There's something close to a final four for Prince Fielder at this point in the sweepstakes for the free agent first baseman. There was lots of buzz about the Nationals, Orioles and Rangers yesterday, though their level of interest remains unclear. Here are the latest updates, with the most recent rumors up top:
- There is no deal in place despite some recent confusion on Twitter, Scott Boras told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (Twitter link).
- The Marlins and Orioles are not in the mix on Fielder, tweets Rosenthal. He confirms that the Nationals appear to be the favorites.
- The Nationals must have decided they're willing to offer more than six years, Heyman tweets.
- Fielder is expected to get at least seven years, maybe even eight according to Heyman (on Twitter).
- ESPN's Buster Olney heard speculation that the Tigers would be a fit on a one-year deal, which would allow Fielder to hit the market next winter, when the Mets and Dodgers could have new ownership (Twitter links).
- The Rangers believe they are out of the bidding for Fielder, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports. Talks have accelerated and could conclude today, according to Nightengale. The Nationals appear to be the favorites to sign the first baseman.
- GM Dan Duquette said he's not sure the Orioles are that interested in Fielder, according to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. "Lots of teams are interested in power-hitting left-handed batters, so I guess you can put us in that group," Duquette said.
- There are indications that four or five finalists for Fielder exist, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com writes. Some say the Nationals are reluctant to offer an “ultra long” deal.
- One GM wonders if agent Scott Boras will wait until outgoing Dodgers owner Frank McCourt picks a winning bidder for the club, ESPN.com's Buster Olney writes. Boras could then sell the incoming owner on Fielder before the sale of the team becomes official. It's a risky strategy since Spring Training is just a month away and the intentions of the new owner aren't yet known.
- The Fielder sweepstakes are nearing their conclusion and the Nationals are a leading contender for him, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. Some members of the Nationals’ ownership would prefer to play Adam LaRoche at first in 2012, then acquire a center fielder and move Michael Morse to first base in 2013, Rosenthal writes.
Today is the day. I have a feeling all of this ends today…….I hope!
He is running out of time, when Feb. comes arounf his position starts to deterioate.
I think the Mayans had it pegged for the winter solstice in December, so we should still have some time before all of it ends.
Predicting the end of the Fielder talks has proved more difficult than predicting the end of the world. I may have done it! What’s your play, Mayans?
Fielder getting 8 years just may be a sign of the apocalypse
If Pujols getting 10 didn’t end it, I think we’re safe.
I’m still blow away Pujols got 10 years. IF THAT IS HIS REAL NAME! LOL
It’s actually not. Jose is his real name. Jose Alberto Pujols
Fielder getting 8 years just may be a sign of the apocalypse
I highly doubt today is the day…BUT…I hope your right. I’ve had enough.
Amen to that. Prince NOT signing is a NON-story. Hearing everyday that he has not signed is like being told everyday that the sun has risen. Should he sign or should the sun not rise, therin lies the story.
Go O’s!
I can see the headline for tomorrow on MLBTR…..
“Prince Fielder Rumors: Wednesday……….Sources say the Nats are the frontrunner for Prince, with the Rangers, O’s, Mariners and a mystery team in the mix”
I don’t know about Mystery Team. My money is on Unknown Team.
It’d be interesting to see a team get Fielder on a one year deal and flip him to the Dodgers at the deadline for prospects.
I think the plan of getting a CF and moving Morse to 1st is a better idea. Else one of Morse, Werth, Harper will have to play center, and no one wants to see that mess.
It would only be for the time between Harper getting called up and the end of the 2013 season. After that Morse’s deal is up. They can also probably move Morse if he keeps hitting like he did in 2011, and if he doesn’t, then it’s not really an issue to bench him and put Werth in left anyway.
I have posted this probably 5 times, but I really think the Nationals are bidding against themselves if they offer 7 or 8 years at 20m+ a year. I would offer like 5 years 110 million and see what happens. It doesn’t seem like Texas is going to offer any more than that, and is Prince really going to sign with the Orioles or Mariners? If the 5 years 110m doesn’t get the job done the Nats can move on by moving Morse to 1B and allocate those resources somewhere else via trade or free agency in the future.
Good take. It’s Boras forcing Washington to big against themselves though. That’s what he’s (Boras) brilliant at.
For Lener is irrelevent, sign him for 8/160.
I agree but I would go 2yr/44m and a couple of team options or just get out. Price will go down in Feb.
Not going to play for O’s or Seattle.
Werth gets more than Fielder…if that’s the case then Boras needs to be fired.
Except Boras is the agent for both…
I know, that’s my point. How does he convince WSH to give an older Werth $126M only 1 year ago than a younger Prince, IF WSH signs Prince (they’re the frontrunner, according to reports) less than $126M — which I’d be surprised if they did.
Look at the list of Boras clients who are on the Gnats. It’s a long list.
Barry Zito and……
Gnats as in Nats or Nationals.
The Nationals might be bidding against the one year contract, though. I’m guessing he’d have his pick of one year deals.
I would much rather wait until next year, have LaRoche play first this year, move Morse there next year and pay for a top tier center fielder. Prince Fielder is about as likely as Sabbathia to finish a long term contract strong – I wouldn’t bet on it.
It is a good plan, but I don’t think Victorino/Upton/Bourn can be classified as top-tier. Hamilton should be re-signing with TEX and he’s not looking like a long-term CF.
According to fangraphs, over the last three years, Hamilton has 14.1 WAR (second among CFs), and Bourn has 13.8 (third). How is one elite, and the other not?
13 HRs
Hamilton had 14.1 WAR playing in 343 games, while Bourn played in 456 games.
I know that looks bad for Hamilton, but if we’re playing the “what if” game. What if Hamilton played the same number of games as Bourn? He would surpass Bourn’s WAR by leaps and bounds.
I’m a big fan of Bourn too though.
Look at how many games Hamilton has played (compared to Bourn) the last three years..
Do you consider Bourn/Victorino as top tier CF/Lead-off types? If not, who is in that tier?
First Fielder was waiting on Darvish, now Hamilton is waiting on Fielder
What the big hang up I bet, isnt money it’s no-trade causes, and opt-out causes. In 4 years Texeria contract is up in NY or by then Mets, Dodgers, and other big market teams fianance will be fixed and he could get another long term contract.
In four years, Fielder is through his prime.
In 4 years Pujois will be past his too. Fielder is 27, not 31 atm. I say 4-5 years if he plays in NL, 6-7 if he plays in the AL. DHing 15-20 games a season will really save the wear in tear on his body.
Truth. I bet guys like Hosmer are salivating about that day.
(He might still be under contract then, I’m not a Royals fan)
I’m guessing the Royals make a serious attempt at extending Hosmer. They’ve been banking quite a bit of money. He’s a Boras client, but I do think we’ll see the Royals payroll increase.
In four years, Fielder finds the bottom of the Twinkie truck.
Might not be realistic.
Twinkie’s parent company just went bankrupt.
I’m not sure how Detroit maintains such a high payroll…they have had some debt issues.
I really have a hard time believing that there are 4 teams “seriously” in on fielder. But that’s Scotty B for ya’, The Nats and maybe the Rangers are doing the right thing, they are going to wait Boras out and ultimately with the hope of bringing his overall price down,
Yeah I think Rizzo knows that otherwise they would have offered Fielder an 8-10 year deal and he’d be signed with the Nats already.
Imagine the Nationals with two albatrosses, Werth and Fielder. To think that the great National’s rise set to happen with all the great prospect entering the bigs, can have these two contracts alone sink them. Its a good think they are so close to the atlantic ocean because those albatrosses need food.
hey we’ll be right next to the the phillies and those jroll,howard,papelbon contracts
At least those 3 have gotten a ring and could possibly justify those contracts.
ok the phillies had their run or are on the last leg of their run they had their window of opportunity and got their ring but its coming to an end the nationals are just entering theirs so prince dramatically improves their odds so they’re taking there chance with this signing those phillies contracts are going to be horrible in a couple of years the nats still have a chance to build their fanbase to be able to afford to sign there young stars too
Phillies will just reload with guys like Pence as their stars get older. This isnt football where 27-28 is old
Rollins’ contract was smart. Unless he gets hurt, he’ll easily justify that contract.
Howard and Papelbon justifying their contracts just won’t happen; same with Werth.
What y’all have to realize is that talks at this level, when involving an iconic player in his prime, with franchise and marketing value, means more than mere dollars (and it’s crass to focus only on those.) It also is a comfort zone, with one on one meeting, artist to owner, to make sure both share a common vision of the future. There’s an esthetic here that has to be honored. Occasionally, when complex issues arise, the Secretary of State may get involved to lend weight to the global importance of an appropriate resolution. These are times for serious people.
And what you fail to realize is there is NO market value 4 years down the road when you are paying him 20+mil to sit the bench/DL because his body has completely broken down. Fielder is not going to be in his prime for long. His weight is going to make an injury twice as bad and twice as long to recover from.
Using political comparisons and complex wording isn’t going to get you anywhere.
That why you have insurance. Why do you think Angles gave Pujols(or whatever his real name is) 10 years? Do they really think a 31(34 hehe) is gonna play for 10 years? If they get 4-5 MVP years out of him they will be happy, let the insurance pay the last 5 years. Put Fielder in Baltimore and it will create a buzz, a beaten down fan base will be energized, season tickets will be bought.
The insurance only kicks in if they get hurt, not if they suck
The Angels are banking on Pujols over producing early in the contract.
Tuna411 and FillyPhan. Just a goof. I was trying to see just how much I could sound like Scott Boras. I was having some fun, but I can see it was misplaced.
Welcome to Baltimore, Prince.
I hope he’ll like playing for last-place teams for the duration of his contract, because the Orioles need pitching more than hitting.
With all the pitching depth they have now, all they need is one more solid starter. Orioles futility is coming to an end.
I feel the same, I see them quietly on the edge
Yes…I like the way Duquette has handled his first off season in Baltimore. Doing things quietly, off the radar. No one knew anything about the Betemit signing, but its a good one. Something tells me Duquette and Angelos have something lined up for Fielder. 5-7 years 120-130 mill range. Just a hunch. Epic chess match with Boras, and Duquette is winning.
I have a feeling the O’s will swoop in in the last minutes and snatch him away. the Nats have been negotiating for weeks, if it was gonna get done, it would be done by now.
I think Boras wants a bidding war between the O’s and Nats, but Duquette isn’t falling for it. Pretty sure he could take or leave Fielder, so he’s just gonna let him fall to us. Fielder doesn’t put us in the playoffs anyway, he just puts butts in the seats. An ace pitcher is what we really need…so they sign Prince this year, fill the stands, get an ace (or 2) next season, and contend for the pennant in 2013.
By the way, signing Prince at this point totally justifies all the “mediocre” moves Duquette has made to this point. In fact, it would make him look like a baseball genius.
I think fielder is the key to getting some of the better pitchers next year. Hey even signing fielder may make Oswalt think about a one year.
Y’all serious with this? I mean, I hope you’re right, but…
Young and unproven pitchers does not equal pitching depth.
True, but I guess the thinking is that with all those pitchers in ST, there’s gotta be a handful of diamonds in there somewhere…
I was hoping that same thing last year with Matusz, Britton, etc. I really hope those were just growing pains and not signs of a total bust.
The competition in spring training will be good for them. And I still don’t think they are done looking for another 1 or 2 type pitcher for the rotation. With or without Fielder.
I’ll bet this isn’t how Boras saw this offseason panning out. Here he was, with three premium (or near to it) FAs hitting the market, one of which was one of the biggest thumpers in all of MLB, just entering his prime years. Here was an offseason that could rival his years of signing A-Rod to over-sized deals!
Madson, 1 yr without a large AAV
E Jax, considering a 1 yr deal
Fielder, being courted by teams only interested in HALF (at most) of what Boras was envisioning
I guess Boras is finally getting a glimpse of just how much teams are tired of his shinnanigans.
I’m beginning to think, Boras of the past, is now working against him now. Teams have learned his tricks and arent falling for them. Its Jan 24th, and the 2nd biggest FA is still on the market. Fielder should have been signed 6 weeks ago.
If it weren’t for the Darvish situation, I would agree. After Pujols signed in LA, it made some sense to wait out the Darvish negotiations in order to make sure to keep the big-money Rangers in the mix. But there’s no reason that, this much later, that Fielder should still be on the market being shopped by a group of near-future non-contenders.
I don’t think Fielder is going to get anywhere near what he had hoped for going into this process. I think he will ultimately sign for somewhere around 6/120 a far cry from the 10/200+ he sought. What do you guys think??
I think the question with any of these grossly overpaid contracts, that apparently becoming the norm, whats the limit? At some point in time 20 million a year has became the norm for “premium talent”. This number has, and will, cripple clubs both in the present and in the future.
Sing it brotha! The system in baseball is BY FAR the worst in modern sports. Fans are seriously getting a raw deal when at any point in time a team can literally BUY a championship. Small market teams are forced to draft well, retain talent until free agency and then trade stars away. How is this fair?!? As fans that are NOT in enormous markets, where every position holds a superstar, we deserve better!
As a Tigers fan with no dog in this fight, I hope the Nationals get him. It would be exciting to see one of the best power hitters in the game go to a team with that much young talent.
You just don’t want the Tigers to have to face Prince 6 times a year ;p…the O’s have more young potential than the Nats.
Lol what? What young potential does that happen to be and how does it top Zimmerman, Strasburg, Harper, Gio, Zimmermann, Storen, Clippard, Ramos, and Espinosa?
Wieters, Reimold, Matusz, Tillman, Chris Davis, Flaherty, Andino, Arrieta, Jones, Strop, Hunter. Plus 3 of the top 10 prospects in baseball–Manny Machado, Dylan Bundy, and John Schoop
I agree that the Nats have more young talent, but y’all significantly overpaid for Gio. He’s just not as good as some suggest. The Nats would have been far better off just letting those guys develop and come up.
I wouldn’t mind him signing with the O’s either. I’m all for anything that makes things tougher on the Yankees and Red Sox.
But I stand corrected on my previous statement now that the Tigers have all of a sudden thrown their hats into the Fielder ring. 🙂
Good call!
Best young power hitters? The only reason he hits 40 hrs is because he’s willing to strikeout 150 times to do it. He’s Adam Dunn light, err I mean Adam Dunn HEAVY!
Adam Dunn has a career strikeout rate of 27.6 percent, Prince Fielder a strikeout rate of 18.5 percent, Adrian Gonzalez a strikeout rate of 17.9 percent and Mark Teixeira a strikeout rate of 17.2 percent.
Fielder has never struck out as many as 150 times in a season.
Your misinformation adds little to the discussion.
The Nationals are definitely bidding against themselves in this process. Probably know it too.
If any team — Nats, Rangers, O’s, Mariners — were bidding against itself, this thing would have been done already and Mr. Fielder would be getting ready for Spring Training. The problem that Mr. Fielder — and Mr. Boras, in particular — is having is that each team seems to have made its offer (singular) and refused to get sucked into a bidding war. As a Nats fan, the impression we’re getting is that the Nats have offered x years and y dollars (no one knows what those numbers are) and essentially said: “Here’s what we think your client is worth. If you can do better, fine. Until then, the offer remains on the table.” My impression — and that’s all it is, no pretensions of having insider information or being ‘all knowing’ — is that at some point soon, Mr. Boras and Mr. Fielder will have to accept one offer or another, because no one seems inclined to get into a feeding frenzy over Mr. Fielder.
I suspect the Mariners made a competitive offer at the Winter Meetings in early December and have stuck by that offer. Prince Fielder and Scott Boras may be waiting for another team to top that offer, which probably will happen in the end.
Agree – There no secrets in baseball – him and EJax are finding out their just not that good. Or should I say risky.
While i’m dissapointed that the Rangers are out on Fielder, i’m still more than happy to keep Hamilton and re-sign our guys Kinsler and Napoli.
Should be thankful
I just saw Xmen origins: wolverine on TV and saw Fielder made a cameo, he was the blob if no one noticed.
Huh. I guess Fielder wants to protect his pride and dignity more than taking a smaller deal and playing for a World Series caliber team. I don’t see that the Rangers will turn around and extend Josh with whatever money they had earmarked for Fielder. Josh seems driven to get a huge payday and he would only get that next winter.
In a couple of years the Nationals will be better than the Rangers.
We’ll see about that. They’re already better than the Yankees.
lolololololololol
The Rangers have been the AL champions the past two seasons make no mistake about that, but I just think they’ll have a problem attracting pitchers to pitch in Texas. Also By the time the Nationals are relevant the Rangers could lose some of their mainstream players: Hamilton, Kinsler, and Napoli.
Nationals possibly have 3 front-line pitchers in Starsburg, Gonzalez, and Zimm.
We’ll see about that. They’re already better than the Yankees.
I don’t know about that, Shump. Zim and Fielder are great players, Harper will be a great player, but the Rangers took a long time to get where they are now, a lot longer than a couple of years. Not only do they have a great team now, but their farm system is still one of the best, headlined by Profar and Perez.
The Orioles aren’t going to get Prince Fielder, no matter what they do. Besides, he’s a better fit with the Nationals. Also, if you think if the Orioles don’t sign Fielder, they are going to make up for it by overpaying and signing Oswalt and E Jack, you have another thought coming! The bottom line is the Orioles have two AAA teams one in Norfolk and the other in OPACY.
PS I was wondering why everyone jumped all over me about the Betemit trade. It occurs to me now that it was my historically bad comment. I still think it’s true in the sense that the Orioles really haven’t improved since last year or the year before. Our pitching is terrible because we still don’t have a true #1 or even a #2. I am sure someone will debate this.
well maybe the rangers drove the price up to boras’ liking
Heyman works for Boras. Of course Heyman is going to up the years to 8.
haha. here’s the deal jon, you report all kinds of falsehoods and maybe a desperate team like the nats or o’s will buy it. break!
Heyman is clueless
7-8 years? You got to be kidding…
No kidding. He should be able to get 13 years easy.
This is proof that the Nats are bidding against themselves. There’s no way the Rangers went over 6 years.
To the extent that it’s even true, that is. Could just be Boras’ “mystery team” bidding against itself.
7-8 years? You got to be kidding…
Instead of having Boras and the future Borass like agents, lets put a strict salary cap at 150mil for owners to spend on a team, and a MAX CONTRACT for the players between 20-25mil…it’s crazy seeing the albatross’ of contracts we see like A-rod, Pujols, Howard, Wells, soon to be Fielder, etc…force owners to spend as well, cap should be between 70-150mil, with severe taxes for over and under, it would equal balance throughout the league and fans won’t complain about big market this and small market that
That ship has sailed, small markets are small markets now cause they let the ship sail due to mismanagement. 20 years ago KC had the biggest payroll in baseball. If you put a good team on the field in classic baseball towns then people will come watch, and the revenue takes care of itself. Any team with good players could afford a 100mil payroll.
Yeah, i’m just annoyed of all this big money for players then fans complain it was the worst contract ever thing. i say Selgi should announce that players can only be signed through 2024, then in 2025 throw all of the players into a draft and draft an entire new team, the league would be balanced, and that could be the perfect opportunity to set caps and what not
________________________________
If you really want balance, I made an unbalanced schedual a few years ago. It does mean an expansion to 32 teams(Really need to work on teams in upper south like charlotte/nashville). 4 4 team divisions. 1st place team plays 16 games against 2nd place team and the other 3 division winners from year before. 11 games against 3rd place team, and 2nd place in other divisions. 6 games against last place team in division and 3rd place teams in other division, and then finially 4 games against last place in other 3 division, and 18 interleague games. It really makes it harder to repeat, and if you do you’ve earned it.
but the problem with that is though it fixes the standings slightly, it means undeserving teams will make the playoffs due to easier schedules, what needs to happen, 4 4 team divisions, 20 interleague games, 20 games per division foe, and the rest vs non-division teams, that is the balanced schedule, and in 2025 when all contracts will be up (longest 1 Pujols through 2022) and teams can draft 40 man rosters, negotiate with them and sign the players to deals within the range of about 75mil- roughly 150mil for the 25 man roster…that would make for an extremely interesting new landscape in baseball
Have MLB owners ever shown the desire to implement that sort of hard(ish) cap system? Because that’s the only place it would come from, and something tells me business is too good for this type of thing to gain momentum.
yeah, i’m just throwing out ideas that would be nice to have happen…
Sign prince, move laroche and some pieces to Tampa for Bj upton. Who is the rays DH anyways?
Yeah TB, trades good players for roster trash
lol LaRoche and pieces for Upton….
Then where does Upton play? Left? No (Morse), Center? No (Werth), Right? No. (Harper). If the Nats sign Fielder, they would have to trade Morse to get a centerfielder. Now Morse and pieces to TB for Upton sounds better.
If I’m Prince, I sign with the Nats unless the Rangers give him a similar deal.
Why does this wreak of lies? I bet the rangers have the biggest offer on the table and boras is trying to get a last hoohrahh offer from someone (nationals) by saying Texas is out. And he will tell prince heres your last two offers. Rangers give you less money but a chance to win a championship and nationals give you more money but no chance of winning for a few more years. In the end he’s gonna have to choose between Texas and Washington and a bunch of sources say the decision is coming tonight. Should be a surprise.
I’m not convinced that the Rangers are out on Fielder until I hear that he signed somewhere else.
I’m not convinced that the Rangers are out on Fielder until I hear that he signed somewhere else.
Today is the day it is announced Fielder signed a 10 yr contract with the Hiroshima Carp.
I hate the Carp, Viva La Ham Fighters!!!
The blue jays are the dark horses here. They have the money,Bautista needs protection, he can DH once a while. Could change the balance of the AL East
This has been only slightly more exciting than watching paint dry.
Which is still faster than Fielder gets around the bases
So once again, unless Seattle is “in” and I doubt that, the Nats are bidding against themselves. Rizzo is a rizdiculous rizidiot.
Feel free to rule out every OTHER team he also had no chance of going to…
Signed with Nationals
NVM fake jonheyman account lol
710 ESPN Seattle retweeted a fake Jon Heyman account.
How many times do they have to say the Marlins aren’t interested? The Marlins made that pretty clear last month.
Prince signs with nationals for 8 years. Tim Brown says
Sounds like the ink on an 8 year deal is drying for the Nats
Guess Tim Brown re-tweeted a Fake Heyman tweet
Haha Tigers taking him on a 9 year deal! What a joke, at least he will be able to finish as DH. Makes so much more sense than going to NL. Glad he isn’t going to a serious contender
Ok. NOW I’m convinced that the Rangers won’t sign him.