By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Marlins' Miguel Cabrera (20) is greeted by teammate Ivan Rodriguez after his solo homer in the third inning against the Chicago Cubs in Game 1 of the National League championship series Tuesday at Wrigley Field. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

CHICAGO - Miguel Cabrera, the 20-year-old Florida Marlins phenomenon, was nearly a Red.

Cabrera's youth coach in Venezuela was Felix Delgado. Delgado also is a Reds scout and brought Cabrera to the Reds' developmental camp.

"We had first dibs on him," Reds scout Johnny Almaraz said. "I really wanted to sign him. We couldn't come up with the money."

Cabrera would have signed with the Reds for $800,000 in January 1999, Almaraz said. He eventually signed with the Marlins for $1.6 million in July 1999.

"We knew about him before he was exposed (to other teams)," Almaraz said.

Tuesday night at Wrigley Field, Cabrera hit a home run off Chicago's Carlos Zambrano in the third inning. That made him the second-youngest player in postseason history to hit a home run.

He hit .268 with 12 home runs and 62 RBI in 87 games with the Marlins this year. He played left field until Mike Lowell was hurt, then took over at third base. The Marlins went 20-10 in Cabrera's starts at third.

"He did a great job for us," Marlins manager Jack McKeon said. "He's going to be something."