AL Central preview: Cabrera only adds to Tigers
By The Heckler
BaseballBigMouth.com baseball news
Revealing the worst-kept secret in recent Detroit Tigers history, today, the team officially announced that they have inked all-world third-basemen Miguel Cabrera to a seven-year contract extension. The deal, which will carry the 25-year old through this year’s deal up through 2015, is worth more than $141 million. It is the fourth largest deal in Major League Baseball history, trailing only Alex Rodriguez’ $275 million, 10-year contract with the Yankees; shortstop Derek Jeter’s 10-year $189 million contract and Boston’s Manny Ramirez’ 8-year, $160 million deal.
The extension was imperative in relation to the large price the team paid earlier in the year (six players in total, including top prospects Cameron Maybin and pitcher Andrew Miller) which also netted the team lefty Dontrell Willis. Cabrera’s father reportedly cited the presence of other Venezuelan players such as Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen, not to mention the team’s obvious committment to winning both today and down the road, as key factors in reaching the agreement.
Cabrera’s dominating prowess at the plate (he’s already hit 138 HRs in his young career along with a .313 average) adds to an already powerful Tigers’ lineup that also included Curtis Granderson, Placido Polonco, Gary Sheffield, Ordonez, Guillen, Edgar Renteria, Jacques Jones and Ivan Rodriguez. Based on projections, the team is expected to challenge for the all-time record for runs scored with everyone healthy and performing as per usual. If the team’s pitching, headed up by Justin Verlander (coming off 18 wins and a no-hitter in just his second season) Kenny Rogers, Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson and Willis — and more pointedly, their bullpen anchored by Todd Jones — can hold serve, the Tigers will be the team to beat in this year’s AL Central, even up against last year’s incumbent Cleveland Indians.
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