In his final season, Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera received farewell gifts from every MLB team to celebrate such an illustrious career. While some clubs put a lot of thought into their gifts, like a Hollywood Star from the Dodgers and a guitar from the Guardians, the final team to give Cabrera a gift appeared to disappoint.
In Cabrera’s road series vs. the Athletics, Oakland presented the slugger with a simple bottle of wine signed by the team. However, the bottle of wine itself was not that rare, as it was a Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley that cost just $90 on the market.
The Oakland A's gave Miguel Cabrera a $90 bottle of wine. https://t.co/lMnwcHdy1O pic.twitter.com/Efy2HNcXEI
— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) September 22, 2023
This is only the latest instance of the A’s spending less money than other teams, as they already have the lowest payroll in the league. As a result, fans criticized Oakland for once again choosing to not to spend more money, this time on Cabrera’s gift.
80 dollar bottle of wine from an entire MLB organization as a farewell gift, what an absolutely hilarious franchise this is https://t.co/oXLjH92ckc pic.twitter.com/ozbLNB6Qjt
— Addison (@YankeeWRLD) September 22, 2023
Note to self -- don’t participate in any secret Santa’s involving the Oakland Athletics https://t.co/8A8sDhOnbY
— Miguel Cabrera’s Bat (Benson) (@Miggysbat) September 22, 2023
All the great gifts Miguel Cabrera has received from other teams on his farewell tour... the @Athletics gave him one bottle of wine.
— Tike Narry (@eddiesofficials) September 22, 2023
Shout out to whoever stopped by the liquor store on the way to the game for this $10 gift to Miguel Cabrera from the #Athletics. 😅😅 #MLB #RepDetroit https://t.co/4Nwtu5TcJ6
— Justin Valentine (@JV_Sports_Talk) September 22, 2023
Other fans noted that Cabrera spent a few months in treatment center for alcoholism in 2010, so gifting him a bottle of wine is a strange move.
The Athletics gifted a $90 bottle of wine to a recovering alcoholic.. https://t.co/RWtj6smVts
— nickytheeye (@NickMarroDFS) September 22, 2023
Miguel Cabrera is a receiving alcoholic 🤦♂️ clueless and ignorant franchise @Athletics , such a bad look. https://t.co/erLHj2qBsI
— David Bousquet (@Djbousquet) September 22, 2023
However, this move was so predictable that one Athletics fan even predicted earlier this week what Oakland would give Cabrera.
I bet you the @Athletics give him a simple bottle of wine https://t.co/FQWnlvHoR8
— Gabriel Hernandez (@gamer_athletics) September 19, 2023
To be fair, the Astros also gave Cabrera a signed bottle of wine as part of their farewell gift, along with a cowboy hat, so Oakland isn’t alone in their decision.
