If the Detroit Tigers trade Miguel Cabrera, Lynn Henning told you so.

If you want to read an article written under pure conjecture, check out yesterday’s article in the Detroit News by Tigers Insider, Lynn Henning. Based on the headline — “Miguel Cabrera joins Tigers trade talks” — we, the readers, are led to believe the Tigers are actively shopping Miguel Cabrera.

It’s too bad there’s nothing in the article to assume this has ever been discussed internally.

Now, I don’t know Mr. Henning. He’s been around for a while, so I assume he’s a reputable reporter with solid sources inside the Tigers organization. But his article takes the idea that the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are two teams who could take on Cabrera’s salary (duh) and piles on with the notion that they have asked the Tigers about a trade. 

The quote from Tigers president and general manager, Dave Dombrowski, used in the article is a canned response used by every GM when asked about players who might be traded.  Frankly, I’m surprised his editor allowed it to run. It does nothing to advance the idea of a trade, yet, it’s vague enough to hint at the possibility. I assume this was Henning’s goal.

I guess if the Tigers are blown away by an offer, they might deal Cabrera in the offseason. But with a dearth of offensive talent on the active roster at the moment, I really can’t see the Tigers sending away a guy in the prime of his career who was responsible for driving in 14 percent of their runs last year.

But, then again, what do I know?

Miguel Cabrera should have received more than one first-place vote.

Awarding Miguel Cabrera one first-place vote in the America League MVP voting was moronic, according to more than one blog. 

But was that lone vote really that ridiculous?

Here are their 2009 stats:

Mauer – .365 BA, 28 HR, 96 RBI, .444 OBP, .587 SLG

Cabrera – .324 BA, 34 HR, 103 RBI, .396 OBP, .547 SLG

(Not too dissimilar, eh?)

From May until September, Joe Mauer (after missing the first month of the season) had Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer protecting him in the lineup, while speedster Denard Span got on base in front of him at a .392 clip.

Cabrera, meanwhile, had to endure the two-headed monster of like Clete Thomas and Magglio Ordonez in front of him, with Carlos Guillen making pitchers shake in their boots behind him.  Yet he still managed to finish fourth in the AL in batting average, sixth in on-base percentage and sixth in slugging.  All of this done when opposing teams’ pitching strategies basically revolved around #24.

I’m not discounting that Mauer had one hell of a season, but I’ve always thought that factoring in the performance of a team if said MVP candidate was removed from the lineup should play a role in the voting.

The Twins would have survived the 2009 season without Mauer, at least until Morneau (the 2006 American League MVP)  went down with his season-ending injury.

The Tigers without Cabrera? I think it’s safe to say we would have turned our attention toward the Detroit Lions a lot sooner.

That’s got to be worth a few first-place votes.