LAKELAND, Fla. — Miguel Cabrera’s bid to become one of the greatest hitters of all time apparently will take place in a Detroit Tigers uniform.

CBS Sports first reported Thursday that the Tigers and Cabrera have agreed to a long-term extension that will keep him with the club at least through 2021, if not longer.

Fox Sports reports that the extension is for eight years and $248 million ($31 million per year), the second deal in baseball history worth at least $30 million per season. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, one year from free agency, signed a long-term deal for $30.7 million per season.

That would put Cabrera’s total contract at 10 years, $292 million (through 2023), according to Fox Sports. That would surpass Alex Rodriguez for the largest lucrative contract in baseball history, by total value.

The designated hitter rule means that Cabrera, who turns 31 in mid-April, can remain a daily threat in the lineup even if he reaches a point where he no longer plays every day in the field. Cabrera has returned to first base this year after two years at third base.

—Detroit Free Press

NFL

Conduct in the workplace in focus

ORLANDO, Fla. — There were no votes, no new rules on the subject, but the NFL owners meetings concluded Wednesday with one clear message to players and teams: unsportsmanlike conduct on the field and unprofessional conduct in the workplace will no longer be tolerated.

“After looking at a lot of tape, and after talking and consulting with different entities … we agreed that we have an issue on the field,” Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. “We agreed that we are going to get it under control as soon as we possibly can.

“We’ve got to change our conduct on the field. We’ve got to bring the element of respect in its highest level back to our game. We are going to clean the game up on the field between the players. The in-your-face taunting, those types of things.”

There are already provisions in the NFL rule book for unsportsmanlike conduct; now it will be enforced like never before. Fisher spoke at a press conference Wednesday morning in his role as a member of the league’s competition committee.

Fisher strongly disagreed with the notion that coaches should refrain from going into the locker room because it’s considered the players’ domain.

“My personal opinion is that if you’re a head coach that does not go into the locker room, you’re not going to be a head coach very long,” Fisher said. “If you allow that environment to become a sanctuary, if you will, then you lose control real quickly.”

— St. Louis Post-Dispatch