Miguel Cabrera batting against Angels in September 2009. Photo/Wikimedia
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]f you ever want to figure out how much something is worth, all you have to do is determine how much someone is willing to pay you for it.
For Miguel Cabrera, the Detroit Tigers feel he’s worth about $30MM a year for the next decade (10 years and $292MM if you want to be exact), as they reached an agreement yesterday for what is the biggest contract ever given to a player in Major League Baseball history.
There’s no denying that Cabrera is not only the greatest right-handed hitting batter in baseball, he’s arguably one of the greatest batters in all of baseball history. When you start comparing numbers to guys who played almost 100 years ago, you’ve done a good job putting yourself with some very elite company.
Coming off his third-consecutive batting title and second-straight American League MVP award, Cabrera very much deserves to be compensated as one of the best players in baseball. His leadership and talent on the field are well and above anyone else the Tigers have on their team, and few players in all of baseball can come close to replacing him.
Does that mean he’s worth every dollar he’s going to get paid? The answer isn’t quite as simple as you might think.
Tigers’ owner Mike Ilitch has never been shy about expressing his desire to watch the Tigers win a World Series before he died.
Although he might be passionate about the Red Wings (which he also owns), a lot of people don’t know that Ilitch once played for the Tigers in the minor leagues. Ilitch might not have been good enough to play for the Tigers but he made enough money in his life to do the next best thing; buying the team back in 1992.
It really wasn’t until the mid 2000s when the Tigers started to become legitimate contenders, and they solidified their position as such when they traded for Cabrera from the Florida Marlins in 2008.
Since then, Cabrera has not only lived up to every expectation he’s had but also exceeded them.
Cabrera made history again last year, being only the 5th player to ever win the AL batting title three years in a row (the last time being when Wade Boggs did it from ’85-’88). Add in that plus his consecutive MVP awards and it’s easy to see why the Tigers wanted to sign him for what will likely be the end of his career.
This contract is different from the deal the Tigers gave to Prince Fielder a few years ago, because it guarantees he’ll be under contract until he’s 40. Sluggers such as Cabrera don’t historically fare well in the later stages of their career, so many people are skeptical of why the Tigers were willing to give him such a large guaranteed amount of money.
The first reason is the Tigers cannot afford to lose Cabrera to free agency. He is the catalyst of their lineup and it is highly unlikely you’d be able to find someone to effectively replace him.
Assuming he stays healthy the next two seasons, it would be very likely the Tigers would have had to make a much larger financial commitment in order to convince him to stay.
Realistically, I think the real reason they locked him up is because there is no doubt he’s become a Detroit sports icon.
Don’t believe me? Look around Comerica Park and see how many Cabrera jerseys and t-shirts you see. Detroit fans love Cabrera and he hasn’t been shy to talk about how much he loves being here.
In terms of productivity to cost, Cabrera may very well not live up to every dollar he’s going to get paid the next decade, but if he helps this team win a World Series, it’ll be money well spent.
