Miguel Cabrera faces hard questions before resuming his career

LAKELAND, Fla.?Will a blown radiator save Miguel Cabrera?s career or ruin it?

The slugging Tiger?s life and career teeter on the edge of disaster as he deals with the aftermath of a drunk-driving arrest Wednesday in Port Lucie County Florida. He was on his way to Tigers camp and had made about half of the roughly 230-mile trip from Miami to Lakeland when steam poured from his hood. Police say when they arrived, Cabrera was intoxicated and belligerent, asking them, ?Do you know who I am?? while wandering into the street and taking a drink of scotch in full view of police.

Miguel Cabrera's arrest throws into question whether he'll be ready for opening day. Matt Crossman says bigger issues remain going forward. | Not at camp

That alone would have been enough to raise serious questions. But Cabrera has a history. Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski picked him up from jail late in the 2009 season after Cabrera got in a fight with his wife following a night of drinking. It appears Cabrera has an alcohol problem, one that in the short term has delayed the start of his 2011 season and, in the long term, could follow him for the rest of his life.

The Tigers held their first full-squad practice on Saturday and Cabrera was not there. Many issues remain unresolved. There are life questions, baseball questions and responsibility questions, and none of them have black-and-white answers.

Life questions. When Cabrera arrived in camp in 2010, he said he had quit drinking. He denied then that he was an alcoholic, although Dombrowski used various forms of that word several times in talking to reporters on Saturday.

Whether Wednesday was the first time Cabrera has consumed alcohol since the 2009 incident is unknown and probably irrelevant. Cabrera has agreed to be evaluated by a doctor, and he is expected to undergo treatment, though how extensive it will be is unclear.

?He acknowledges he will do whatever he needs to do to be cooperative,? Dombrowski said. ?He understands the importance of making sure this is properly evaluated.?

Baseball questions. Will Cabrera be ready to play when the season starts? Let?s not overstate the impact of Cabrera missing the opening of spring training. He is a superstar, one of the best hitters in the game, and the early portion of spring training is hardly vital for a man as talented as he is. The team appears confident that whatever treatment Cabrera undergoes, he?ll be available on opening day. Even if he enters a 30-day in-treatment program, he would be out by late March.

Responsibility questions.What should the Tigers do? The team will give him every chance to put his life and career back together. Dombrowski made it clear the team won?t punish him.

How should his teammates and coaches respond? Tigers manager Jim Leyland tried to not talk about Miguel Cabrera on Saturday because he was irked that his previous comments were characterized as not taking the issue serious enough. As much as he tried to avoid the issue, Leyland kept circling back to two comments: ?I?m no expert? on substance abuse or what happened. And ?I love the kid.?

Leyland raised the two most important points. Nobody with the Tigers?not Dombrowski, not Leyland, not any player?knows the full truth of what?s going on with Cabrera. They?re all at least slightly in the dark. Regardless of what Cabrera did or didn?t do, everybody loves him. He is routinely described as a big kid, a charming thing to say about a ballplayer with Cabrera?s easygoing smile, but a troubling thing to say about a man with Cabrera?s apparent problem.

The No. 1 thing players and coaches will give Cabrera upon his return is support?not shame or guilt. ?This is one of the best teams I?ve ever been on, and I?m not saying that talent-wise,? said third baseman Brandon Inge. ?If you can?t get along with the guys we have in this clubhouse this year, you have problems. And you probably don?t belong here.

?With that being said, it?s going to make things pretty easy on Cabrera because there?s not going to be one guy who holds a grudge against him. There?s not going to be one guy here who?s going to be mad at him. Everyone will accept him and understand that everyone has problems.?

The most important questions fall to Cabrera. How he responds to this?with humility or denial?will speak volumes. Will he get off the bottom that he hit on Wednesday night? Or by pretending that he has got it under control, will he stay there?

read cricket news read golf news read baseball news read soccer news more sports news