Minnesota Twins: Longtime Twins Rival reaches 3,000 hit mark

It’s a mark we’ve been expecting for a long time, but Miguel Cabrera has reached the 3,000 hit mark. Widely considered one of the two best hitters of the past fifteen years (with Albert Pujols as his only competition), it’s a huge accomplishment for a man who has tortured the Minnesota Twins for most of his career.

Cabrera is the 33rd member of the 3,000th hit club and just the seventh member of that club to also hit 500 homers. The sure-fire Hall of Famer has been such a good hitter for a long time, so it’s cool to see that happen for him.

Longtime Minnesota Twins rival Miguel Cabrera joined the 3,000 hit club.

In the 218 games Cabrera has played against the Twins, Cabrera has some of the best numbers of his career, slashing .310/.380/.543 and mashing 46 homers and 163 RBI. He was a key part of several Tigers teams that dominated the division in the early 2010s while the Twins were rebuilding.

Cabrera reaching the mark does raise the question: Are there any current major leaguers who have a good chance at reaching that 3,000 mark? In a league that’s become more heavily dominated by pitchers, it doesn’t seem too likely.

Robinson Cano is the closest with 2,631, but his career will likely see his career come to a close just short of that mark. Yadier Molina, Joey Votto, Nelson Cruz, Elvis Andrus, Andrew Mccutchen are all sitting in between 1800 and 2200, but barring a shocking eight year run for any of those players, it seems likely they’ll fall short.

The players with the best chances to reach the mark this decade are Jose Altuve (1783), Freddie Freeman (1722), and Mike Trout (1431). All three players are in their early thirties and would need to average roughly 160 hits a year from this season through the next eight years to reach the mark, a challenge that seems unlikely.

No Minnesota Twins player outside of Jorge Polanco (who is No. 98) has a shot, and very few players over the age of 27 appear to have a real chance, and while Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Wander Franco might chase it someday, we need to celebrate Cabrera for his enormous accomplishment.