As baseball star Miguel Cabrera nears the end of his prestigious career, teams across the MLB have celebrated the legendary Detroit Tigers hitter with thoughtful gifts throughout the season. The L.A. Dodgers honored him with a Hollywood star, and the Texas Rangers surprised him with a custom horse saddle. But when Cabrera arrived at the Oakland A’s stadium on Thursday, the final stop of his road trip, he was met with a more underwhelming retirement gift: a $90 bottle of Caymus.
Yes, on behalf of their entire organization, the Oakland A’s decided to celebrate Cabrera’s outstanding career with a bottle of wine you can find at a grocery store. Fans couldn’t help but notice that this gift tracks in accordance with the Oakland A’s reputation as being one of the most frugal teams in the MLB: the team spends less than any other team in the league on their roster, and has continuously put off renovations to their stadium. Beyond the stingy spending, the gift also seemed to have no personal meaning to the team or to Cabrera.
And the gift was a little more problematic for reasons other than the price tag: Cabrera has publicly addressed prior issues with alcohol abuse. In 2009, after facing legal issues related to his drinking, Cabrera spent three months in outpatient treatment to focus on his sobriety. When Cabrera celebrated surpassing the milestone of 3,000 hits in 2022, he notably celebrated with non-alcoholic Champagne — another signal that wine may not be the most appropriate gift.
The baseball community couldn’t help but to cringe at the Oakland A’s in response to the problematic present, with many taking to X (formerly Twitter) to mock the choice. And when you compare the bottle to the other offerings given to Cabrera — like the Yankee’s gift of an autographed Yankee Stadium Subway sign, a custom painting, and a $10,000 check for Cabrera’s charity the Miggy Foundation — it just makes poking fun at the A’s all the more easy.
