No Country for Old Men

Jon Heyman believes that it it's in Miguel Cabrera's best interests to sign a long term deal in Detroit. It may very well be, but Heyman's reasoning seems a bit loopy:

Miguel Cabrera couldn't have picked a more perfect team to be traded to than the Tigers. Here, he is part of a Murderers' Row of locker stalls. Edgar Renteria is to Cabrera's right, and Gary Sheffield, countryman Carlos Guillen and boyhood idol Magglio Ordonez are to his left. If Cabrera ever felt unprotected in the Marlins' lineup, that won't happen here, where he is like everyone's little brother . . .

. . . The best thing Cabrera could do is sign a deal to stay a decade in Detroit, where he'd benefit from the wisdom of stable, mature stars such as Ordonez and Guillen, the positive influence of legendary manager Jim Leyland and the love and admiration of their baseball officials, including GM Dave Dombrowski and top assistant Al Avila . . .

Edgar Renteria is 32. Gary Sheffield is 39. Carlos Guillen is 32. Magglio is 34. Jim Leyland is 62 (and a smoker to boot!). Dombrowski could be in Detroit for most of the next ten years, but the rest of those guys won't.

If I'm Miguel Cabrera it might be nice to have those guys around for a little while but their presence should be the last thing that enters into my decision to sign a long term deal with the Tigers.

Rather, I ask myself if Curtis Granderson, Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman are going to be around for the next ten years and, more importantly, whether Dombrowski has a plan to replace all of the aging parts and keep the Tigers in contention.