Miguel Cabrera: It's a 'special day'

— -- LAKELAND, Fla. -- Calling him a player with "a chance to be one of the best hitters in the history of the game," Detroit Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said Friday that his team's eight-year, $248 million extension with first baseman Miguel Cabrera was a chance he had no regrets about taking.

"When you're talking about the best player in the game, sure, you feel a little uncertain," Dombrowski said at a news conference announcing the contract. "But ... to get a deal done, you need to take that chance. I'll take the chance on him."

Counting the two years and $44 million remaining on Cabrera's present contract, the deal guarantees the two-time MVP a total of $292 million over the next 10 years. He would be 40 years old in the final year of the contract, in 2023. There are also two vesting options, for a reported $30 million each, that would become guaranteed if Cabrera finishes in the top 10 of the MVP voting in the previous season, Dombrowski told ESPN.com.

Asked whether the length of the contract concerned him, given the way 10-year deals for Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols have gone wrong in recent years, Dombrowski admitted that "any time you give a long-term contract, you're concerned. That's just the way it is, because anything can happen in this game."

But the Tigers president said he was more comfortable giving a deal of this type to Cabrera because they have known each other for so long, going back to Dombrowski's days as the general manager of the Marlins.

"I know Albert Pujols. I know Alex Rodriguez. But I don't know them [the way he knows Cabrera]," Dombrowski said. "I'm sure their organizations felt comfortable doing so at the time. But I know [Cabrera]. I know how dedicated he is, and what a hard worker he is, and committed to excellence. And he wanted to be here."

Dombrowski said that while he touched base with Cabrera's agents, Fern Cuza and Diego Benz, early in spring training, the deal really came together over the last three weeks. And Dombrowski said that both Cabrera and his agents had made it clear numerous times that Cabrera wanted to finish his career in Detroit.

"This is the place I want to be," said Cabrera, who will turn 31 on April 18. "I love to play in Detroit. I want to play in Detroit for a long time."

Asked if he could see himself becoming a designated hitter by the end of the contract, Cabrera said: "I don't know yet. I've got to wait 10 more years. ... Wait till I get to 40 and ask me that, and I'll tell you what I'm going to do."

Dombrowski said he felt now was the right time to negotiate this extension, with two years left on Cabrera's current contract, because if the Tigers had waited longer, the "lure of free agency" would have made it more difficult to reach a deal.

"Perhaps if you had something you needed to observe about the player, it would be different," Dombrowski said. "But I don't think we need to observe anything about Miguel's ability. I think he's the best player in baseball."

Although the Tigers have been criticized for not getting a discount by negotiating the contract with two years remaining before Cabrera's free agency, Dombrowski said, "The dollars generally don't go down. ... So it seems to me this was the optimum time."

Dombrowski conceded he had concerns about a contract that would take Cabrera through age 40.

"Any time you get later in your career, when you start reaching 39, 40, I'm not so smart to know how any hitter's going to be at 39 or 40. I know a lot of people will point to individuals that fall off, and I understand that. But I think you also have to look at the other point, is that if you go a couple more years [before signing him], I don't think that anybody, if Miguel puts up the numbers that we think he will in the next couple of years, is going to think that he's not going to sign an eight-year deal out there ... and maybe longer. There's been a couple of 10-year deals at that [age]."

"Do I expect him to win a triple crown when he's 40? No," Dombrowski continued. "But maybe. He's pretty good."