I found this over at the Detroit Tiger Weblog, according to sources at ESPN the Tigers have signed Miguel Cabrera to an 8-year 153.3M dollar contract. The size of this deal has been widely speculated with some going as far to suggest that Cabrera would become the next $200M dollar man. That obviously did not happen but having this sorted out before the season is a good thing.
While details aren’t available, the text of the ESPN article leads me to believe that this deal begins after this season with Cabrera playing under his existing 1-year deal:
Cabrera, 24, was eligible for arbitration in 2009 and could become a free agent after the season ended. He will earn $11.3 million in 2008, and then an average of $19 million per year through 2016.
This will be clarified as the deal is formally announced. My initial reaction is that I’m very glad to see this deal get done. I had assumed it would or the initial trade would not have been completed anyway. This, I believe, is the largest contract in Tiger history and Cabrera is certainly worthy of it.
[UPDATE] – Some very quick reactions around the blogosphere and news outlets to this deal. The general consensus is that Detroit got a good deal as expectations had been raised for a substantially larger deal, though this is a significant sum of money as the ESPN article now points out:
Overall, it would become the fourth-richest contract in baseball history. Cabrera would trail Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez ($275 million), Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter ($189 million) and Boston outfielder Manny Ramirez ($160 million) in the total salary package listing.
Detroit will be getting Miguel during the prime of his playing years which sets this contract apart from the others. Alex Rodriguez was 32 when he signed his recent $275M 10-year contract, though he was 25 when he signed a $252M deal with Texas. Derek Jeter was 27 when his deal with the Yankees was signed and Manny was 29 years old. The Tigers have likely signed a player who’s skills will increase through the contract and Will Carroll at Baseball Prospectus points out that PECOTA doesn’t have Cabrera in decline until past 32 years old.
Other Links:
- Billfer discusses how the size of this deal stacks up against projections using Baseball Prospectus MORP and other salary projections.
- Sports Unfiltered laments over why the Angels should have been the ones signing Cabrera.
- Lee Panas from Tiger Tales sees many good things in this deal.
- Kurt at Mack Ave. Tigers believes this is a very good deal too.
- Danny Knobler verifies that the deal has been agreed to. Additionally, he’s dropping a bombshell of Curtis Granderson going to the DL for 3 weeks. What?
[UPDATE-2] – The deal is a 7-year extension to the existing 1-year 11M dollar contract according to Danny Knobler at MLive. This puts Cabrera in Detroit through the 2015 season, so still very long.
It’s an eight-year deal, for an average of $19 million a year, or $152 million total. But the eight years includes 2008 (Cabrera had already signed a one-year deal at $11.3 million), so the new contract will run through 2015.
So in reality, Cabrera is signing for seven additional years, and a little more than $140 million.
On a side note, Al Avila made an appearance on the FSN broadcast today and didn’t confirm or deny the rumor, saying only that they were progressing in negotiations. I’m assuming that since he is a exec with the ballclub he cannot/won’t confirm anything until the deal is complete. According to the ESPN sources, the only thing left is a physical on Monday.
Below is opinion on this deal from Buster Olney:
Frankly, I think a bit too much is made on his weight and ability to keep it off. Sure, he’s in better shape and I’m sure that helps him. But the biggest question facing Cabrera’s ability in the future isn’t his weight.