Photo Credit: Orlin Wagner/AP
So what do you pay arguably the best player in baseball? How does the highest salary ever sound? If you are Miguel Cabrera it sounds pretty great! It was announced earlier the Detroit Tigers and Cabrera have come to terms on a ten-year deal worth just under $300 million.
That surpasses the infamous $275 million the New York Yankees gave third baseman Alex Rodriguez . His contract also offers the options of a deal for the following two years that would bring the value of the contract to $352 million.
Regardless of Cabrera being the best player in baseball, a ten year deal is just ludicrous. The Yankees and Rodriguez are a perfect example of what happens when you give a superstar a long term contract and they are not the same player they once are. I have never been a fan of contracts that extends longer than six or seven years, especially when that player is 31, like Cabrera. Even though he will likely become a full-time DH by that time, the deal could still be a big bust by year seven or eight.
The Angels gave 32 year old Albert Pujols a ten-year deal and he has not been the same player he was in St. Louis. Luckily for Cabrera, he will be staying on the team he currently is on. He has played on the Tigers since 2008. He won the triple crown in 2012 and nearly repeated the honor last season.
