Seven seasons into his Major League career, Prince Fielder has set a high standard of offensive production. He hits 37 home runs and 32 doubles per 162 games played, while drawing 92 walks and posting a .282/.390/.540 line. Here's the latest on the 27-year-old Scott Boras client as his first appearance on the free agent market continues:
- The Mariners made Fielder an offer, or at least told him how much they'd be willing to pay him, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, who adds that the M's "love Fielder" but have financial restrictions.
- The Cubs have done background work on Fielder and are interested in signing him, but won't come close to approaching a 10-year deal, tweets Buster Olney of ESPN.com.
- The Rangers will not pursue Fielder, even though the division rival Angels signed Albert Pujols, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
- The Orioles appear to be in on the Fielder derby, tweets Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com.
- Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun tweets that the O's will only be in on Fielder if the market for the first baseman collapses, however.
- Heyman says the Rangers still appear to be eyeing Fielder. The Rangers like Fielder's youth and middle-of-the-order presence. Though they'd like to lock Josh Hamilton up, they aren't offering the long-term security he seeks, Heyman reports.
I guess that means the Orioles are out of the Fielder derby.
what do you mean? it said there still in it?
Heyman…
Rosenthal: Rangers will not pursue Fielder.
Heyman: The Rangers are eyeing Prince Fielder.
Who do you trust?
Rangers don’t need Fielder anyways. Even after Pujols, Texas’ offense is miles ahead of anyone else in the West.
Ya, but it would be nice.
It would, but I’d rather JD use the money on our core players cause we wouldn’t be able to get Darvih, Fielder and sign our core players.
Ya, Kinsler and Hamilton should be out #1 priorities, but if we sign them and have money leftover, you never know.
Hamilton, Kinsler, Napoli and Cruz extensions would combine to be more than what Prince’s salary would be. Those four combined easily bring in way more wins than Prince alone. And we also need to be worried about Mike Adams. Which is why I’d rather sign our own players after Darvish. And soon we’ll have to be worried about Holland, Andrus etc. Remember, the only thing Texas was missing was an ace. Darvish fills that hole. Our offense is a top 3 offense without Prince. So I hope JD is wise enough to use the rest of our money on Darvish, a lefty reliever and extensions for our stars.
but admit that is kinda fun to pretend to be the Yankees for a minute and think that you can go get the best free agents and still be able to lock up your own.
Fielder will end up in Baltimore- case closed. Cubs want Rizzo from Padres-Seattle has 0 cash (thank you Chone figgins) and who would want to try and hit homers at safeco in their prime. Baltimore-strong divison-low right field ball flys- fielders hme is on the east coast. It all adds up
Chone* Sorry I am not really a grammar Nazi but the guy has one of the oddest first name spellings ever
No money? The Mariners are still 30 million below last season’s payroll.
You know nothing about the M’s financial situation (and by your shawn spelling, you know nothing about the AL West). Safeco Field is death to righties, by the way, not lefties. They built the stadium for Griffey (who is a lefty, by the way).
The M’s have the money. They are more than 25 million below 2011’s payroll and they will have a new TV deal in 2015. Safeco is statistically neutral overall and has a short right field. Its reputation has more to do with weak power teams than the actual dimensions. It’s park factors rate the same as Miller Park so its not like Fielder will have a huge drop off.
All reports have stated that th M’s are enduring finacial difficulties. Prince is an Oppo hitter too. Why would the M’s get a New Tv deal, when was the lst time they were commpetive? And ok yea you can say the same for balimore but im Telling you seattle makes 0 sense. There arent enough Pro’s for fielder AND BORAs to outweigh the cons.
Prince is an oppo hitter?!? I don’t usually post too often on here, but with this comment I had no choice. Have you seen the shifts the opposing defenses use against fielder that he ALWAYS hits into. Fielder may hit one to center from time to time, but the VAST majority of his homers go out to the Dew Deck (thats right field upper deck for non-brewer fans). Butterfly do your research before you post. Shawn lol…really? Who DOESN’T know its Chone by now?
Im sorry i should have said *can have power to the opposite field. And yea im sorry *Chone-its called the edit button. Look im just sayin te M’s are notirous for Makig bad moves- Bedard-CHONE figgins-etc. Look at Beltre went tothe M’s had a terrible go of it, he goes to boston/ texas and bam-starts to crank homers lie n-ones bussines. Boras will tell fielder this stuff. SAFECO IS A PITCHERS PARK.
Beltre is a right-handed hitter. Prince is a left-handed hitter. Safeco Field is extremely crippling to right-handed hitters, but conversely is quite friendly to left-handed hitters. Is the concept making any sense to you yet?
Well said. They have plenty of cash. The M’s can’t win with their current roster. I don’t care if they have a ton of pitching in the minors. They need to score runs.
Jays will use the money that was supposed to go to Darvish to get Fielder. That makes for yet another scary lineup in the AL East.
No they won’t.
Just like the ”blank check” bid for Darvish right?
i honestly think the orioles have a chance of getting fielder. He will come to an organization that has some talented young pitchers (if they ever decided to take the next step and start winning games), they have a great hitters ballpark that is especially friendly to left handed hitters, and it would give him and mark reynolds to switch on and off playing 1B and DH. I think the orioles make the most sense for him. It just all depends on how bad they want him and if they are going to spend enough money
How is this news?
quality post
Cards sneak in and snatch him up…… Not really, he will go to the highest bidder with the longest years. It’s the way baseball is now days, thanks to AP.
Except for JRoll
So who was willing to give him more than the Phillies did? Everyone else already signed a SS because they didn’t want to go anywhere near what Rollins was wanting.
Albert Pujols was nowhere near the first to do that.
It’s the way baseball has been even since the dawn of free agency, thanks to Curt Flood.
It’s the way baseball has been ever since 1869. Damn you, Cincinnati Red Stockings!
The Pittsburgh Pirates were once known as the Pittsburgh Alleghenys. They signed a handful of players away from Philadelphia by offering more money. Philly protested and accused Pittsburgh of “Piracy”. The following season, they changed their name to the Pirates. The Buccos were the original “Evil Empire”! True story.
The Cubs aren’t mentioned at all for once. Which means they are most definitely not, not, not, not out of being in (or out) on Fielder. Somebody please sign him already!
Au contraire. Nobody sign him….yet. Make Boras sweat. Make Fielder REALLY sweat. I hope he’s not signed on March 15.
He’ll play baseball next year for somebody on some basis. But until then give the rest of us some schadenfreude. It would be great if he ended up on a one year, make good contract with a big 2012 salary only.
Are the Rangers in or out on Fielder?
I believe they’ll publicly downplay their interest but keep steady contact with Boras about Prince.
I’d die if they ended up with both Yu and Prince. It would not surprise me if they made that move and kept it under wraps right until the last minute.
I think the Rangers could convince Fielder that he should take a little less money/years (from 25.4/yr for 10 to about 22-23/yr for 7-8) because they’re so close to winning it all and winning it all multiple times, which isn’t too much of a stretch
If the Rangers couldn’t win the Series last year being 1 strike away twice..they never will!
No for Prince in Texas. You give all that money to Fielder and you can kiss a combination of Hamilton, Napoli, Cruz, Kinsler, Andrus, and Holland goodbye in the next few years.
Going to the M’s, they just signed a huge TV deal
that’s news to me. source?
cool story bro. prince can watch the mariners on tv then after he signs with a winning team.
What winning team is that going to be…?
You broke character! You lose
Here Fred comes Elizabeth! His senility, coupled with the junk he collects has overcome any common sense and his ticker has just about ran its course.
Every team in the AL West has a new stadium or tv deal. Join the club.
and every team is making big signings
Except the A’s and Mariners. So if by every you mean 50%, your statement is right on!!!
40%, you forgot about the Astros.
I could be wrong but I believe was reading an article on Forbes saying that the M’s have an opt-out clause in their current TV contract that will allow them to renegotiate a new contract after the 2015 season. It’s still good news for M’s fans since I think if they didn’t opt-out they would be in the current contract til 2021. The article projects the M’s to land a contract that could bring in $70 Mil annually.
Rangers new contract doesn’t kick-in until 2015 with Fox Sports Southwest and the final terms are still being argued about by the media that sources say is either $1.6 Bil for 20 years ($80 Mil/Annually) or $3 Bil for 20 years ($160 Mil/Annually). Some reports even have said the Rangers were given an upfront undisclosed amount as an advancement.
The Angels opted out of their existing tv contract to sign their new $3 Bil for 20 years deal with Fox Sports.
i’ll keep saying it until i’m proven wrong and he signs somewhere else. Prince Fielder will be batting directly behind Matt Kemp & directly in front of Andre Ethier next year.
He makes a ton of sense for the Dodgers, you know, if they had an owner and could spend any money. But they don’t, and they can’t, so…
Mark Cuban and Magic Johnson. Need to buy the dodgers.. too bad they didn’t allow Cubans 1.2billion dollar. Bid to be the owner all of those horrible cool contracts would be gone right now. The ricketts. Know nothing about baseball. And dude thinks he’s a fan because he watched games from the bleachers in 1986.. he owns them because his daddy has money and the cubs are a toy to him. Otherwise if he cared he would have bought out all the horrible contracts and fired spendry. The second it was official.
Wow, that’s some blockbuster trade the Dodgers are planning. Who are they getting in return?
tough to trade for a Free Agent, especially one that is almost guaranteed to have a no trade clause built in when they sign.
I believe he was saying for Fielder to hit between Kemp and Ethier, the Dodgers would have to trade both players to the team that ends up signing Fielder. In other words, that’s the most likely scenario if Fielder were to hit between them. In even other words, the Dodgers won’t be signing Fielder.
That would make the Dodgers a much scarier team. It’s kind of a shame that they’re having all these financial problems. I hate seeing big-market teams trip over their own feet. -Cubs fan
I would love for it to be true. But unless Fielder is still a free agent when the Dodgers change hands, it’s not likely.
So the Rangers are in and they are out on Fielder…thanks for clearing up that confusion.
Marlins…spending spree still alive?
If I’m Fielder I go to a team that is on the rise like the Marlins or Nats.
I read “Nats” as “Mets” at first and I almost shot milk out of my nose. And I’m not even drinking milk.
I thought it said Marlins and Nats and I almost did the same…oh wait…
I’d personally like to see him continue being a Brewer….He has chemistry with Braun and Yo as well as most of remaining members in the club…Having played his whole career in Milwaukee I would like the see a top tier player go against the money driven current and sign with the Brewers
inb4 Braun “chemistry” jokes
Call me pessimistic but I don’t think the Orioles will be landing Fielder.
I’ll call you realistic.
Ignore anything Heyman says about a Scott Boras client.
My (imaginary) money’s on the Jays, after they lost out on Darvish.
How about offensive line for the Buffalo Bills?
Rangers should offer 7yrs @ 23 mil/yr. for a total of $161 mil with a vesting option for an 8th yr. to bring the total to $184 mil.
The only way to resolve the discrepancy in this article is to have Ken Rosenthal and Jon Heyman fight to the death. It’s like the anti-Alien Vs. Predator: whoever loses, we all win.
To be fair, I feel like Aliens are a much more dangerous species because they can multiply into the thousands, have acid for blood and kill humans as a way of life. On the other hand there are a lot fewer Predators and their human hunting is more of a hobby.
I’m just assuming Boras’s camp is using Heyman for leverage, but I like where you’re going with that.
MLB Network can save this for sweeps week, and I’m in!
Prince Fielder deal is going to take forever. Boras wants a Pujols’ deal and he can make a decent argument that he deserves it, but no team wants to give him the deal he wants. He’ll drag it out until some team breaks down and pays up.
Fielder doesn’t deserve a Pujols deal. Even though he is younger and excels at the flashy stats (HR, RBI) he’s not the caliber of hitter that Pujols is (even a declining Pujols). 7 years 140 million is more realistic for him.
“The Cubs have done background work on Fielder and are interested in signing him”
Hmmmm, where have you heard Theo Epstein doing “background work” on a high profile FA??? Ohh, that’s right, he stalked Carl Crawford! Well, at least Cecil and Boras can sleep at night knowing there are a pair of eyes on Prince 24/7.
I laugh whenever I hear the word long-term “security” mentioned in negotiations with MLB All-stars. As if one year at 10+ million isn’t enough security!
Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun tweets that the O’s will only be in on Fielder if the market for the first baseman collapses, however.
I don’t care if the market collapses like the flooring underneath Prince Fielder when he’s eating at the All You can eat Veggie Buffet and Things during lunchtime.
I don’t want him! End of Story!
I disagree. For the dozen or so Orioles games I will be at next summer I want to see Fielder Crushing some Balls and eating some lettuce. So instead watching the Orioles lose games by 10 runs, I can watch them lose by 7. Which is progress in my book.
The only time I remember the O’s getting their hats handed to them was that Yankees series. Tillman was rocked and Britton was even worse, what 2/3’rd innings??? Anyway, how would have Prince Fielder helped in that series?
Fielder will end up in Baltimore- case closed. Cubs want Rizzo from Padres-Seattle has 0 cash (thank you shawn figgins) and who would want to try and hit homers at safeco in their prime. Baltimore-strong divison-low right field ball flys- fielders hme is on the east coast. It all adds up
Seattle has plenty of cash to spend, and right field has a short porch so Fielder can easily pull the ball.
It doesn’t add up, Butterfly. M’s have the cash & motivation, Fielder will hit plenty of homers in Safeco, and the O’s are just hanging around outside the meetings hoping they blow up and Boras is desperate to make a deal – it won’t happen!
CHONE!
The Rangers still appear to be eyeing Fielder. The Rangers like Fielder’s youth and middle-of-the-order presence. Though they’d like to lock Josh Hamilton up, they aren’t offering the long-term security he seeks, Heyman reports.
I didn’t see this the first time around.
Yes, Please Texas sign Prince Fielder!
Orioles do a trade with Texas and Get Josh Hamilton and find out what kind of long-term security he is seeking! I am interested. He could be an injury risk, but I am interested. I don’t understand this one from the Rangers prospective.
They want Yu Darvish… unproven and might be a big pain in the neck!
Prince Fielder …. wants a long-term deal, that’s nice. I want to see him Man Up, go against Pujols and get a good rivalry going!
However, not to give a long term deal to Josh, epsecially when interested in the other two doesn’t seem right to me.
Rangers aren’t going after Fielder! Heyman doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Fans that don’t think the M’s have a chance…..guess again, boys. We are the main player in this – the Cubs are just waiting for a bargain, as are the O’s.
mad 12 year olds are funny
When was the last time a prince fielder rumor even involved Seattle ? A few day ago when we were the favorites.
the Marlins are about three months away from a fire sale right now. the Nats aren’t a bad idea and we know they like give out terrible contracts.
You have to wonder where that troll gets his nonsense from. Jays have said pretty outwardly they’re not interested in Fielder.
Just that they’re not interested in going past five years.
Which basically means they’re not interested.
LOL @ “favorites”…
Were the Angels the “favorites” to sign Pujols?
Weren’t the Blue Jays the “favorites” to win the Darvish bidding?
“Favorites”… That’s a good one!
Seattle brass seems way too rational to do that.
The crazy combination of an eager Dan Duquette and a desperate Peter Angelos seems just about right to make Fielder an Oriole.
(Even though I said earlier that the fact that Heyman said the O’s are still in means they’re actually out.)
Some players value winning over money, not saying which prince values more because I dont know. But I do know Beltre, a Boras client, was supposed to get 100 mil last winter and got 5 yrs 80 mil with an option for a 6th at 96 mil total. Plus I said this is what the Rangers should offer
Well for the Orioles sake, lets hope he values money over winning.
I could see the Rangers just taking a back seat to the whole process and wait until the offers from Cubs, Orioles, Blue Jays and Mariners are made and then just drop your name in the hat with the low offers and see who Prince wants to play for. Boras will want the Rangers to be the mainstage name on this deal so he can jack up the price.
With all respect to Baltimore, does adding Prince Fielder make the O’s any better than 3rd in the AL east? Does it even make them better than Toronto?
Well now you have to remember that if they get both Yu and Prince, then signing Hamilton, Cruz, Napoli, Kinsler, Andrus and Holland to extension in the next few years will be next to impossible (they’re not the Yankees). So I’ll take Darvish our core over Darvish Fielder.
I wish there was a way to get Darvish and Fielder, but keep Hamilton and Kinsler, while dumping Cruz. Oh well.
Hamilton will probably require a contract worth 12-15 mill a year. Prince is going to require 20 a year over 7 years and he’d likely be a DH for the 2nd half of that contract. Plus, Texas isn’t the Yankees. They can’t throw cash around. They need to use leftover money to sign their core players.
Prince is going to require 20 mill or more over 7 years or more*
Sorry, my phone flipped out there.
I think we will be lucky if that is all Hamilton asks for. I think he will want to be paid in the 18-20 range for 4-5 years. I could see us realizing real quick that his demands are and will be outrageous and decide to go all in this year with Fielder.
No, they are going to suck till Angelo’s goes bankrupt or keels over. But It would be way more entertaining to watch a crappy Orioles team with Prince Fielder than without. To put it in perspective, they were pretty much one of the worst teams in baseball last year..and Right now their big signings of the offseason have been Endy Chavez, Tayler Teagarden, Tsuyoshi Wada and Dana Eveland.. Awesome.
I like Cruz. If he didn’t have hamstrings made of glass he could be an all-star. It’s a shame. He’ll still be a favorite of mine until he’s gone.
I didn’t say they were ,ijut. He asked if the M’s were ever linked to Fielder. They were called the the frontrunners by this site, not me. I don’t even want Fielder.
It’s easy. Sign Fielder, ship Morse/Laroche in package deal with prospects for BJ upton. Rays still need a 1B