Miguel Cabrera

Joe Mauer is the face of the Minnesota Twins. His list of credentials is impressive.

In six full seasons of Major League Baseball he has earned three batting titles, three Gold Gloves, four Silver Slugger awards, four All-Star game appearances and was named league MVP in 2009. He's been featured on the cover of Sony's PlayStation MLB the Show for 2010 and again this year.

Detroit Tigers superstar Miguel Cabrera was arrested late Wednesday on suspicion of DUI and other details involving a rough handcuffing.

He has had a tough time in the majors, as he was brought up as a very young immature boy, and has now seemingly spiraled out of control. All one can do is hope for the best for this dynamic talent, but the events of the last few years scream out for serious help.

Cabrera is not the first or the last player who has been an issue for their respective teams, and every franchise has their "uncontrollable" historical headache.

Cut Miguel Cabrera.  Trade Miguel Cabrera.  Send him to rehab without knowing anything about the entire scope of his situation.  These are the things I'm hearing.

Here's what I'm saying.  We know very little about the magnitude of Cabrera's problem.  And we may never fully know everything, but we need to let more time pass to learn about the situation. 

Miguel Cabrera should not be playing baseball in 2011. Let's be clear about that right away. The fact that we are even discussing this is sad.

Cabrera has a problem—a really, really serious problem. If he does not get this figured out and straightened out, it won't matter how many home runs he hits or how many runs he drives in. It won't matter because Cabrera the man will be dead.

Let's get one thing out of the way right now.

Miguel Cabrera is no Bobby Layne.

Layne, the liquor-guzzling quarterback for the Lions in the 1950s, was a drunk, but a happy, functioning drunk.

Layne's drinking binges were legendary and almost romanticized.

Last season, Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera was one of baseball's best stories. After blowing more than three times the legal limit after a domestic dispute with his wife in October, Cabrera underwent treatment, cleaned up his act and had a career season, finishing second in the AL MVP voting behind Josh Hamilton.

Albert Pujols is the best player in the game of baseball, so it's no surprise he headlines the list of first basemen in 2011.

But, first base is such a deep position that, even in a 12-team league, if you aren't getting strong production from that slot, there's something wrong with you.

I mean, Justin Morneau and Billy Butler barely made the top 10 and Kendry Morales didn't make the cut at all.

Yet, if you can get any of those three guys, you'll be in good shape for your season.

Spring training is almost here and as we get closer to the 2011 baseball season kicking off, let's take a look at who the best hitters are.

For the last decade, Albert Pujols has arguably been the league's best and most complete hitter. Although not old by any means and coming off a terrific 2010 season, he is now 31 years old and perhaps he might not be the absolute best anymore.

Is that even possible? Who else would even match up to him? You'd have to take into account producing in all three major categories, such as batting average, home runs, and runs batted in.

The Detroit Tigers begin the 2011 season with the goal to win a championship. However, if they want to be able to claim their first World Series title since 1984, they have some work to do.

The list of candidates for the 2010 American League Most Valuable Player was a rather different bunch than in previous years.  Which, perhaps, made the voters default to the old thinking of “pick the best player on a playoff team”. But, taking another look, was 2010 a season where that didn’t apply?