Tigers, Miguel Cabrera reach deal

Two-time American League MVP Miguel Cabrera has agreed to terms with the Detroit Tigers on a new 10-year contract that will pay him just under $300 million, a baseball source said.

The new contract, which covers the two years remaining on Cabrera's current deal and eight additional years, is expected to become official later this week, the source said.

CBSSports.com earlier reported Detroit and Cabrera were closing in on an agreement that would make the superstar slugger a Tiger for life.

Cabrera, who turns 31 in April, is an eight-time All-Star in 11 seasons with the Marlins and Tigers. He's a .321 career hitter with 365 home runs.

He's the only major league player with 100 or more RBIs in each of the past 10 seasons, and last year he became the first Tiger to win three consecutive batting titles since Ty Cobb achieved the feat from 1917-1919.

Cabrera's last extension with the Tigers paid him $22 million this year and next year, so the new deal will add eight years and about $250 million to that total.

If the new contract is calculated as a single,10-year entity, it will surpass the 10-year, $275 million contract that Alex Rodriguez signed with the New York Yankees in December 2007 as the largest deal in Major League Baseball history.

The Tigers completed the extension with Cabrera just a few days after talks broke off on a long-term deal with pitcher Max Scherzer, the reigning American League Cy Young award winner.

The Tigers said that Scherzer and his agent, Scott Boras, rejected a long-term offer that would have placed Scherzer among the highest-paid pitchers in the game, while Boras said it was the Tigers who took a pass on a multiyear offer from Scherzer.

Regardless of how the breakdown occurred, Scherzer's negotiations have been tabled. Barring a surprise, he will pitch for Detroit this season and hit the open market as a free agent in November.