Fansided

Each MLB team’s biggest X-factor

By Joshua Sadlock

TEMPE, AZ - FEBRUARY 24: Shohei Ohtani
TEMPE, AZ - FEBRUARY 24: Shohei Ohtani /
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LAKELAND, FL – MARCH 07: Miguel Cabrera #24 of the Detroit Tigers bats during the Spring Training game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium on March 7, 2018 in Lakeland, Florida. The Blue Jays defeated the Tigers 6-5. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
LAKELAND, FL – MARCH 07: Miguel Cabrera #24 of the Detroit Tigers bats during the Spring Training game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium on March 7, 2018 in Lakeland, Florida. The Blue Jays defeated the Tigers 6-5. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

Detroit Tigers: Miguel Cabrera

Justin Verlander, J.D. Martinez and Ian Kinsler are gone, leaving Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez as the lone veteran holdovers on the Detroit Tigers roster. The writing had been on the wall for a few years, but the Tigers were finally forced to accept their fate as a team destined for a rebuild at the trade deadline last year.

Age and an inability to balance MLB roster construction with a deep farm system finally did the Tigers in after over a decade spent in World Series contention. One player who had always seemed immune to the power of Father Time was 11-time All-Star Cabrera, who hit .316/393/.563 with 38 home runs and 108 RBI in his age-33 season to win his seventh Silver Slugger.

Cabrera fell off a cliff last year and had the worst season of his career, hitting .249/.329/.399 with only 16 home runs and 60 RBI in 130 games. The Tigers are pulling the plug for the next few years, but are on the hook for $184 million for Cabrera over the next six years. There is no way to spin this as money well spent, and Detroit may very well be the last team in MLB history to commit over $30 million to a player in his age-40 season.

For the Tigers to have any chance to shed some of the remaining money owed to their future Hall of Famer, they will need him to show flashes of his old form. They’ll have to eat a large portion of it, but some salary relief could be found if Cabrera bounces back. That’s the best-case scenario for the Tigers and their first baseman going forward.

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