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Some big league managers might be a bit upset if their star slugger got so wasted the night before he was supposed to report to spring training that he didn’t have the good sense to stop drinking James Buchanan’s scotch whiskey when being pulled over for a DUI. Tigers manager Jim Leyland, however, had nothing but nice things to say about Miguel Cabrera, a day after Cabrera’s arrest.

To recap, Cabrera had a drunken incident at the end of the 2009 regular season that may have cost the Tigers a playoff berth, then a few months later announced he’d gotten treatment and given up alcohol then went on to finish second in the AL MVP voting in 2010. Then Wednesday night, he’s drinking Scotch in front of the cops who pulled him over and asking “Don’t you know who I am?” That’s proabably enough to get you run out of a lot of towns, but if Leyland is at all concerned by these events, he’s refusing to show it to reporters.

“I think Miguel Cabrera is probably going to have the biggest year of his life,” said Leyland at the start of his 20th season as a big league manager. “I know for a fact, without getting into this situation, I know for a fact Miguel Cabrera is in the best shape of his life. He’s stronger than he’s ever been and he’s quicker than he’s ever been.”

There’s no word yet on when Cabrera will report to camp — he was bailed out of jail on Thursday morning. Still, Leyland vehemently shot down the possibility that the incident would have any effect on his team. “All these people that are getting dramatic about this,” he said. “It’s not going to affect the team at all.”