The Tigers' pickup of Miguel Cabrera gave some Detroit fans worries about his shape. 

Sure, he's a big guy—but that didn't stop him from hitting .320 and jacking 34 homers. 

His defensive stats weren't all that impressive, but he still did his thing at the plate.  However, a big flaw in his defensive game was his weight. 

Cabrera committed 23 errors in the 2007 season.  He had very little range, and his weight was mainly the cause of that.

There are many Detroit fans that feel that Brandon Inge, the previous third baseman,  was a better defender than Cabrera.  That may be true, but Inge's 18 errors aren’t far off of Cabrera's pace.  Many people will make excuses for Inge saying that his zone rating and range factor are the only reasons why he had so many errors (Zone rating and range factor are statistis that show a players ability to get to more balls than others). 

Inge isn't anywhere near the same size as Cabrera, so he does have the athletic ability to get to more balls quicker than Cabrera would.

But in my recent trip to Tigerfest ’08, I was able to see that Miguel Cabrera has been losing a respectable amount of weight.  

Cabrera would be a great player anywhere, but he is exceptional at third base. With Cabrera playing third, the Tigers can leave Carlos Guillen at first base and Gary Sheffield at designated hitter and still have the only lineup in baseball that might make the Yankees jealous.  So his weight loss is giving the Tigers more and more comfort at the third base position.  

Cabrera could possibly cut down his amount of errors with his new weight.  This is a guy who has already been an all-star third baseman with a lot of talent.  But getting him even more comfortable could make him even more dangerous than he already is.

He’s still so young, and yet so good.  Cabrera is a talent that you may come across rarely, and his “new” level of comfort is putting smiles all over the Tigers faces.  It is also boosting the young mans confidence level, and given that fact that he’s played in the league for just a few years, where do you think his confidence level is at now?  

The question isn’t coming from Cabrera’s ability to hit, because he is one of the purest hitters out there.  The question is whether or not the weight loss will affect him on the defensive side of his game. 

I know that’s the last thing that the Tigers are worried about, but you can’t just ignore it.  Twenty-three errors are a lot—and when it comes to close games, those plays have to be made. 

Other than that, Cabrera looks like he’s in his best shape since he’s came into the MLB.  So I look forward to seeing what he may do as a Tiger.