Cabrera signed a two-year contract for $16 million with the Toronto Blue Jays on November 19, 2012. In a game against the Detroit Tigers on April 9, 2013, Cabrera recorded his 1,000th career hit, a single off starter Aníbal Sánchez. Cabrera battled a sore hamstring and quadriceps muscle through the first two months of the regular season, but the injuries did not warrant time on the disabled list. Cabrera was occasionally removed from games in the later innings to rest his legs.