CLEVELAND -- Miguel Cabrera is honored to be heading back to the Midsummer Classic after a one-year injury hiatus. He just wishes he had some teammates going along with him to the All-Star Game presented by MasterCard on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET in San Diego.
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"A lot more people in this clubhouse deserve to go over there," Cabrera said Wednesday morning. "If I could change that, I'd do it. But that's the way it is. That's the system. We can do nothing about it."
Cabrera was selected by players as an American League All-Star reserve, the 11th All-Star selection in his career, and his seventh in nine years as a Tiger. Unless Ian Kinsler wins the All-Star Final Vote, however, Cabrera will be the lone Tiger at next week's festivities, making it the first Midsummer Classic with only one Tiger since Carlos Guillen went to the 2008 game at old Yankee Stadium.
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That leaves Cabrera feeling "a little bit disappointed," he admitted.
"We have to make a push," Cabrera said, for Kinsler. "I think it's not fair. Kinsler, I think, is our best player in the lineup. He does everything to win games for us. Victor Martinez does the same thing. Nick Castellanos has had a heckuva year. Michael Fulmer has had a sensational year as a rookie.
"It's kind of hard. That's the way the system works. You can't do anything about that."
Fans can vote for the 2016 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Final Vote until 4 p.m. ET on Friday. The winners, as chosen exclusively by online fan voting totals, will be announced during a Final Vote-themed telecast of "MLB Now" featuring commentary from political analyst Jeff Greenfield, live on MLB Network and MLB.com from 4-5 p.m. ET. MLB Network will provide extensive coverage across all of its studio programming during the Final Vote, including interviews with the candidates, frequent updates, heat maps indicating the cities where votes are being cast for each candidate, news on player and club campaigns and a running countdown clock leading up to the announcement.
Baseball fans have cast nearly 600 million online votes for Final Vote candidates since the program's inception in 2002. In addition to MLB.com and the official club websites, fans can use their mobile devices to cast votes at MLB.com/vote or via text message. To receive the ballot, text the word "VOTE" to 89269. To vote for a specific player, fans can text their choice to 89269. EXAMPLE: Text "A3" to vote for AL Player 3 or "N3" to vote for NL Player 3. Message and data rates may apply. Text "STOP" to end and "HELP" for information. Mobile voting in Canada also is available and fans should text their choices to 101010.
For the fifth consecutive year, the Final Vote will include social balloting, as Twitter support for the 10 candidates over the last six hours of balloting will count toward their vote totals. From 10 a.m.-4 p.m. ET on Friday, any tweet that includes a designated player hashtag will be tabulated as part of the official vote total used to determine the winners.
As for Cabrera's part in the festivities, he said he will not take part in next Monday's T-Mobile Home Run Derby. Cabrera hasn't been a Derby participant since 2010, so the decision wasn't a surprise, though he said it wasn't so much tradition as injury prevention.
"Gotta get some rest for the second half," Cabrera said. "I'm battling my knee and my back, so I've gotta get some rest."
On Tuesday, watch the 2016 All-Star Game presented by MasterCard live on FOX, and during the game visit MLB.com to submit your choice for the Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet via the 2016 MLB All-Star Game MVP Vote. The 87th All-Star Game, in San Diego, will be televised nationally by FOX, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS, and worldwide by partners in more than 160 countries via MLB International's independent feed. ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB.com, MLB Network and SiriusXM will also provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information, please visit allstargame.com.