Miggy Angry About Sign-Stealing Accusations, But Were Rangers In Right? [NSFW VIDEO]
By Will Burchfield
@Burchie_kid
The Tigers' 5-2 loss to the Rangers on Sunday night included a dose of controversy in the seventh inning.
Miguel Cabrera and Rangers reliever Sam Dyson had a verbal spat after Dyson called out Cabrera for relaying signs to J.D. Martinez from second base.
Cabrera was clearly upset with the accusation, pointing to someone on the Rangers and yelling, "He started that motherfu**ing sh*t."
Miguel Cabrera isn't very happy about getting accused of stealing signs... pic.twitter.com/cpHlC5Fs8B
— Mike Sullivan (@MikeSullivan) May 22, 2017
During the next at-bat, Dyson stepped off the mound and approached Cabrera, after which Cabrera appeared to say, "Excuse me? What do you mean?"
Miggy was then talked down by Rangers infielders and fellow Venezuelans Elvis Andrus and Rougned Odor.
Miguel Cabrera doesn't appear to be a big Sam Dyson fan... https://t.co/iFjabM1MwS
— Tater Talk: A Baseball Podcast (@TaterTalkPod) May 22, 2017
Brad Ausmus downplayed the incident afterward.
"I think it was just a misunderstanding. Miggy wasn't stealing signs. If he was stealing signs, he certainly wouldn't be that blatant about it. Miggy was just trying to let the bench know that (Dyson) has a changeup. That's all it was. It was a misunderstanding. He wasn't stealing signs. I just think Dyson, for some reason, thought he was," Ausmus said.
Dyson gave the same explanation.
"He was telling the dugout what I was throwing, the changeup. I don't think he was stealing signs or anything of that nature. I wasn't really angry, I was just telling him he was too smart. I don't get a temper tantrum too easily, I just said something to him. That was it. It wasn't a big deal. I thought he may have been picking signs, but he wasn't. No worries, no issues, no complaints," Dyson said.
As Rangers color analyst and former MLB pitcher C.J. Nitkowski pointed out, Dyson had reason to be upset.
Asked to further explain his exchange with Cabrera, Dyson said, "I told him he was too smart. I said three words. 'You're too smart.' Then he said, 'What did you say?' And then I turned around. I might have repeated it once or twice. That was it."
Still, it didn't sit well with Miggy.
Miguel Cabrera still not happy about whatever was said to him by Dyson on the field. He's talking to others in Tigers dugout about exchange.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) May 22, 2017
The Tigers and Rangers will next cross paths in August for a three-game series in Texas.