The Tigers' Miguel Cabrera certainly belongs in the conversation over who is the best, or most feared player in baseball. Back-to-back MVP awards and three straight AL batting titles will do that. So will becoming the first player to win a Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski. In a game that pays its superstars well -- especially in a year it doubles its national TV revenues -- there's little surprise that salaries for for its top stars are rising. But there was a collective shock Friday when Cabrera, with two more guaranteed years left on his current contract, signed an extension that guarantees him at least $292 million for the next 10 years.
Big money for your best talent? Of course. But to guarantee that kind of money when a player will be 40 just seems absurd. Pay him now, overpay him at 34? Expected. But at 38 and 40, when the aging process and normal wear-and-tear will render him far less productive? I don't see the logic for that -- no matter how good Cabrera is today or how deep the pockets of the Tigers ownership might be. The Alex Rodriguez deal as well as the steep decline in Albert Pujols' numbers (in contracts carrying both players to age 42) have not served as a lesson.
Is there a limit to the spiral of salaries? None that I can see today or anytime soon.
And proving there's more than enough money for (almost) everyone, the Angels locked up their superstar Mike Trout yesterday to a six-year extension worth $144-million.
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