With Albert Pujols now off the market, Prince Fielder is the biggest free agent still available. It's been a hard market to gauge for Fielder — a quick look at the big man's MLBTR page shows several teams with an interest, but seemingly just as many posts arguing why those same teams are seemingly shying away from giving Fielder the eight- or nine-year, $200MM contract he and Scott Boras are trying to find.
Boras' recent statements about his client are, unsurprisingly, a best-case scenario about Fielder's ability and what he can bring to a new team, as MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith observed. Is there a team willing to look past Fielder's weight, defensive shortcomings and likelihood of a decline in the latter years of a long-term contract and instead focus on the fact that he's one of the game's very best sluggers? Where do you think Fielder will play in 2012?
Where Will Prince Fielder Sign?
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Chicago Cubs 24% (9,199)
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Seattle Mariners 14% (5,289)
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Texas Rangers 11% (4,269)
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Toronto Blue Jays 10% (3,904)
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St. Louis Cardinals 9% (3,634)
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Milwaukee Brewers 7% (2,804)
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Miami Marlins 7% (2,700)
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Washington Nationals 6% (2,196)
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Baltimore Orioles 5% (1,836)
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Los Angeles Dodgers 4% (1,544)
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Other 4% (1,373)
Total votes: 38,748
Realistically, I can see the Rangers going at him hard now that Angels were able to snag Pujols.
In the Texas heat? How many 100+ days do you think he could stand?
Realistically, Fielder wouldn’t last until the end of July in the Texas heat unless he can shed 75 pounds before the start of the season.
Realistically, Fielder can sweat 75-pounds off.. but he also could fry some eggs in the dugout with that heat. ’tis a conundrum.
Realistically, Fielder can sweat 75-pounds off.. but he also could fry some eggs in the dugout with that heat. ’tis a conundrum.
You have nothing to base that on. Go look at his games played the last 3 years.
***********READ THIS CARDINAL NATION***********
Speaking of Pujols… I honestly hope Im wrong because Im a huge fan of Pujols and the Angels are a great organization.. but during this season you can say “oh Albert declined” and all but Pujols put up insane numbers once again. If I were an Angel fan I would be worried as I would if the Cards resigned him.. Anyone watching Albert really close this past year and I think Cards fans would agree… Albert just wasnt Albert this year.. he looked way off, struck out a lot more than usual, he was chasing a ton of pitches and struck out more than I can remember. Yes, the guy is unreal and you guys in Cali are in for a treat with King Albert. That said Ill get to my point.
Albert is a legend but the guy worked his butt off for it. I have never seen an athlete put in the time and dedication that Albert did in St. Louis. I have heard he was always the first to show up and the last to leave. Total workhorse and he deserves every penny from this contract which is why I am almost thankful that the Angels did sign him. Now he will finally get paid without the Cardinals having to give up crazy money. Unfortunately, this will be his last contract and I have a feeling (although he will produce) his goal has been accomplished. WORK HARD AND IT WILL PAY OFF. And it did… but on the Angels dime. Consider this his pension however Albert gets to continue to enjoy playing baseball. The guy got paid and at this point it doesnt really matter what happens 10 year from now.. at this time in his career its all about Comfort.
Mets Mets Mets. Trade Ike Davis for SP help.
id love that bro..too bad Wilpon will never spend the money…even tho the Mets have the cash..i really don’t think they care to better the team.
This will be a very interesting poll. I’m curious how dumb the large Blue Jays commenting base is.
Can you learn how to write before posting a comment?
I’m a Jays fan and as much I’d like Fielder to come to TO, if AA doesn’t think the time is right, then I’m fine with that.
I just wish he did so that would mean that we’re at lot closer to competing.
Mets?? They are the absolute pits of MLB. I have no clue what is going on. Cubs say they don’t have the cash??? Bull.
Cubs have cash even Tom Ricketts said they do when they brought in Theo.
Yeah, when they claimed lack of funds after losing the contracts of Ramirez and Pena (along with others) and having the 2011 payroll of $134 million+ sitting just shy of $73 million before arbitration (and an MLBTR-projected arbitration cost of $18.4 million, meaning the payroll would be at about $91 million)?
This is almost as bad a lie as Loria’s claims of financial trouble to get the taxpayers to buy him a new ballpark. They also have extra money because of caps in-place for draft and international free agent spending, so they’re just full of it when they claim they can’t afford Fielder. Even if they keep all 6 of their arb-eligible FAs and sign Fielder for about $22 million/year, they’d only be at about $115 million.
They could afford Fielder just fine if they wanted. They could also let Hill go to save another $850,000 (MLBTR’s arb projection), trade Soriano to save a few million, trade Byrd to save $6.5 million (then use Campana, DeJesus, and Jackson or sign a cheap FA OF), trade Baker or DeWitt (since they’re pretty much the same player) for another $1-1.5 million, and probably a little more.
They could probably get the payroll south of $110 million while adding Fielder if they wanted. To add on, Z and Dempster expire after 2012, so that team’s going to cost NOTHING (current Cot’s projection before arbitration is just a hair over $33 million).
They have money, but they’re probably lying to keep the bidding low. At least that’s what I hope.
I think the Rangers. I didn’t prior to the Pujols signing, but now I think they have to respond
They need to respond with pitching. They should trade for Garza and bid on Darvish or sign Oswalt/Jackson.
Oswalt would be smart because he is used to the routine that it takes to pitch in TX during the summer- CJ Wilson said that he used to take 2 IV’s on the days that he started- I would never want to play there… However TX bringing in Oswalt mid season would probably be their best course of action when dealing with him.
We’d like to have Garza here, but he’s just not worth what Theo asked.
Do you know what he asked? Just because the Rangers said no, it doesn’t mean the request was unreasonable.
If the request were reasonable JD wouldn’t have had to turn them down. He doesn’t mind giving up good prospects if the return is worth it.
We gave up Erlin and Weiland for Mike Adams.
I think Darvish and Fielder will be a better signing than Wilson and Pujols when its all said and done. If Rangers manage to sign both of them AL West will be a two team race.
The AL West is already a 2 team race…
The Rangers aren’t dumb enough to spend that kind of money on 2 players. We actually want a future that includes success…not a burden on the books.
The thing with the Rangers is they have Hamilton and Napoli needing new deals after next year and Kinsler the following year.
They actually could just trade Kinsler and put Profar in for him, to be honest. Kinsler’s good and all, but they need to start getting pitching.
realistically what are the chances that he ends up in baltimore? it is a hitters ballpark and he would put up great numbers there, its an AL team so he can dh later down the road, and he could be the key piece to get other players to follow him to help turn the franchise around to the way it was in the 60’s and 70’s
I say low because they might not want to pay him more than he could get from a better team.
I’m glad there are people out there who think the Jays will sign him. But here in Toronto, with Rogers buying a portion of the Leafs and AA’s and Beeston’s recent comments, Jays fans have resigned themselves to no free agent signings and budget constraints which will likely mean no major free agent signings ever going forward.
cubs dont have the money, from what i’ve heard. easily looks like he’s going to land with the M’s
The Cubs have quite a few dollars coming off the books with Aramis and Pena gone. Look for a short/sweet deal given to Fielder with possible a mutual option
It’s a lie. They lost Ramirez, Grabow, and others. Their current payroll (before arbitration) is about $60 million lower than it was, AND the league is making teams cut back on overpaying draftees and international FAs, meaning that’s money that could be spent on the big-league club.
They have the money.
“The Cubs say they do not have the cash to sign Fielder, tweets Peter Gammons of MLB Network.”
And that makes it true? It’s all strategy. Theo said himself that being unpredictable is a competitive advantage. Also, like others have said, the Cubs still have about $40M to spend after raises due as a result of arbitration. With that said, if another team offers over 6 years, the Cubs will likely remove themselves from the bidding.
I’d be OK if they gave him 7 years, maybe even 8, but only if it doesn’t break about $22 million/year. They aren’t going to get anyone else nearly as good as Fielder in free agency unless it’s Votto in 2 years, at 29-30, and he’ll probably cost just as much.
Basically, I think Boras is right on this. You don’t get free agents this good this young frequently. I think part of the thing helping Fielder is that he’s not a juicer, just naturally big and strong, if a bit on the chubby side.
He’s playing 1B, and even if his defensive range deteriorates, he’ll be passable as logn as he can receive throws.
There are risks, but you don’t get “no-risk, high-reward,” when building a team,
Oh, I know it was tweeted. I also know that the Cubs lost a LOT of money after last season from Ramirez and others, and that they have abotu $40 million coming off after 2012 and another $20 million when Soriano is gone.
Just because it’s on Twitter does not mean it is true. Maybe they’re saying they don’t WANT to spend that moeny, but they most certainly have it. They had a payroll of $134 million last season and Cot’s shows it at $78 million with 6 players giong to arbitration (Garza being the only one of significant cost).
Again, they have the money if they want to spend it.
Why would the Prince go to a franchise with no history, and weird fans? Besides Seattle’s many choices of hippy vegetarian restaurants Seattle has little to offer besides money. The Prince and Boras have both said things alluding to the idea that his decision is not very based on money, but comfort longevity and self-importance. he wants to go somewhere that he will be remembered like he will for his days turning the brewers around: I think it’s gotta be the Cubs. The team and city fit him well, and he’ll turn an awkwardly losing team around in the next two years.
no history? examples: ’95 season, ’01 season.
and weird fans wtf? we have loyal fans, i dont think that’s weird.
I believe fielder would be the perfect fit. Power hitter in safeco, which is better for lefthanded hitters than right, and it’s an overall good fan base.
One bat ain’t gonna do it bro, sorry. Alls the other team has to do is pitch around him. Its not like we’ve got Ruth, Maris, & Gehrig on our team.
carp, peguero, ackley, smoak, liddi, wells.
we’re a young club. we’re looking for a power bat to lead a team of young high potential power bats.
ichiro, although he had a ‘bad’ season, he still hit .272. not bad at all. ichiro, fielder, and good young guys make a pretty good offense.
as you may know, seattle sucks at offense, but kills it at pitching. that’s why we NEED a power bat, and fielder just seems like the perfect fit.
that’s just my speculation.
Like I said, 1 power bat ain’t gonna do it. Their kids, not savvy vets. Their gonna struggle. it’s gonna happen.
like I said, young up and comers need that vet to lead their young power bats.
i wonder how adrian beltre got to seattle…
That is a good question. Why did he sign there, I’ll have to ponder that & get back to you. HMM?
i wonder how adrian beltre got to seattle…
We have the history, we just haven’t been competitive in over a decade. No reason for him to sign here. Least appealing team in baseball, sorry. Unless your coffee addict, love fish, & computers.
Phillies…
Makes sense if they want to own the heaviest infield award.
I’d say the poll is accurate to the realistic chances of him signing anywhere. Cubs as favorites, Mariners as an outside shot. Seattle’s desperation might suprise some folks… They’ve always been a reactionary team and they’ve got a rapidly vanishing fan-base eating away their franchise value.
We aren’t rapidly vanishing, we have an uninteresting team that loses a lot of uninteresting games. We prefer to watch those on TV.
lol yeah. Figgins was a HUGE upset, i’m sure we’re ALL here in the NW hoping that he can get a bounce back season, if not then oh well.
The Orioles could shock everybody on Fielder. They have not said they were out and Boras and Duquette met in Dallas to discuss Fielder. OPACY is the best park for him as well.
Orioles would be dumb as hell to Sign Fielder. They are more then an AllStar first baseman away from competing , they need to blow the damn team up already.
The problem with the Mariners is that Fielder isn’t enough to get them anywhere.
Fielder would significantly help them. The problem would be that he would have no protection though. I would just walk him with that line-up.
considering fielder is a homerun hitter and seattle’s ballpark, it would be hard to imagine that the mariners would be an attractive spot for prince.
Ditto. They need a helluva lot more than him to even coming remotely close to being considered competitive.
After Arte stole the show at the winter meetings the TX Rangers have to do something, they will either sign Fielder or go all out on Yu Darvish- if they sign Fielder then the world needs to watch out<- coming from an Angels fan.
He needs to go to the AL, He will never win a gold glove
He’s pretty much the same as Pujols and nobody’s talking about that guy turning into a DH. 1b is easy. it’s where you put fat players. It’s not a place that you have to be very concern about no matter how much everyone wants to say it is. The few players who are good at catching the ball and still have to play first are called “platoon players” or Carlos Pena.
You should probably think about changing your screen name after that analysis.
in football it’s called Hands of stone
i would like to see him to come to the bucs but that amost a miricale but i say miami but texas will try extremly hard
Isn’t it ironic how power shifts in baseball. For many years, the Yankees overspent on big names, tying them up for many years. They are no longer the exception, because other teams are now spending the same way. With the Angels acquisition of Pujols and Wilson, in addition to players being promoted from their minor’s system, the Angels are now in a position to challenge Texas, who have also taken on big names, but they had the minor league system to produce superstar foundation players at the same time. If Texas lands Fielder, it makes the Yankees and Red Sox irrelevant to baseball in the American league. Texas and Anaheim replace them in potential to win the AL pennant every season. Texas and Anaheim now have top rotations, strong bullpens, and an offense that can beat any team in baseball through routs every night. In comparison, New York has one pitcher and Boston has three. New York has a good bullpen, the Red Sox don’t. Both teams have great offense, but pitching wins games and if the hitters get shut out, games are lost, not won. Who would have believed that the AL west would replace the east in damage potential?
I don’t think any team in the AL has a rotation that can compete with the Angels- especially come playoff time when you only need 4 SP’s – If Morales can come back with a season like ’09 and Trumbo can be the everyday 3b and every other player has an “average offensive year” based on their careers(Hunter,Wells) then we might rival TX’s offense. Can Young be a superman again? Can Cruz, Hamilton, and Beltre stay healthy? Will Joe Nathan’s arm fall off? It’s gonna be a great season
“I don’t think any team in the AL has a rotation that can compete with
the Angels- especially come playoff time when you only need 4 SP’s”
I think David, James, Jeremy, and Matt would have something to say about that…
Angel’s rotation is more experienced and when tampa’s made the playoffs those players haven’t really done much
You need to be fair to them. They were facing the Rangers line-up. As a Rangers fan i’ll say that the Rays line-up scares me more than any other rotation in the AL.
“I don’t think any team in the AL has a rotation that can compete with
the Angels- especially come playoff time when you only need 4 SP’s”
I think David, James, Jeremy, and Matt would have something to say about that…
Slow down, the Angels offense will still not be as good as the Rangers. You’re questioning whether Young can perform, yet you’re saying that Wells and Hunter are going to somehow find their way back to the top…when they’ve been irrelevant for years? And thinking Morales is going to come back and light it up, all in the same year? That’s a lot of hope.
Y’all obviously have the better rotation, but Pujols or not, the best 1-9 line-up still belongs to the Rangers. No question.
It will be a fun race though. Even better once the ‘stros get over here. 😛
I dont see Fielder signing till the end of the offseason.. he can actually except arbitration for around 20MM with the Brewers and test the market next year.
CUBS: Its clear they are going to make a strong push for him .. I dont buy this “We dont have the cash” crap they are trying to pull
MARLINS: Will still probably check in but since they made an offer to Pujols, Boras will use that as a starting point.
RANGERS: Boy if they got Fielder that line up would be insane but they dont need him.. They need a soild pitcher after CJ left. They have already proved their offense is enough for a World Series run.
NATIONALS: They seem crazy enough to throw him tons of money but I can see Harper coming up at the begining of the year and IF he turns out to be soild they could move Harper to 1st (Great glove All American catcher) or keep Morse there and work with the offense they have.
BREWERS: Arbitration only. 1 year
MARINERS: They should trade Felix and get a huge package instead of worrying about Fielder. I dont see Fielder signing with a team that is not ready to compete after the Brewers 2011 run.
CARDINALS: They will look elsewhere for needs, Beltran, Rollins, maybe a trade or something. Too much $ for them to have a former enemy on the team. I love Fielder but just dont see it happening.
ORIOLES: With this team everything has made sense but they never execute.
JAYS: Have the money and the need but they claim to say away from 5+ year contracts and Fielder is looking for at least 7-10. Maybe if he excepts a high annual 5 year deal with the Jays and possible extention to become their DH in the future but it looks like AA is still confident to make a push for hometown Votto in the future.
I dont see Fielder signing till the end of the offseason.. he can actually except arbitration for around 20MM with the Brewers and test the market next year.
CUBS: Its clear they are going to make a strong push for him .. I dont buy this “We dont have the cash” crap they are trying to pull
MARLINS: Will still probably check in but since they made an offer to Pujols, Boras will use that as a starting point.
RANGERS: Boy if they got Fielder that line up would be insane but they dont need him.. They need a soild pitcher after CJ left. They have already proved their offense is enough for a World Series run.
NATIONALS: They seem crazy enough to throw him tons of money but I can see Harper coming up at the begining of the year and IF he turns out to be soild they could move Harper to 1st (Great glove All American catcher) or keep Morse there and work with the offense they have.
BREWERS: Arbitration only. 1 year
MARINERS: They should trade Felix and get a huge package instead of worrying about Fielder. I dont see Fielder signing with a team that is not ready to compete after the Brewers 2011 run.
CARDINALS: They will look elsewhere for needs, Beltran, Rollins, maybe a trade or something. Too much $ for them to have a former enemy on the team. I love Fielder but just dont see it happening.
ORIOLES: With this team everything has made sense but they never execute.
JAYS: Have the money and the need but they claim to say away from 5+ year contracts and Fielder is looking for at least 7-10. Maybe if he excepts a high annual 5 year deal with the Jays and possible extention to become their DH in the future but it looks like AA is still confident to make a push for hometown Votto in the future.
AA is following the same blueprint created by Pat Gillick. Build a team through the draft, compliment it through key trades. Address weak areas, turning them into strengths. If the team falls short, add a free agent that puts them over the hump. The only fans that don’t see how success is achieved are the fans that grew up during the reckless spending, insanity years of the Yankees, where they actually believe that you have to throw away billions of dollars to win anything. Their theory is derailed every season when 50M teams make the playoffs and win the world series, eliminating the 200M teams every year.
Wow. Lots of delusional Dodgers fans out there, judging by the poll results.
I’m a Dodger fan, and I went with Other. I’ve got to think this will be Pittsburgh’s turn to use their revenue sharing money.
Ya you already posted that and hopefully this won’t make you cry but there is no chance pittsburg will sign him
but it got the least votes of any team, yet has a higher number of people that could have voted relative to the other teams listed so it’s hard to get at what you’re getting at.
If Fielder accepts arb., that will be less year a team has him in his prime; he’ll get smaller offers next offseason.
Pittsburgh has a golden opportunity here to make a run at the division. Pujols is gone, and bringing Fielder over to bat behind McCutchen would be more than huge. Fans will show up when the team does well – they got over 1.9 million fans this year, the most since 2001 when PNC opened for 2.4 million spectators, and their 8th overall pick is protected.
They signed Jake Fox that’s already a huge upgrade of Derek Lee. Then again, Fox plays 3rd, C LF and RF aside from 1st and is above average at all of those positions. Fielder wouldn’t sign there any way, either way they could take the division next year.
They signed Jake Fox that’s already a huge upgrade of Derek Lee. Then again, Fox plays 3rd, C LF and RF aside from 1st and is above average at all of those positions. Fielder wouldn’t sign there any way, either way they could take the division next year.
Pittsburgh has a golden opportunity here to make a run at the division. Pujols is gone, and bringing Fielder over to bat behind McCutchen would be more than huge. Fans will show up when the team does well – they got over 1.9 million fans this year, the most since 2001 when PNC opened for 2.4 million spectators, and their 8th overall pick is protected.
Dodgers.
Bud Selig will step in and order Ned Colletti to make a mammoth offer to Fielder to join his buddy Kemp. I can already see in my mind the picture of Kemp pouring a bottle of champagne over Mark Cuban’s head.
Ok back to reality – Marlins.
people in marlins organization made interest in every other player they made offers to well known, but now with Pujols off the board the only thing I’ve read is people saying marlins don’t want him. Seems weird to me but it seems they wanted Pujols and Fielder doesn’t do anything for them despite them both being great first baseman and Fielder even having a few unique +’s for him.
Yeah I think they liked Pujols for his “Latin draw” which Prince ain’t got.
Dodgers.
Bud Selig will step in and order Ned Colletti to make a mammoth offer to Fielder to join his buddy Kemp. I can already see in my mind the picture of Kemp pouring a bottle of champagne over Mark Cuban’s head.
Ok back to reality – Marlins.
Bet you he goes to South Beach
If Prince signed with the Cubs AFTER Pujols left, i think Stl fans might kill themselves. Or just become bandwagon Angel fans.
If Prince signed with the Cubs AFTER Pujols left, i think Stl fans might kill themselves. Or just become bandwagon Angel fans.
Why would Prince sign with Seattle? I have been a long time Seattle fan and I have come to the realization that this organization is going no where fast. Seattle is so far behind the curve that I think it would be an insult to Fielder to join this group, just as is has been for Felix.
Ditto there man. Makes no sense for him to sign here. There’s not 1 thing thats appealing about that franchise, sorry.
I have to say with the brewers hitting coach being the cubs manager he’s comin to the north side
Think it’s gonna be the rangers, hoping its the blue jays.
” Prince Fielder is the biggest free agent still available.”oh ho ho, I see what you did there.
Seattle Mariners can be the Tampa Bay Rays of the West Coast just like LA Angels being the Yankees of the West Coast by signing Prince Fielder, trading Chone Figgins to Colorado Rockies, Justin Smoak w/ a minor league pitcher or two to Cleveland Indians, either outfielder Grady Sizemore or DH Travis Hafner to the Mariners, and signing Roy Oswalt can help the team to compete for the division w/ the Angels and Rangers. Speaking of Rays, good move to acquire catcher Jaso to the M’s.
If The giants were smart They would sign Prince Fielder to a long term contract and package Aubrey Huff as well as some young pitching to The Marlins for unhappy shortstop Hanley Ramirez.