Will Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera Have a Quiet Offseason off-the-Field?

After last season's arrest, Miguel Cabrera is going to have an incredible number of eyes on everything he does during the offseason.  Unfortunately for him, he brought every one of those eyes on himself.  

Anyone who saw the incident from last February immediately had to begin worrying about the perennial All-Star first baseman.  The entire scene was incredibly ugly; Cabrera was labeled as “belligerent, cocky, combative and argumentative.” It is hard to disagree with any one of those adjectives to describe Cabrera's actions that night in general and toward police officers. 

The entire situation put Cabrera in a bind. During his press conference after the incident, it was clear Cabrera felt very uncomfortable.  This time, he wasn't hearing questions about his performance on the diamond; he had to field questions about a life-altering mistake. 

This ultimately led to Raul Gonzalez being assigned to Cabrera as his "sober companion."  No one really knows how well this worked out for Cabrera this season.  However, when it comes to cases like these, the "no news is good news" scenario is the one to go by.  The media never printed anything negative about Cabrera throughout the entire season.

Not only this, but who remembers Jim Leyland's quotes following Cabrera's arrest? 

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"I know for a fact, without getting into this situation, I know for a fact Miguel Cabrera is in the best shape of his life.  He's stronger than he's ever been, and he's quicker than he's ever been. ... I think Miguel Cabrera is probably going to have the biggest year of his life.

"It's not going to affect the team at all. ... All these people that are getting dramatic about this ... and all this negative impact. It's not going to affect this team one bit. Trust me. That's all reading material, everybody getting all upset and getting real dramatic," Leyland told reporters (via USA Today).

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It's hard to argue with results.  Not only did Cabrera have his best batting average and on-base percentage of his career (.344 BA and .448 OBP), but he helped catapult the Tigers to the ALCS for the first time in five years. 

With the exception of Cabrera, his teammates and his family, no one truly knows what kept him out of trouble or what really caused him to have such an explosive season. 

What we can hope for is that this is a sign of more good things to come, not only for next season, but for the life and career of a young man.  Cabrera is only 28 years old and has a great deal of baseball still left in his tank.

For a Hall of Fame caliber player, problems such as the ones he has incurred in his past cannot continue.  The good news is that I firmly believe Cabrera has taken the correct steps and is ready to put his shady past behind him. 

Cabrera remembers the feeling from two years ago when he let down his team during a pivotal series against the White Sox that would have helped propel them into the postseason.  He apologized to fans numerous times after his incident last February, practically begging everyone to support him and give him a chance. 

With the current Tigers team in place, including strong veteran leader Victor Martinez, Cabrera will have an "uneventful" offseason.  There are too many caring players and coaches in that dugout to allow a situation like that to reoccur.  Not only does he have his family that he goes home to each and every night, he also has a very close family in the locker room. 

No news is good news Tiger fans.  Don't expect a reoccurrence of last February's incident before spring training in 2012.