Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera selected to 2022 MLB All-Star Game by Rob Manfred

CHICAGO — For the first time in six years, Detroit Tigers designated hitter Miguel Cabrera is headed to the All-Star Game.

Major League Baseball announced Friday that Cabrera has been selected to the 2022 All-Star Game by commissioner Rob Manfred as an "All-Star Legends Selection," a new clause in the collective bargaining agreement between the players and owners.

The All-Star Game is scheduled for 7 p.m. July 19 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The full rosters will be announced Sunday, with another Tiger set to join the field of players since each team gets one representative and Cabrera's inclusion is separate.

Cabrera, a member of the American League team, now has 12 All-Star selections in his 20-year MLB career.

"I'm focused about today, on the game today," Cabrera said Wednesday, when asked about his All-Star Game chances. "I don't care about that kind of stuff. If they invite me, OK, thank you very much. It's an honor. What a gift. But if they don't, I don't care. It's not a big deal."

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St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Albert Pujols, in the final season of his 22-year MLB career, is the "All-Star Legends Selection" for the National League.

Cabrera, 39, has one more year remaining on his contract and has said he plans to retire after the 2023 season.

"I am delighted that Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera have agreed to participate in the All-Star Game," Manfred said in a statement. "Albert and Miguel are two of the most accomplished players of their generation.

"They have also represented the baseball traditions of the Dominican Republic and Venezuela with excellence for the last two decades. Albert and Miguel are two all-time greats whose achievements warrant this special recognition."

Cabrera is one of three players in baseball history to reach 3,000 hits, 500 home runs and 600 doubles. Pujols and Hank Aaron are the other two players to accomplish those marks.

Here's the CBA memo, obtained by the Free Press: "All-Star Legends Selection. Amend Article XV(N) to provide that, in addition to the 32 players elected and selected to the All-Star Game, the Commissioner may choose to add one player that he selects to each League’s roster, in recognition of each player’s career achievements. If special circumstances warrant, the Commissioner may select more than one player to each leagues roster."

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Cabrera went to the All-Star Game in seven straight seasons, from 2010-16, with the Tigers. During that stretch, he hit .330 with a .996 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in 1,056 games. He also went four times in a row, from 2004-2007, with the Florida Marlins.

To go with a dozen All-Star selections, Cabrera has achieved two AL MVP awards (2012, 2013), four AL batting titles (2011-13, 2015) and earned the 17th MLB Triple Crown (2012). He won the 2003 World Series with the Marlins.

"I am an All-Star, bro," Cabrera said. "It doesn't matter. If you go, you go. If you don't go, you don't go. ... I don't prefer anything. I live my life one day at a time."

In 2022, Cabrera is hitting .308 with seven doubles, three home runs, 15 walks and 68 strikeouts in 70 games. His batting average ranks eighth-best in the AL and his .347 on-base percentage ranks 26th.

He has a 105 wRC+ (Weighted Runs Created Plus), meaning his offensive production is just above the league average of 100. He is worth -0.1 fWAR (Fangraphs' calculation of Wins Above Replacement).

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"I think he should be an All-Star in his own right," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Wednesday. "I figure he could take it either way, because he's both, for what he's doing for our offense with runners in scoring position and certainly the career achievement. If the commissioner wants to add him as a legend, then he's dead on, spot on. He should be the guy.

"But when you look around at the guys on our team, he's certainly a viable candidate on his own. I'd like to have both. Maybe if somebody else can slide in and he gets to be the legend, cool. If not, then he's one of the top guys on our team to go represent us. Hats off to him for that on both fronts, whether the career achievement or the season."

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera selected to 2022 MLB All-Star Game