Detroit Tigers' Miguel Cabrera to earn record $292 million over 10 years

Deal keeps 8-time All Star with team through 2023

DETROIT – Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera will earn a baseball-record $292 million over the next decade under a $248 million, eight-year deal with the Detroit Tigers.

Cabrera, who turns 31 on April 18, is due $44 million over the final two years of his $152.3 million, eight-year contract that runs through 2015. The new deal was announced Friday at a news conference in Lakeland, Fla.

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"Miguel is the most prolific hitter in baseball and one of the best players in the game," said Tigers President, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager David Dombrowski. "We are thrilled Miguel had a desire to continue his stellar career in Detroit and remain in a Tigers uniform for many years to come."

The contract's average of $31 million tops the previous mark of $30,714,286 set by Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw in his $215 million, seven-year deal in January. The total commitment tops the record set by New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez with a $275 million, 10-year agreement in 2007.

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"I couldn't be more excited to stay in a Tigers uniform for the rest of my career," said Miguel Cabrera. "Since coming to Detroit, my family and I have been treated so great by the organization, so we'd like to thank Mr. Ilitch, Mr. Dombrowski and all the Tigers fans for all the support. I'm thrilled that I'll continue to represent the great city of Detroit and the amazing fans for many years to come."

Cabrera has been selected an All-Star eight times during his career, including four times in the National League with the Florida Marlins (2004-07) and four times with the Tigers (2010-13). Cabrera has batted .321 (1995x6218) with 1064 runs scored, 412 doubles, 14 triples, 365 home runs and 1260 RBI in 1660 games during his major league career. Acquired by the Tigers from the Florida Marlins in December of 2007, Cabrera was originally signed by the Marlins as a non-drafted free agent in July of 1999. He is currently fifth all-time in Detroit club history with a .327 career batting average and eighth with 227 home runs. (Source: Baseball-Reference).

Cabrera was named the American League's Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive year in 2013, joining Hal Newhouser as the only two players in franchise history to win the award in back-to-back seasons. He is one of only eight Tigers players to capture the MVP award, joining Mickey Cochrane (1934), Hank Greenberg (1935, 1940), Charlie Gehringer (1937), Hal Newhouser (1944, 1945), Denny McLain (1968), Willie Hernandez (1984) and Justin Verlander (2011) in accomplishing the feat. He became the first native of Venezuela to be named the Most Valuable Player.

He led the American League with a .330 batting average, 44 home runs and 139 RBI during the 2012 season to become the first player to capture the Triple Crown since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski did so in 1967. It marked the 14th time since 1900 in which a player won the Triple Crown. He became the 12th player to accomplish the feat during that time and the second Tigers player to do so, joining Ty Cobb (1909).

He has led the American League in batting average (2011, 2012, 2013), home runs (2008, 2012) and RBI (2010, 2012) during his Tigers career, joining Ty Cobb to become only the second player in Tigers history to lead the American League in all three categories. He has collected 100-or-more RBI in each of his last 10 seasons (2004-13) and is the only major league player with 100-or-more RBI in each of the past 10 seasons.

He established the Miguel Cabrera Foundation in 2012, has participated in Baseball Fantasy Camp for Kids, provided the seed money to launch Play Baseball Detroit, hosted "Keeping Kids in the Game" to raise over $200,000 to benefit the Children's Hospital of Michigan Foundation, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, the Miguel Cabrera Foundation and the Detroit Tigers Foundation and has continued his "Cabrera's Chamitos" program at Comerica Park. Additionally, he was named the Tigers winner of the Roberto Clemente Award in 2012 and 2013.