Tigers Report: Inside Pitch

Miguel Cabrera arrived in Tigers camp Feb. 24 and asked for forgiveness.

After getting charged with a DUI, his second public incident involving alcohol in three years, Cabrera acknowledged he has a problem and said he would participate in treatment program facilitated by Major League Baseball and the players' association.

Despite the fuss, manager Jim Leyland thinks Cabrera could have the best year of his career in 2011.

"I'm supportive of all our players and always will be," Leyland said. "People who are getting all dramatic about it and all this negative stuff, it might make for dramatic reading material, but along the lines (of it being a distraction)? Nothing. Trust me. It's not going to affect the team at all.

"Do you think Magglio Ordonez is going to go about his business any different? Nobody is going to do anything any different. I know for a fact that Miguel Cabrera is in the best shape of his life. He's stronger than he's ever been, and he's quicker than he's ever been. It has no effect."

Detroit's players were unanimous, at least in public, in proclaiming they will welcome Cabrera and support him. The closest thing to a critical comment came from Ordonez, who said superstars don't do things like that.

"Like everyone knows, he made a mistake and you are not supposed to drive drunk on the road," Ordonez said. "He will have to pay the consequences. Miguel's the franchise player. He understands (the team) depends on him a lot. He's a superstar and needs to act like a superstar."

"There are two ways of handling a situation like this," Brandon Inge said after reporting to camp. "I refer back to my kids and how I would handle things. If one of my kids came in and he had a problem, do you shun him, dismiss him and tell him he's on his own?

"Or two, you can open your arms, embrace him and welcome him back. Obviously, that's what we would all do here."

Teammate Alex Avila shares the same trainer as Cabrera and was blindsided by the incident, having worked out with him in the offseason with no hints of problems.

"Once Miguel gets in, we'll all figure out what happened," Avila said. "But we'll support him no matter what -- because that's what families do. They help each other out."

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