1B: Miguel Cabrera – DET
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Miguel Cabrera is one of the best hitters of his generation, and quite possibly of all time. He hits for average, he hits for power, he gets on base — Miggy does everything at the plate. Even though he undoubtedly had a down year in 2014 due to injuries, he still performed well above average. I mean, when your down year has you hitting .313 with 25 long balls and 109 RBI, you’re a truly an elite hitter. Despite the dropoff in homers, Cabrera lead the American League in doubles, so he still hit for a good amount of power.
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Cabrera has also taken home the AL MVP award in two of the thee last seasons (2012 and 2013), and won the AL batting Triple Crown in 2012, which is ridiculous. No one had won the batting Triple Crown before 2012 since 1967, when the great Carl Yastrzemski managed the feat. Miggy followed that unbelievable year with another monster season in 2013. Before the 2014 season, Cabrera was rewarded with an eight-year, $248 million extension. While the back end of that contract probably won’t be too pretty, the Tigers had to give him that sort of money to keep him in the Motor City.
There really is not much left to say. Cabrera is an amazing hitter and player, and should continue to hit for the foreseeable future, even when he is inevitably moved to DH.