Detroit Tigers officially send John Hicks to AAA to make room for Miguel Cabrera

The Detroit Tigers announced today that John Hicks was being optioned to AAA to make room for Miguel Cabrera on the active roster.

The Detroit Tigers made the difficult decision to send John Hicks back to the minor leagues today to open a spot on the 25-man roster for Miguel Cabrera. This was the speculated move after the Tigers announced that Cabrera would return on Tuesday, but they didn’t make it official until this afternoon.

Hicks had become something of a fan favorite after filling in admirably for the injured slugger, hitting .423/.444/.654 with seven runs batted in in seven games with the Tigers.

Evan Woodbery of MLive had the announcement on Twitter.

Unfortunately the Tigers simply don’t have enough room for another first baseman or catcher on the roster and his path to playing time evaporates with the return of Cabrera.

Despite his hot hitting, it was unlikely that Hicks would be able to keep up the pace. The 27-year-old journeyman has a history of modest success in the minor leagues (he owns a .739 career OPS in AAA) but nothing to suggest even average production at the major league level.

Hicks is now a great depth option at both catcher and first base, but he’s not a good enough hitter to justify keeping him on the bench for emergency pinch hitting duty.

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The Tigers’ next decision will surround center fielder JaCoby Jones. Jones is currently on rehab assignment in AAA, but the Tigers could opt to option him to AAA to continue to develop. If they decide to bring him back to the major leagues the Tigers will have to choose to jettison one of Jim Adduci or Mikie Mahtook.