The Tigers Aren't Trading Miguel Cabrera

There aren't very many parts of the United States who are feeling the crunch of our struggling economy more than the city of Detroit, and as a result, odds are there are going to be a lot more empty seats at Comerica Park this season than there have been in recent years. This isn't good news for a team with the fifth highest payroll in MLB at just over $115 million.

$15 million of that is going to Miguel Cabrera, who is in the second year of a eight-year $153 million contract. According to a report on ESPN if the Tigers fall out of contention, they might consider trading Cabrera to provide the team some financial relief, but general manager Dave Dombrowski says there's no way in the world that's going to happen.

"There's nothing that can happen this year that can make us think about trading Miguel Cabrera," Dombrowski said. "...The guy's only 26 and might be battling for the MVP Award.

"It's not going to happen. We have an owner (Mike Ilitch) that would never let that happen. It upsets me."

Cabrera is off to a pretty decent start to this season, hitting .451 with four homers and 12 runs driven in, so odds are that there would be a number of teams willing to make an offer for his services. Of course, what Dombrowski failed to point out in his denial of the story is that if the team did trade Cabrera, there would probably be even more empty seats at Comerica Park afterwards.

So by dealing him the franchise might actually risk losing more money.