In light of the Manny Machado and Bryce Harper contracts signed the last few weeks, the biggest contracts in baseball history have been a big discussion point. Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera has one of those, though it's a bit complicated. His current deal is technically eight years and $240 million that covers the 2016-2023 seasons, though it was an extension signed in 2014 that was added on top of a previous extension.
Regardless, Cabrera is entering his age-36 season, played in only 38 games last season and has $154 million due to him over the next five seasons. It's hard to see him performing up to that standard moving forward, sure.
Of course ...
He hit .299/.395/.448 (130 OPS+) last season when he did play. He was just held to 38 games due to being injured. The Tigers offered him the deal. They didn't have to. No one is turning that deal down, either. MLB's salary structure means players in their early and sometimes prime years are underpaid. In cases of stars like Cabrera, they are often drastically underpaid. I made sure to point out last week that Cabrera absolutely would've been worth this deal if it were in the correct years.Keep those three points in mind as we explore comments in USA Today's article on Cabrera and his so-called "albatross" contract.
"I don't know why people get mad at us,'' Cabrera tells USA TODAY Sports. "They don't like it when we get money. Why weren't people mad the first five years when I wasn't getting paid?
"People can say I'm not worth this contract. They can say whatever they want, really. But they're not going to hurt my feelings.
"I'm not going to apologize. Why should anyone be sorry? I don't see any teams losing money. They all have it.''
Sing it, Miggy!
As we've said time and again in this very space, Major League Baseball is currently swimming in money. I love Cabrera's comment about when he was underpaid. There definitely weren't a large group of fans screaming that he deserved more at the time. Things evened out and then, yeah, the Tigers probably went a bit bonkers and more than evened it out.
Here's the biggest issue I have, though: This contract is most certainly not preventing the Tigers from doing anything they want to be doing. They are rebuilding and appear set to carry a $122.2 million payroll this season. Their salary commitment for 2020 is $61 million while it's only Cabrera in 2021 and beyond. Obviously they need to build with free agents, arbitration and pre-arbitration players around the salaried guys, but this isn't an organization that is handcuffed by Cabrera's deal moving forward. It carried a payroll of nearly $200 million in both 2016 and 2017. Last year that dipped to around $125 million and now it's lower.
Further, Cabrera's been with the Tigers for 11 seasons. He's hit .318/.398/.556 (155 OPS+) with 373 doubles, 327 homers, 1,112 RBI, seven All-Star trips, two MVPs, a Triple Crown, four AL Central titles and a pennant.
Before Cabrera arrived they had one playoff appearance in 20 years.
Any focus on Cabrera's deal now is such a slap in the face to what he's meant to that organization. The Tigers have much bigger problems than how much money a franchise icon is earning.
