The Detroit Tigers are looking to deal, and in order to save themselves from financial ruin, they are willing to part with superstar first baseman Miguel Cabrera.
According to a foxsports.com report , Cabrera is available if a buyer can be found. Detroit GM Dave Dembrowski, though careful to avoid openly shopping, has been using back channels to contact potential suitors for not only Cabrera, but highly paid stars Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson as well.
Though either of the other two could be the missing piece for a good team, Cabrera would instantly improve any offense into which he could be inserted. The 25-year-old has a career batting line of .311/.383/.542, numbers unmatched at such a young age by any current players not named Pujols. His 209 home runs put him among the 10 best men in history through age 25, and he won his first home run title in 2008 after being traded from one home run-suppressing environment (Florida) to another in Detroit.
Cabrera has been fourth or better in batting average in his league three times, most recently this season (he hit .324). He has cracked top 10 leaderboards in on-base percentage three times and slugging average five times, all in six-and-a-half seasons of Major League work.
If money were no object, Detroit would hang onto its slugging savant. Unfortunately, that's not the case, and with Cabrera due an astronomical $126 million over the next six seasons, Dembrowski must either move Cabrera or face complete financial paralysis for the next half-decade.
The FOX Sports story lists the Mets, Red Sox, Mariners, and Angels as potential destinations for Cabrera. Though the Yankees have an incumbent first baseman in MVP runner-up Mark Teixeira, they might be coaxed into looking at Cabrera as a DH who could occasionally spell Teixeira at first. Certainly, to say the least, they have the money to make the deal work.
Understanding that New York will prioritize Teixeira, however, I will stipulate that the aforementioned four franchises are the primary contenders to bag Cabrera, if he moves. The question, then, is which one has the best shot.
Realistically, any one of these four could afford and assimilate Cabrera. Boston has been searching for a slugging first baseman, operates in a huge market, and has a modicum of talented youngsters, which would be all it takes to land Cabrera unless Detroit decides to eat some of his mega-deal. Ditto for the Mets.
The Angels, despite having switch-hitting first baseman and top five 2009 MVP vote-getter Kendry Morales already on board, might consider moving one or the other of Morales and Cabrera to DH, and have prospects aplenty with which to entice Dembrowski. The Mariners, a perpetual dark horse, could choose to pursue Cabrera only if they cannot lure Jason Bay or Matt Holliday to the Pacific Northwest.
For my money, Boston is the best fit. Cabrera could rotate into the DH role whenever the Sox face a tough left-hander, allowing them to sit lefty slugger David Ortiz and get switch-hitting catcher Jason Varitek into the lineup in his stead (Victor Martinez, Boston's big-ticket 2009 trade deadline acquisition, would slide to first). Besides, while all four clubs have financial flexibility, Boston's is greatest.
New York falls next in line, but with holes in their outfield, could as easily choose to chase the less-expensive Bay or Holliday. They could look to free agent options like Nick Johnson to fill their first base void, or try trading for an Adrian Gonzalez or Joey Votto-caliber replacement for the aging Carlos Delgado.
If Detroit were to demonstrate a willingness to pay some of Cabrera's salary, the pool of suitors could expand dramatically. The story suggests they offer to pay as much as $5 million annually for the balance of the deal. That seems unrealistically high to me, and anyway, there are teams that could jump in if Detroit merely offered to help offset short-term costs.
Primarily, this could mean the Chicago Cubs. Chicago will have serious money coming off the books after 2010 and 2011, and could afford to offer a very solid package in return if Detroit would assume some of Cabrera's 2010 salary. It would even be that the two could swap first basemen, with the Cubs sending All-Star Derrek Lee and his $13 million one-year price tag to the Tigers for Cabrera and perhaps $2 million more. Alternatively, Chicago GM Jim Hendry could send Lee to the Mets, and then add whatever prospects he received in return to a potential Cabrera package.
Wherever this prodigious young slugger lands, he will make a tremendous impact in 2010. Teams will pick up the phone for as long as Dembrowski continues to dial it. Detroit's management will simply have to be creative in order to move Cabrera in whatever way best suits the long-term goals of one of the American League's most storied franchises.
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