HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

Could this be the final 10-year deal for a player who will reach his 40s during the term?  Probably not!  Two days ago, the Detroit Tigers signed Miguel Cabrera to an eight-year extension giving Miguel a complete 10-year contract collectively worth $292 million.  That total value currently exceeds all other MLB multi-year contracts, including these:
 
Alex Rodriguez/$275 million/10 years/Yankees
Albert Pujols/$240 million/10 years/Angels
Robinson Cano/$240 million/10 years/Mariners
Joey Votto/$225 million/10 years/Reds
Clayton Kershaw/$215/7 years/Dodgers
Prince Fielder/$214 million/9 years/Rangers (but, was with the Tigers the first few seasons during the contract)
Michael Trout/$144.5 million/6 years (extension)/Angels

The last player from the list above (Michael Trout) just received his contract extension today.  That extension brings him to the age of 29, which is still considered young in baseball.  He and Clayton Kershaw are the only 2 players of the 7 that will not be anywhere near or over the age of 40 like the rest.  Simply put, both of their contracts make sense to me; but, the others are ridiculous.

What’s even worse is that all baseball fans, owners, general managers, and just about everyone who reads a newspaper or watches the news just finished experiencing the ramifications of what everyone had characterized as the worst sports contract of all time - the contract of Alex Rodriguez.  As he rounded near the age of 40, his health and offensive numbers proved to diminish - even with the aid of Biogenesis drugs.  The Yankees will still be stuck with his contract through 2017.

Getting back to the Tigers - they seemingly realized the original mistake they made a few years ago when they signed Prince Fielder to a $214 million contact by recently trading him to the Rangers; but, within just a few months of dumping his salary, they went ballistic by overspending on Cabrera.  Not only will he be in his 40s, but they already had him contracted for 2 more years.  Hence, they clearly bid against themselves with such a high amount at this stage of Cabrera’s career.  They also lessened their spending abilities towards extending the contract of their soon-to-be free agent, Max Scherzer.  He’s younger and had an expiring contract, which required more immediate attention!  Somebody in Detroit, either their owner (Mike Ilitch) or their General Manager (Dave Dombrowski) just made a “costly” mistake!!

Will they or any of the other owners (who claim to have spending restrictions) ever prove to have learned their lessons?  Will players such as Cabrera, Pujols, Cano, Votto, and Fielder show their worth as they get near the end of their contracts?  Will some of them end up like A-Rod in relation to cheating?

Of course some of the questions above will ultimately have the answer “Yes” because of one main reason (one that most baseball team owners haven’t learned yet):  history repeats itself.