Tigers built for more than just 2012 run

• Cabrera has three more years remaining on his contract
• Verlander has two more years remaining on his contract
• Fielder is signed for the next eight seasons

Miguel Cabrera turns 30 next season. He has three years left on his contract before he's eligible for free agency.

Justin Verlander turns 30 next season. He has two years left on his contract before he's eligible for free agency.

Two of Verlander's rotation mates, Max Scherzer and Doug Fister, are 28 and a few years away from eligibility for free agency.

And Prince Fielder, who turns 29 next season, is signed for the next eight seasons.

Many of the Tigers' top players are in their prime and can't leave Detroit on their own for at least a few more seasons. That bodes well for more playoff visits for the Tigers in the next few seasons.

"I think it's a club that's going to be around, that's for sure," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said this week. "I don't think (it) is a one-year thing or a two-year thing. I think there's a lot of talent in that room."

Girardi gave this answer when asked if he foresees more Tigers-Yankees playoff series in the near future. In last year's American League Division Series, the Tigers beat the Yankees in five games. This season, the Tigers swept the Yankees in four in the ALCS.

"We've had a lot of close ballgames with them," Girardi said. "You can think about the games that we lost against them last year. They were close."

The Tigers' three wins over the Yankees in last year's ALDS were 5-3, 5-4 and 3-2.

The Tigers' wins over the Yankees in the first three games of this year's ALCS were 6-4 (in 12 innings), 3-0 (it was 1-0 to the eighth, when an umpire's missed call helped lead to two runs) and 2-1, before Thursday's 8-1 victory.

In the playoffs the past two years, three of the Tigers' seven wins over the Yankees have come by one run, and another in extra innings.