As part of his new eight-year, $253 million extension with the Tigers reigning back-to-back MVP Miguel Cabrera has bonuses for winning the award again or capturing another Triple Crown in the future.
Via the Associated Press, beginning in 2016 his contract will pay an additional $2 million for each MVP award and another $1 million for each Triple Crown, which is leading the league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in.
So, if the deal would have been in place previously Cabrera would have been in line for an extra $3 million in 2012 and $2 million in 2013. Interestingly, he won the so-called sabermetric Triple Crown in 2013 by leading the league in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage, but the Tigers didn’t put any bonuses for that into the extension.
MVP voting will also have an impact on the 2024 and 2025 team options in his contract, because they kick in for $30 million each season if he finishes among the top 10 vote-getters the previous year. All of which means baseball writers with MVP votes have the ability to make Cabrera a whole bunch of extra money, particularly since a top-10 finish typically only requires a few up-ballot votes. Of course, who knows what the MVP voting process will look like come 2025. By that point they might just let Mike Trout pick a winner each year.
