, Venezuela.

The competition featured 12 players, listed in order of the first-round matchups: Rougned Odor vs. Eduardo Escobar, Francisco Álvarez vs. José Rondón, Wilson Garcia vs. Eugenio Suárez, Gleyber Torres vs. Anthony Santander, Jackson Chourio vs. Ronald Acuña Jr., Yasiel Puig vs. Miguel Cabrera.

Cabrera lost to Puig, 13-3, in the first round.

He received a standing ovation several times throughout the Home Run Derby from more than 25,000 fans in the stands at Monumental Stadium in Caracas. Before the event, Cabrera threw out the ceremonial first pitch to his son.

"I've never liked to speak in public or do interviews," Cabrera said, speaking in Spanish to the fans. "I'd rather let my game speak for itself, but I want to take this time to thank all the fans that have supported me during my whole career. I love you. I'll miss you. Venezuelan baseball is one of the best things that happened to be in my career. The level is super exciting and you, the fans, add that special flavor. It's something that I miss, and hopefully, I'll see you guys soon. Thank you."

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Acuña and Puig advanced to the final round of the Home Run Derby.

Puig was the only non-Venezuelan among the 12 participants. The 33-year-old, born in Cuba, has played baseball in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Korea and Venezuelan since his seven-year MLB career ended in 2019.

Acuña won the 2018 National League Rookie of the Year and 2023 NL MVP as part of his active six-year MLB career with the Atlanta Braves. The 25-year-old launched 41 home runs and stole 73 bases in the 2023 season, all while putting up a .337 batting average.

Acuña beat Puig, 8-7, in the final round to win the Home Run Derby in Venezuela for the second season in a row.

Only three players have captured back-to-back wins since the event began in 2000: Carlos González in 2015-16, William Contreras in 2020-21 and Acuña in 2022-23.

Cabrera won the Venezuelan Home Run Derby in 2005 and 2012.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Miguel Cabrera to play one more baseball season — in Venezuela