Man, I read through these posts and it's like we've never gone through this kind of analysis before. Top 3 player for 8 more years? And then maybe 10-15 for the next 4?
I think people should go back and look at the Pujols and Cabrera contracts. Pujols was coming off a 5.3 WAR (b-ref) season in 2011, good for a 5th place finish in the MVP voting, despite that being the lowest WAR he'd put up in his 11 year career. People still gulped when LAAA signed him to that 10 year/$240M deal (with all the extra trimmings), but what do people here think the team was thinking? One of the best RHH of all time, surely he could keep up the MVP-level mashing for another 4-5 years, then move to DH if/when necessary to continue with 3-4 more All-Star caliber seasons. Maybe the last year or two would be a farewell tour, but think of those championship flags that will all be flying by then...
Pujols has not had a single 5 WAR season with the Angels, and only 2 have been worth over 3 WAR. Last season? .4 WAR. There are two years left on the deal.
As for Miggy, most thought his deal was even worse at the signing than Albert's (Detroilet still had the 30 yo signed for two years when they tacked on an 8 yr, $248M extension and 2 option years at $30M each). Coming off back-to-back MVP, 7+ WAR seasons, Miggy's performance also began to fall, if more gradually. Two 5+ WAR seasons, then 4.7, then... the bottom fell out. Aggregate WAR for the past 3 seasons? -.1. Yeah. Good news, though. Only 4 years left on that contract (plus the possible options).
Is Mookie a better athlete than those two? Yes. Also younger. Better overall player? Debatable. Better fielder and baserunner but not as good a hitter.