Miguel Cabrera, who turned 30 in April, won't become a free agent until after the 2015 season.

Cabrera is widely regarded as the best hitter in baseball, but in two years his value might change given his age and the recent track record of mid-30s free agents.

"If I represented him," said one veteran agent, "I'd try to negotiate something right now. He's got better leverage at 30 than he'd have if he was trying to go someplace else at 32. I'd be shooting not so much for the years, but for the highest AAV [average annual value] in the game. And I think he could get that."

Some executives have speculated something along the lines of three years, $90 million, with a vesting option or two, tacked onto the $44 million he has coming in 2014-15.