The Detroit Tigers said goodbye to legend after the 2023 season. Star slugger Miguel Cabrera announced his retirement from the MLB after the season after 21 seasons.

Throughout his career, Cabrera was one of the most feared hitters in baseball. He started his career early at 20 with the Florida Marlins before being traded to the Tigers.

After five seasons with the Marlins, Cabrera was traded to Detroit in an offseason blockbuster. Along with Dontrelle Willis, Cabrera headed to the Motor City in exchange for Dallas Trahern, Burke Badenhop, Frankie De La Cruz, Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller and Mike Rabelo.

For the next 16 seasons, Cabrera continued stockpiling statistics to form what will assuredly be a career enshrined with a plaque at Cooperstown. It should come as no surprise then that the Tigers star has landed on an illustrious list.

Recently, ESPN put together a series of articles highlighting the top 100 athletes of the 21st century. Cabrera came in at No. 33 on that list including Olympians and champions across every sport. In the MLB specific one, Cabrera came in at No. 4.

“Cabrera arrived in the major leagues at 20, found himself batting cleanup in the World Series, whacked an opposite-field home run off Roger Clemens and charted a course that would end two decades later with 3,174 hits. Cabrera’s spray chart was a thing of beauty, with dots connoting his hits in all corners of the stadium — and 511 over the fence. He managed to hit for power without sacrificing his innate bat-to-ball skill, and he peaked in 2012, when he became the first hitter in 45 years to win batting, home run and RBI titles in the same season,” wrote ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

The only players to rank above Cabrera on the MLB list were Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout and his former teammate and St. Louis Cardinals first baseman, Albert Pujols.

Cabrera’s career is littered with incredible achievements. He was an All-Star 12 times, winning seven Silver Slugger awards and four batting titles.

The MVP award was won in two consecutive seasons, in 2012 and 2013. In 2012, Cabrera recorded the Triple Crown, leading the American League in batting average (.330), home runs (44) and RBI (139).

As a rookie, he helped Florida win the World Series, defeating the New York Yankees in six games. It was a storybook start for what ended up being an illustrious career for the decorated Venezuelan slugger.

The Detroit Lions should be considered among the best teams in the National Football League.

With a revamped defense and an offense led by veteran quarterback Jared Goff, no team in the league has as much positive buzz and hype surrounding them than the Lions.

Detroit even upgraded their coaching staff, replacing inexperienced position coaches with respected leaders. Defensive line coach Terrell Williams and defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend will inherent young talent seeking to take their game to the next level in Aaron Glenn’s defensive scheme.

In a recent ranking of all 32 NFL teams, Bleacher Report listed the Lions as the No. 3 team in the league. One of their NFL writers also has the Lions as the top team in his own power ranking list.

More: Detroit Lions 2024 Training Camp Primer

Brent Sobleski expressed the overhauled defense and potent weapons on offense should allow the team to be serious contenders in 2024.

Sobleski explained, “The Lions were one half away from appearing in their first Super Bowl. If not for a couple of Josh Reynolds drops, they should have been. Detroit is ascending. Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta are entering their second seasons and should be even more dangerous. More importantly, last season’s bottom-six pass defense has been overhauled, with Carlton Davis III and Terrion Arnold now at cornerback. It’s time.”

Lions On SI NFL power rankings

32. Panthers
31. Patriots
30. Commanders
29. Giants
28. Raiders
27. Cardinals
26. Broncos
25. Titans
24. Saints
23. Vikings
22. Seahawks
21. Colts
20. Jets
19. Jaguars
18. Steelers
17. Falcons
16. Chargers
15. Bears
14. Rams
13. Cowboys
12. Dolphins
11. Buccaneers
10. Browns
9. Bills
8. Packers
7. Bengals
6. Eagles
5. Ravens
4. Chiefs
3. Texans
2. 49ers
1. Lions