The source spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity yesterday because the contract was not yet final. Cabrera, a third baseman, must pass a physical before the agreement can be finalized.

Cabrera, 24, agreed on Jan. 18 to an $11.3 million salary for this season. The new deal adds $141 million over the following seven seasons.

Cabrera will earn $15 million in 2009, when he would have been eligible for salary arbitration. He will average $21 million annually over the next six seasons, when he would have been eligible for free agency.

Cabrera's average salary of $19,037,500 will be the fourth-highest in the major leagues behind those of New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez ($27.5 million), New York Mets pitcher Johan Santana ($22.9 million) and Boston leftfielder Manny Ramirez ($20 million).

Cabrera's deal will be the fourth-highest package. Rodriguez is starting a $275 million, 10-year contract, Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter is entering the eighth season of a $189 million, 10-year deal and Ramirez is in the final guaranteed season of a $160 million, 8-year contract.

Aspects of Cabrera's agreement were first reported by ESPNdeportes.com.

Tigers ace Justin Verlander said just having Cabrera around has been a positive for the team.

"What stands out to me is his personality around the clubhouse," Verlander said. "Everybody knows how good of a ballplayer he is, but he's also great around the clubhouse and is a good teammate."

Slugger Gary Sheffield said signing Cabrera to a long-term deal shows the team is comitted to winning now and in the years to come.

"He's a future-type player," Sheffield said. "Any time you can get a player with that amount of years on this team, you're looking at multiple championships."

Detroit acquired Cabrera from the Florida Marlins during December's winter meetings along with pitcher Dontrelle Willis.

In other Detroit news, centerfielder Curtis Granderson was placed on the 15-day disabled list and will miss Opening Day. A finger on his right hand was broken Saturday when he was hit by a fastball from Phillies lefthander Travis Blackley in the fourth and final inning of a rained-out game.

Granderson and the team had hoped the injury was merely a bruise. But precautionary X-rays revealed the break.

Noteworthy

Rolen was taking grounders in the morning on a back field when a ball hit him on the fingernail.

"It ripped his nail completely off his finger," general manager J.P. Ricciardi said.

Rolen also broke the top knuckle. It's unclear how long he will be out.

"He will see the specialist [today] and we will know more," Ricciardi said. "The fracture is actually not the problem. You can play with a fracture, it's just losing the nail."

Marco Scutaro will fill in at third base while Rolen is out.

* Milwaukee Brewers lefthander Chris Capuano has a torn ligament in his pitching elbow and will probably need Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career.

The 29-year-old Capuano injured his elbow in an exhibition game Monday against Seattle. He had an MRI on Thursday and team physician William Raasch confirmed the diagnosis of a torn ulnar collateral ligament.

* New York Yankees lefthander Andy Pettitte underwent treatment but did not play catch, 1 day after being scratched from a scheduled start due to back spasms.

"I was really feeling pretty good [Saturday] night, and feeling good about it, what today was going to bring," Pettitte said. "Then I woke up this morning and it was kind of tight on me again. I've already lost 2 days. I don't want to set it back any. I'm just going to wait until tomorrow and hopefully it's a lot better and I can feel comfortable playing catch."

Pettitte is to make his first scheduled regular-season start April 2 against Toronto, but he admitted his regular-season debut might be moved back a couple of days. *