Prince Fielder, who hit baseballs out of Tiger Stadium as a 12-year-old, is on his way back to Detroit, where his father, Cecil Fielder, starred for seven years. The Tigers have officially agreed to sign the free agent first baseman to a nine-year, $214MM contract.
The agreement — the fourth largest in baseball history behind Alex Rodriguez's mega-contracts and Albert Pujols' recent deal with the Angels — will keep Fielder in the Motor City through his age 36 season for an average annual value of $23.78MM. It doesn't include any opt-outs, Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio and ESPN.com tweets.
Though the market for Fielder seemed far from robust at times this offseason, agent Scott Boras has found an unexpected suitor once again. Over the years, Tigers owner Mike Ilitch and GM Dave Dombrowski have dealt extensively with Boras regarding clients such as Kenny Rogers, Ivan Rodriguez, Johnny Damon and Magglio Ordonez.
Fielder will play first base and Miguel Cabrera will change roles, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets. Victor Martinez will miss most or all of the 2012 season with a torn ACL, so it's possible that Cabrera will DH this year. He has only played 14 games at third base since being traded to Detroit after the 2007 season, but a return to the hot corner seems to be a possibility for Cabrera.
Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com suggests a return to third base is likely for Cabrera and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports hears that Cabrera was "really excited" about the Tigers' new addition (Twitter links).
Fielder's considered a below average defender at first base, but he's a force at the plate. He posted a .299/.415/.566 line with 38 home runs in 2011, finishing in the top five in MVP balloting for the third time in the past five seasons. He has a .282/.390/.540 line in seven seasons in Milwaukee, where he averaged 37 home runs per 162 games played. Concerns about Fielder's stocky physique do exist, but Boras defended his client's build at the December Winter Meetings.
“Everyone talks to me about Prince’s body, but when you have that 5’11” strike zone, that is a huge advantage and that’s why that on-base percentage is sitting there," he said. "Those pitchers have to put the ball into a smaller window and I believe that it’s more difficult to do.”
This June the Tigers will surrender their first round pick (27th overall) to the Brewers, who offered Fielder arbitration earlier in the offseason. Milwaukee will also obtain a second compensatory pick for losing Fielder, the seventh overall selection in the 2002 draft. Fielder is among the Brewers' all-time leaders in many offensive categories, including home runs (230), on-base percentage (.390), sluggling percentage (.540) and walks (566).
Cecil Fielder, whose off-and-on relationship with his son has been well-documented, hit 245 home runs in a Tigers uniform, good for fifth on the franchise's all-time list. The elder Fielder led the American League in home runs in 1990 with 51 and in 1991 with 44.
When MLBTR polled readers in mid-December, just 5.6% of 27,000 respondents expected Fielder to sign a nine or ten-year deal. He ranked second on MLBTR's list of top free agents this offseason, trailing only Pujols.
The deal figures to provide lots of leverage for Joey Votto, who will hit free agency after the 2013 season if the Reds don't extend him first. On the other hand, free agent designated hitters such as Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Raul Ibanez and Vladimir Guerrero lost a potential suitor this afternoon.
Heyman tweets that the Nationals and a third mystery team were in on Fielder until the end. Heyman first reported the agreement on Twitter and Yahoo's Tim Brown first reported that the sides were close to a deal.
Photo courtesy Icon SMI.
So done deal? Exact $ figures?
Didn’t Boras text someone like an hour ago saying no deal in place yet?
(See 2 posts below this one, top bullet point).
9-214
BWAHAHHAAHAHHAA
Their payroll was set to be $17MM less than last season anyway. Why not spend the extra $7MM haha
as a fan, not my money, deal may cost me 50-100 more in tickets a yr, but that is chump change, so as a fan i could care less what the wicked rich illitch spends his money on, so it barely affects us fans so why would any one person out there poke fun at the size of the deal?
I really want to see if he breaks 200MM. I think he does
wow
This is gonna be a LEGENDARY 3-4 combo of Miggy + Prince.
And if VMart comes back strong next year… I just don’t see how a team can decide to bump their payroll up by 20 million for a decade. They’ve gotta be going after part of VMart’s salary because nobody tears a ligament just “working out”, or they might have a trade/opt out in line in a few years.
the hell is v-mart supposed to play? avila is the catcher
DH Miggy moving to Third? i think
I don’t know, seems like everybody is expecting Miggy to move to 3rd next year, which would make some sense if this is the last year on Inge’s contract and Leyland says he values fielding over range for infielders.
Victor goes to DH. Prince to 1B, Cabrera to 3B. Just as dumb as it sounds.
V-Mart was DH. Only caught occasionally to spell Avila.
Read somewhere that Tigers had insurance policy on V-Mart’s knees and will recoup most, if not all, of his salary for 2012.
Eww 24 million a year. What an albatross.
more like a blimp
and miguel? dh?
Back to shortstop, his original position.
They should just have them rotate the infield.
It’ll help out fantasy owners.
Fielder should catch. A nice big target.
Years and money are absolutely brutal….but i would be shocked if we don’t win a world series sometime soon with this squad. Also…are they thinking of moving Miggy to 3rd next yr when Vmart is back?!
sounds like a big mistake, but a big mistake that will likely look really good for a few years
title or huge embarrassing failure (emphasis on huge)
100% agree. The fan in me is excited beyond belief, but the rational person in me is sick about the terms.
i just don’t get it. it’s so reactionary. if you’re the tigers and you’re gonna overspend like this, don’t you need to do it on someone like jose reyes?
a $214M DH. cabrera can’t even play 1st, let alone 3rd
but hey, flags fly forever. you are now officially all-in
But but…what the heck are they reacting to? haha
I think this affects avila/martinez (when martinez comes back) the most. do they do a platoon? does victor become the full time catcher? or do they stick with avila when martinez comes back?
martinez’s injury is what i had in mind
the note about cabrera’s position change blows my mind. i can’t imagine putting him anywhere but 1B/DH. not even LF. he’d make delmon young look like ichiro
if he plays left, they’re gonna have to shift jackson 30 feet over towards left center.
and yeah, right after i posted i saw the note about cabrera’s “role change” aka positional move, well hey, they don’t really have a second baseman, cabrera should shift over there!
then again, fielder and cabrera on the same side of the infield would make the earth tilt even more
There were days this past season Ichiro almost looked Delmonesque in the field.
I’ll trust advanced stats more than the eye test, but it seems like Ichiro is slipping big time.
I wonder what Cabrera’s reaction to this is. According to Heyman, Prince will be the 1st baseman and Miggy will have to DH/play 3rd/plod around in left and will have the inferior deal.
no way they didn’t check with him first right?
“the good news is, you’re not longer the fattest guy on the team. the bad news is you still need to lose 50 lbs by april”
I’m actually very worried to how he reacts. According to UZR at least, isn’t Miggy the better defender at 1st than Prince? Or even if they’re equal, you don’t push Miggy off his position.
agree. prince certainly isn’t any better defensively – slightly worse if anything. i have to believe they talked to him about this beforehand, though. contracts be damned, miguel cabrera is still your best player
They did check with Cabrera first and he happily agreed to go back to third base
Exactly what I was thinking… why didn’t they just overpay Reyes by a mil or two per year? Better fit, position of need, and 2/3 the years.
– ECB
could have had reyes+buehrle or even reyes+wilson for this kind of money
Illitch said after last season that he wanted to add another big bat to the lineup, so maybe not entirely reactionary based?
As a Tiger fan, this seems extremely reactionary to losing Vmart for the season. This has albatross contract written all over it. I’m not gonna lie though, this will be pretty awesome seeing the Cabrerra/Fielder combo next year, but damn… this will haunt the Tigers I’m sure down the road.
Don’t be. It’s 9 years, I know. But he’ll be 36 (or 37?) when the contract expires. It’s not like he’s signed into his 40s like A-Rod. Prince has been durable, despite his weight. He’ll still be producing at a high level DHing those last few years from 35 on. There are players older than that still producing right now. He’ll be all right.
– ECB
Over the course of the remainder of thier deals I would put money on a-rod performing better than prince. Insidering a-rod still plays premium defense at a premium position and has been consistent re past few year I bet the rest of his contract looks better and don’t you dare bring up the money. Money does not matter to the Yankees
I’d take the under on A-Rod. Worn. Out.
“I bet the rest of his contract looks better and don’t you dare bring up the money.”
What?
I won’t bring up the money. You are wrong here.
Really, shocked if they don’t win a WS?
Boston’s team still looks better to me and they couldn’t even make the playoffs last year. (let’s not even mention the Rangers, Angels, Yankees, or Rays…)
I see them winning the division. (though, that doesn’t say much)
It’s a pretty bad contract that doesn’t significantly increase their odds. I think they could have used the pitching help. (probably not a good idea to lean on Verlander for another 250+ IP)
200 Mil. I don’t get what Dombrowski is thinking.
Probably that he wants to win…
Yeah, that’ll be cool for this year. Then V-Mart comes back and you have a very expensive logjam at 1b/DH. Oh, and don’t forget that whole NINE years at almost 24 mil a year for a fat guy thing.
That whole “fat guy” thing is pretty weak to me. Even as a DH he can still put up 2.5+ WAR easy the last 3 years of the deal. so he gets overpaid by 10-15 million for a few years, the way inflation is working that might not be much. meanwhile if Miggy can play 3rd base you have a lineup worthy of multiple championships with V-Mart.
I respect the guts, Mike Illitch is a hell of an owner.
I can’t argue that Illitch has balls to go in on this type of contract, but these types of long-term contracts can become very ugly, very fast. I also don’t believe Cabrera is athletic enough to play a large amount of games at third, especially for years to come. I also would like to hear what the next closest offer was, because as of now it sounds like they bid against themselves and gave out a monster contract that most gm’s wouldn’t have touched.
People always cry about these “long term deals” but in reality that’s the price of playing ball. Every long term deal is a risk and overpay but they still get done.
People always cry about these “long term deals” but in reality that’s the price of playing ball.
amen brother
– andrew friedman, jon daniels, and kevin towers
Didn’t John Daniels just spend 100+ million on a pitcher who never threw a pitch in MLB, Wasn’t Kevin Towers the GM who signed Peavy to that long term deal (may be wrong)?
Friedman is the one exception, but they don’t have the resources to even make those deals so he’s not a good comparison
he did! and he just got the job in november, too!
nope. he got the job like 7 years ago and took the rangers from the basement to the world series in back to back seasons without a single big ticket signing
towers signed peavy to a 3-year contract extension (and then traded him). but he’s been in arizona for awhile now. took them to the playoffs last year. big contract count: 0
friedman doesn’t have the resources, true. he also doesn’t need them. which is the whole point, you’ll recall
towers has been in Arizona for a while now? hasn’t it been like 1 year
where did I say any team “needs” to sign. I said that’s the price of playing ball…in respects to picking up major free agents.
but yeah sucking for 5-7 years in hopes of building a good farm system is an option too.
Illich might be dead by the end of this contract (hope not, but the guys is ancient)
Totally agree about a gutsy move like this for the Tigers. A national League team making this move would have been crazy though.
“V-Mart” will likely miss the entire season and be traded for minor league players TBNL
If he wanted to him he’d have signed with Texas Rangers.
These types of moves come straight from the owner, usually. Especially with a single person as owner, not a corporation.
there’s a Gene Autry thing going on here: spend the inheritance for one last shot. let’s be straight up here: Mr. Ilitch won’t be witnessing the end of this contract
when in 2013 he has miggy, prince vmart with a jackson leading off he will thinking that he has a very good team
Where are they all going to play? You’re assuming that Cabrera is still capable of playing the hot corner, let alone for years to come. Jackson is not worth discussing until he can find some consistency and cut his strikeouts down a massive amount.
Look of a Miggy to Florida for Henley R. type deal coming?
wow
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! Did anyone see this coming?!
Nope.
that crazy conspirist wearing the tin foil hat called this move
As a Tigers fan I would’ve laughed in anyone’s face that predicted this a few hours ago.
There were no rumors of this anywhere.
lol what. This came out two minutes after saying they were close. They were apparently really close.
Hahahahahahahaha, everybody
9 years $214 according to Jon Heyman
Boras is a wizard. There’s no other explanation.
He is like the jesus of agents
Jesus or Lucifer?
It’s an agent’s job to make money for his clients. Why compare him to Lucifer?
Because it’s a jokeeeeeeeeeeeee
I think an internet forum/message board is the wrong place for you, I see you whining about or shooting down jokes every time you post.
Heck man with the magical crap he pulls out of nowhere…he could be both at the same time.
Meet the Tigers new starting SS. Seriously, where does he go?
lol
Wow the Tigers are a legit WS contender. If they add another quality starter, I would even say they’re the favorites.
GREAT…Pujols and Fielder in the AL. KILL ME NOW!
I don’t know what you’re talking about. Now I barely have to watch them BOTH play against the Reds. Interleague play will be the only time now. :)
dont give heyman credit this was tim brown. dan patrick will will go nuts again if tim gets left out
So you now have 2 overwheight and unathletic 1B/DH? Interesting.
And where does Martinez play next year? don’t say Cabrera at 3b or Martinez at catcher, the defense would be beyond disasterous.
Um Martinez at DH and cabby at third or in left
Miggy in left? LOL
Can’t be any worse than Delmon Young
if that’s what you think, prepare to be disappointed, i could see cabrera looking like vlad looked in the WS against the giants
AAA
You mean Miggy to AA.
Miguel Cabrera just locked up the 2012 AL MVP
Why?
You’re going to say protection aren’t you?
Kill me.
This is what happens when Roy Oswalt turns you down.
Seriously, it cost them 50-100 mil overpay just to play in Detroit?!
That is likely $60M more than the next highest offer – incredible!
Probably true on a long term deal….but he likely could have taken a one year deal at something similar and the Tigers could have competed against half the clubs in baseball for him. I’m not saying it’s a great contract…just that if his asking price and years start dropping…other teams come into play.
Wow….just wow.
But you have to love it, right?!
more like be torn apart by your reactions to this, seriously, i love it because he’ll be a mosterous brute in the central, but jesus….9 years 214 million?? albatross and a half, plus a 1 ton bag of chips.
As a Royals fan I don’t know. On the one hand that’s going to be a rough lineup to face, especially if they somehow squeeze Martinez back in there whenever he’s healthy again. On the other hand it could be a very rough contract down the road if Prince breaks down like his dad did, and/or Cabrera fades at all (not saying it’s likely), then they’ve got two very bad contracts that could hurt them for a while. Gotta love an owner that actually opens his wallet though.
The Mystery team actually won for once? I’m shocked.
what about Miguel? is Fielder gonna get the open DH role?
No. He’s going to be the utility man.
Super utility, seeing time at short, center, and the rest, BUT Mainly CF and short/second
I couldn’t be more happy to see alot of these sluggers going to the AL…
DET better enjoy him while they can. He’ll be Carlos Lee 2.0
Fielder is young and he is a monster so great signing
I wouldn’t say this is a great signing. 214 million dollars is a lot of money, and now that money can’t be spent on building a rotation worthy of a playoff bound team. Also, they already have a first baseman, who is a better hitter, and disputably a better fielder, too. Unfortunately I don’t know about their pitching abilities, so I can’t say Cabrera is better in every aspect of the game, but he is in those that are relative to the position he plays. But, I guess I could see Cabrera moving to third or Prince DH’ing. My question is, where does he fit in the lineup? Miggy should stay at clean up, so does that put Prince at 3rd or 5th? That’s some pretty slow moving base paths if both of them get on base, too.
Does Boras have incriminating pictures of Dombrowski?
Wow, didn’t see it coming! I thought he would sign a one year deal with the tigers to replace V-Mart and hit the market again next offseason. But what excites the most, no more rumors on Prince!
That’s true. Now everybody can move on with their lives.
bye bye V Mart when you come back. Guess Prince is okay with being a DH
Scott Boras apparently comes through again … another mystery team.
Looks like an albatross contract already. I get the 1-2 punch with Cabera and Fielder which is probably the best 1-2 punch in the league but you’re paying that much for Fielder to play DH. Maybe he could split time with Cabera at 1st base since he’s not any good either. In a couple of years, you’re looking at V-Mart, Fielder and Cabera all as DH players which is a little scary.
But it does give them a great chance to contend now, though.
it’s definitely the best 1-2 in the league. but there’s isn’t a defensive run saved between the two of them
they will coast to the playoffs this year and probably next year too. but they were already favorites in 2011, even with v-mart out. they’re going to have to win at least one world series for this to be worth it
No guarantee they coast to the playoffs. Should Verlander miss any time or regress any, they become rather ordinary in the pitching department.
there’s never any guarantees; “they’ll coast to the playoffs” just denotes a certain level of likelihood (in detroit’s case, extremely high)
In that division, they can definitely coast to the playoffs.
It might be a crazy statement..but I think there are many teams in the AL Central who fear the sustained organization that the Royals are building and are trying to play their cards for the here and now as much as possible. I saw the White Sox do it last year. Granted…it seems the Tigers are in a better position for ’12 though.
It just seems like there’s a general feeling that Kansas City is going to have to be dealt with in the future. I realize that sounds absurd at this point in time…..but the Royals organization is incredibly strong.
It “seems” that the Tigers are bettter positioned than the Royals for 2012?
The Tigers seem to be in a better position in ’12 than the White Sox were entering last year….my thought was lost in my typing.
Kansas City has the farm system stocked, but if their GM can’t do better than trading for SF’s 5th starter, they won’t complete the deal. They really had a strong bullpen before signing Broxton. Buehrle would have been a fine addition to a young staff.
They were attempting to trade for Ubaldo Jimenez as early as last May, but the Indians being in contention put a crimp in that deal. I agree with you, though. Dayton Moore hasn’t shown he can build a team around his minor league system.
How long is Cabrera signed for? He DH’s next year, plays third for two years after that..then when VMart is gone he takes over 1B and Prince DH’s…Is it perfect? From the plate maybe, from the field No, but a seriously potent three headed monster for the short term future and a solid 1-2 for years after that…
Thank you Double-D for keeping him out of the NL East
Agreed, however, if WSH did sign him (and convince him that they can be a winning franchise), they’d severely limit their funds and wouldn’t be as much of a competitor in the CF sweepstakes of 2013. Without knowing their available funds for 2013, they could possibly beat out our (ATL) bid for Bourn if he goes to FA, or go for BJ Upton/Victorino, if they don’t get Bourn (and neither do we), thus making the market much smaller.
They know they’re the Jane Bradys of the NL and must overbid, so I really don’t want to financially compete with that next offseason. Jane might do something drastic.
When everyone is healthy in 2013:
Avila at C, Prince at 1B, Miggy at 3B, VMart at DH, Inge….nope.
So many errors it’s not even funny
Yay, Tigers will be the worst defensive team in the league soon.
Bitter ^
un-be-liev-able.
Scott Boras shows once again why he’s the best agent.
Madson must be so pissed that Boras can work magic with every player but him.
Wait…. whaa?!
Wow
Won’t be able to hide from comparissons to his dad now. (Not that it’s much of a comparison at this point, but considering their relationship, I find it a bit surprising)
This has Mike Illitch written all over it. Pizza Mike has the World Series at the top of his bucket list. It’s not like he can’t afford it, or that there’s a salary cap he’s afraid of, or that he’s gotta dump Verlander now to shed payroll.
over/under 400 lbs when 9 years are up ?
Forced retirement, wheelchair bound.
mystery team to the rescue! I wonder if Prince will send V-Mart a bottle of champagne for getting him this deal?
So much for the NATIONALS being the favorites for Prince!!!!!
where in the hell does Miguel going to play 3rd base? if so is Inge gone?
This is the dumbest contract, other than A Rod.
I’m stunned, oh well. They can let it cripple their franchise, fine by me and the Orioles.
A-Rod was a much better player when he signed his contract.
Tigers GOT IT DONE. Move aside Nationals and other pretenders not wanting to step up and get HUGE POWER from the left side.
It’s overpay, pure and simple. If that’s what it took to get it done, the Nats were smart to walk away, especially as an NL team. There is no way Fielder is a serviceable 1B for more than 4-5 years (maybe 6). What would the Nats do with the rest of the contract?
That Nats gave a scrb like Werth 7 years at almost 20 million so you are very funny.Nobody wants to play for the Nats
Wow, crippling, but wow, fielder is gonna own the AL central
well…2nd to hafner. but yeah, i see what you’re saying.
Remember how everyone thought the same about Dunn. I’m not saying it’s going to happen to prince but he is moving from a hitters park( when roof
Open neutral when closed) to a pitchers park. He is going to a league where he does not know the pitchers could flop probably won’t but he probably will see a small dip in his numbers
As a Nationals fan, I was surprised then kind of relieved when I read the headline. If indeed 9/$214 million is what it took to get the deal done then I’m okay with the Nats saying “no.”
Fielder will no doubt help Detroit and as a traditionalist, I’m happy to see the older teams do well. But nine years? That’s not a contract, that’s a marriage.
Yeah, I’m with you there. I’d be ok with a contract like that if the NL had a DH, but 9 years from the Nats would have been way too pricey.
Thank you DD 2012 world series champs
Definitely! Completely disregard the Rangers, Angels, and all of those other teams! YES!
Just like the Red Sox won it in 2011… wait…
You dont win championships in January
Smart man
Championship, no. Division, yes.
Nah there’s still 2-3 AL offenses and rotations that are better, and plenty of better bullpens. Replacing V-Mart with Fielder makes you better, but no where near outright favorites over Texas, LAA, NYY and Boston. But you better hope you win it next year cause after that, there’s gonna be such bad defense in Detroit, it almost won’t be funny.
Fully agree fielder over vmart isn’t that extreme of an upgrade ( next year when v Mart is back if they can work out having prince and mart in the line up that’s awesome) for 2012 your not getting that big of an upgrade. The rangers offense is still better top to bottom. And the rangers bullpen is far and away better. And their rotation could be better if Yu pitches like he can and neftali pitches like his
Potential says he should thats ace 1a and ace 1b. Top to bottom the rangers are a better over all team. And I’m not even a rangers fan.
So they have holes at 3rd, 2nd( no guillen is not the answer), short stop ( perelta has never been consistent so don’t try), rotation, bullpen, and dh. So what does DD do? Throw 200 million and 9 years at a great hitter who cant field in prince when they already have that in miggy and to a lesser extent young.
Exactly why you can’t pencil them in for the division crown. 2 big studs in a lineup of role players doesn’t equate to domination. Leyland’s managment and Verlander carried them last year, not sure it can happen twice.
Spoken like a person that doesn’t understand the team at all … both of you actually.
Kind of pathetic that some other people actually liked these posts. Guillen isn’t even on the Tigers roster and that guy gets 5 likes …
Holy crap. This was out of nowhere. I’m kind of bitter the Nats didn’t sign him, but it gives us more money to go after a CF next offseason. Plus, an NL team would never have signed Prince to a 9-year deal.
In 5 years, the Nats would be dreading this contract more than the Jayson Werth deal.
This is the money that Carlos and Mags. was getting not a big hit on total
I called this way back in Nov.
HOLY BUCKETS! Huge buckets at that! Glad we got to enjoy your cheaper years here in Milwaukee, big guy!
Milwaukee may still be the biggest winners in all of this. They got the affordable, monster number production out of Fielder that helped to make the relevant again and to put buts back into seats. Now someone else is picking up Fielder’s tab while Milwaukee can bring in new talent with revenue from those extra fans Fielder brought them. No way this is a good contract for an NL team, much less one like MIL.
And Mat Gamel finally gets a chance to play too.
Wasnt Prince against DHing?
Amazing what almost $24MM (AAV) will do to change a person’s mind.
Going to be 1 expensive DH in a few…
Idiocy…. This will blow up in their faces starting year 3…
If he takes time out to spend time solely as a DH throughout the season I give it 5.
You really think Prince will be worth less than that by yr. 3?? I agree that he will decline but not nearly as rapidly as you project…The man is large yes, but he PLAYS…and he Hustles while he does it. This isn’t his Dad we are talking about
I just died from shock. Currently commenting from limbo while I await my fate.
“Hey Prince Fielder, what do you know about being poor?” “LOL, NOTHIN”
This might be the stupidest contract of all time…
And I really mean that
Aaron Rowand, Alphonso Soriano, Barry Zito and Carlos Silva beg to differ
Holy Schnikes… and once Victor returns it’ll be Cabby-Fielder-Martinez… whoa!
so which is worst now Fielder’s contract or Pujols’ contract?
The Prince returns to his fathers old stomping grounds to mash, I like this. Its one of those rare times a great players son reaches the major leagues and is as good or better and now on the same team that Cecil came out big on. This is def cool.
Well Prince hates his father
Extra motivation to do better in the same uniform then. Make the whole city forget his dad. Make himself be remembered as the best big man DH Detroit has ever seen.
Fielder. Early years Pujols still provides more value. He’ll hit for nearly as much as Fielder if not better since DET is not a launching pad like Miller was for Fielder. On top of that, Pujols is a solid defender and will likely last longer before being a full-time DH.
Great question – right now you gotta think Fielder’s contract is worse because Albert should provide defensive value for several years still. But it depends on how poorly they each age, and Fielder’s age relative to AP5’s may end up making his contract the better one.
The a-rod contract.
i thought prince didnt want to play where his father did…..??
It’s 9 years and $214M…
wow, the Tigers know that they already have Miggy at 1st!?
edit: so actually read the article. Miggy will change roles? So back to 3rd I guess?
I find it hard to believe Miggy will be playing 3B anytime soon, he’s looking pretty fat himself these days.
Well he weighs the same as Pablo Sandoval, and he’s actually 5 inches taller, so he’s not as fat as him.
The Angels and Tigers now have about eight or nine first basemen between them. That’s too many.
Great point with Reyes. Sure he is injury prone lately but man, if any park is made for him to thrive in it is Comerica Park. He would light up that offense.
Best news I have heard in a long time
Just curious when miggy and verlanders deals run up? Be because I wonder if this deal will hurt them eventually. With Jackson, Bosch and scherzer( spelling) all getting extensions soon this could spell doom in a few years unless they win a title soon
thats sick….angels,tigers,rangers,yankees in the playoffs,and when we get the extra wildcard spot boston or tampa will fill that spot
That’s not how it works. Assuming what you put are the top 4 teams, then the Angels or Rangers (whoever you are picking to win the WC) would have to play Boston or Tampa in a 1 game playoff.
So the tigers will be the slowest team in the league. What happens when V-mart comes back next year? Miggy going to 3rd? They really are stacking the teams balance very awkwardly. They have now blown their financial wade for any other players. Very mixed on this
Wow, I understand signing Fielder but if Cabrera moves to 3rd that’s going to be some slow ugly defense on the corners!
V-Mart’s the expendable one. Presumably Cabrera will be DH this season. With V-Mart out this year, there’s no big issue. When he’s back, I imagine he’ll be the odd man out.
“Fielder will play first base and Miguel Cabrera will change roles, Heyman adds.”
Wow, you know things are rough when you can mash and yet you are moving to make room for Fielder.
I wonder if Cecil Fielder gets a cut too?
Way to go Mike Ilitch & Dave Dombrowski, way to stay strong! I realize Ilitch is rich and I know the Tigers have a great fanbase. However, with this awful recession how to expect to pay for this insanityin the long run. It’s funny Thomas Jefferson believed no generation should pass its debts on to the next and yet Jefferson died with tremendous debt. Ilitch will do the same…. Simply madness!
Well, I can honestly say I didn’t expect to see Thomas jefferson’s name to come up in this thread……….l
Just curious when miggy and verlanders deals run up? Be because I wonder if this deal will hurt them eventually. With Jackson, Bosch and scherzer( spelling) all getting extensions soon this could spell doom in a few years unless they win a title soon
Well isn’t that the plan?
JV is signed through 2014 season, Cabrera through 2016 and now prince through 2020. Vmart is signed through 2014. Valverde, Delmon Young and Inge through 2012 at $9m, $6.75m and $6m and Peralta 2012 at $5.5m w a team option for same in 2013…Benoit 5.5 through 2013. So after this year the $22m Prince gets is the money we were paying 3 guys who don’t have a future here….
:)
Thank you. It’s kind if what I thought his 23 per is going to matter after 2014 cuz he will command 20+ per same with might eventually.
1st thought: Whoa what?
2nd thought: barf
Anyone besides me think this might be a backloaded deal with a friendly first year and we trade him to the Dodgers next year?
I wonder if Oswalt is having second thoughts about Detroit……bye bye Roy
Cabrera couldn’t even play 3B with the Marlins when he weighed 50lbs less.
Man, @MLBInsideNews must be so mad right now.
After I’m done with the initial shock:
-Congrats Tigers and their fans, you’ve joined the list of superpowers. Welcome to the dark side.
-On paper, Tigers are likely the AL favorite.
-The Miggy/Fielder combo… time to start thinking up nicknames.
The “Mega-Ton”?
Please, Fielder is not good enough to make them the favorites even if they had 1b open. As is, Miggy is going to lose value as a DH or ridiculously trying to play 3b.
He’s had a negative dWAR every year of his career, so no he doesn’t lose value if he’s DHing.
dWAR for 1b is nearly useless, hell it said Teixeira was significnatly negative in 2010 year and near the top a couple years before that.
Cabrera was seen as a bad 1b but not so terrible that he’d be better off DH’ing, and even if he is then locking down the DH spot for 162 games has its downside.
And then there is v-mart coming back next year, where is he going to play? What, hes catching 140 games? For all we know they have some idiotic idea to let Cabrera play 3b.
He’s probably not going to be a Tiger for much longer.
That’s awesome in a funny way.
Scott Boras could sell you a penny for $50
I think you’re selling Boras a bit short. He could get at least a million dollars for Brad Penny.
I dont know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but does anyone else think it might make sense to ship Miggy to the Marlins for Hanley? If Marlins were willing to pony up that much for Pujols, maybe they’d “settle” for less years/$ of Miggy? I dont know what other players or money might need to exchange hands, but that was one of the first things that I thought after seeing the signing…
I feel obligated to load up on Hot N Ready’s…its officially World Series or bust boys…
Oh. My. God. This is unreal; the “Mystery Team” strikes again. I figured Cabrera would switch positions, but what happens when Martinez is healthy? Avila is already catcher..
2012: Cabrera DH and plays 3B some.
2013: Victor DH and Cabrera plays 3B full time…or LF
So if im oswalt or any pitcher on the market im tellin my agent only nl teams lol the AL just got hella stronger this year
we know the AL is gonna win the all star game, no doubt 1b is stacked
And just when Indians fans all over the United States thought that their team had a chance to compete for the AL Central crown, Scott Boras crushed their dreams
What? Just… WHAT???
Worst. Nickname. Ever.
$$$$ changes everything. Prince didn’t want to be just a DH, and i am sure he’ll see playing time at 1B – But in the end, the $$$$ does the talking.
“Prince Fielder, who hit baseballs out of Tiger Stadium as a 12-year-old, is on his way back to Detroit, where his father, Cecil Fielder, starred for seven years.”
The Tigers hope that Prince can also star there for seven years, with the last two being an utter disappointment.
Tigers are gonna be pitiful on defense in 2013. Of they don’t win next year, they never will.
^ still Bitter
$ 214,000,000 – Looks like a BIG number when you type it out! I hope the Tigers protected themselves with this contract, or my excitement might not last 9 years!
Ryan Howard Contract > Fielder/Pujols contracts. RAJ is a genius.
The Pujols contract still looks like the best who you take into account the Angels renegotiated their deal with FOX afterwards.
Fielder/Pujols > Ryan Howard
did anyone say otherwise?
This makes a lot of sense cause its now like father like son.
Wow. I’m shocked. The Tigers officially clinched the AL Central today.
Why? They added Fielder, but lost Martinez. Not like they added Prince to Martinez and Cabrera.
Woooooowww. Cabrera and Prince? Remember how when they signed Cabrera a few years ago everybody was just ready to give them the championship? Well hopefully they fail now too. Wowzers, I did not see that coming.
Cabrera wasn’t the problem. Renteria and injuries were.
Once again Boras uses the Nationals to drive up the price of his clients. Can’t wait to see how much Strasburg and Harper get when they hit FA and Boras uses the Nats again.
Absolute lunacy.
Just glad it’s over.
So happy that he won’t play in AL West but I have to say the Mariners will lose 90 games.
Stupid amount of years and money
Extremely happy the Nationals weren’t the ones to give this offer
That’s gonna be a lot of money to pay a DH in a few years.
Not even Nostradamus could predict this one. Boras always finds a way to shock the baseball world.
Hope the Twins plan on small-balling the Tigers to death like they have done before. Lay those bunts down the first and third base lines and run all day.
The Tigers will likely regret this sooner rather than later. But, I don’t care. He’s out of the NL Central.
Cannot believe the negativity. I thought the object was to win. We don’t write the checks, we cheer for victories.
Amen. As a Tigers fan I couldn’t be happier right now.
This isn’t Jayson Werth. It’s one of the very best players in the league and he’s only 27 years old.
Who cares how much he’s being paid? Mike Illitch opened up his checkbook to make our team a hell of a lot better. Bless that man.
If this was an attempt at sarcasm, I missed it.
You are looking to hard. No sarcasm
You don’t think the money could have been used for better use? On pitching, perhaps?
Or do you think Verlander can keep pitching 250+ innings every season?
A guy like Fielder can help you get into the playoffs but pitching is worth more once there. (And the Tigers didn’t — and still doesn’t — need Fielder to win that division)
The money wasn’t available for use elsewhere, except maybe for Cespedes.
There was a very real possibility that the Tigers were going to stand pat this year, with $107 mil already invested. Instead Illitch opened up his pocketbook and added that one more big bat that he’s wanted to add to the lineup for a long time.
I don’t understand that logic. What makes Fielder so special? (They couldn’t use half that money to sign a guy like CJ?) I don’t see him as a guy that will make more people purchase tickets. They already have Cabrera as their premium hitter.
Also, just the fact that they paid tens of millions more than anyone else was willing to pay makes this a bad move. Every dollar used to to overpay Fielder means a dollar less in the future. (especially now that Fielder has a lot of the budget locked up for years to come) I don’t see why this was necessary when there were no pressure to pay so dearly. (especially with the number of years) It isn’t a coincidence that Fielder took so long to sign — there wasn’t the demand he wanted. (until, DD gave it to him)
They could definitely use Fielder — almost every team can — but it comes down to a team having limited resources. You can argue that the team needed extra offense because of losing Martinez but it doesn’t ever make sense to overpay. We are talking in the tens of millions here — money that can be used to fill a lot of holes. It’s not like Fielder alone can win the Tigers a championship.
Edit: It is rumored Mike Illitch made the signing so I’ll take back what I said about DD.
Yes, Illitch made the signing, which is what changes everything. The Tigers were not going to have anything close to a $130 million payroll if it weren’t for this signing.
Illitch has known Prince Fielder since he was a little kid, and his dad starred for the Tigers in the 90s. And he desperately wants to win a WS within his lifetime. So he decided to expand our payroll so we could sign Fielder.
And us Tigers fans are lucky to have a guy like that as an owner.
I mean, if he *really* wanted a WS championship, then wouldn’t Pujols have made more sense? Pujols can actually field. The money isn’t too far off.
Signing a player based on sentimental value isn’t going to make your chances of winning a WS ring any greater.
Also, let’s not kid ourselves, everyone wants to win a WS ring. But, it’s not just about making moves — but making smart moves.
Let’s think about this:
1) The Tigers were going to win the division. Why handicap yourself financially when you have such a good chance of making the playoffs? All you really need is a playoff spot — just ask the Giants and Cardinals who weren’t predicted to win the WS. Would Fielder win a WS all by himself? The Tigers will be handicapped defensively when they take away the DH in NL home games.
2) Why go all in this year? Does the money suddenly just disappear? I thought Illitch really wanted to win?
Okay, let’s say you really want Fielder. Fine. Sign him, but sign him at market rate — not 50 mil more. You don’t see anything you can do with that 50 mil? It doesn’t have to be spent this year or even the next year. Even 10 mil allotted somewhere else can make a huge difference.
I just don’t understand why ALL that money had to go to Fielder like if he’s the only player allowed to take Detroit money. You talk about being sentimental in Fielder… but, it’s not like Fielder was giving Detroit a discount so he’s obviously not feeling the same way.
Maybe the Tigers have the inside info that the AL will be adding a second DH in 2013. if so, brilliant move!
I owe JacksTigers an apology :)
Cubs win! Cubs win! (In 2014)
So who DH’s and who sits? And what happens when VMart actually returns in 2013? He’s still got 3 years left on his contract. Traded maybe?
I think the Tigers will likely regret this sooner rather than later. But, I don’t care — he’s not in the NL Central.
Prince Fielder-Mark Henry welcome to the hall of pain A.L Central.
Sucks for you Tiger fans. Looks like your out of the Johnny Damon sweepstakes.
The thing you have to remember is V-Mart is only on the books for 2 years after this year..I will take two years of a cluster of not knowing what to do with great players (cabby to third most likely) rather than having damon or Vlad at DH for 2012. By 2015 nick castellanos will definitely be ready to play third and then you platoon Cabrerra and Prince at DH/1B like they will do this year. Excited for the future of the Tigers!
fourth largest deal in MLB history.. appropriate for the fourth largest player in MLB history.
This should get 100+ likes too.
Look on the bright side Twins, at least you have Carl Pavano.
ohh yeah, and while having Prince is good, how much better will he be than V-Mart was in 2011??? V-Mart had 103 RBI while batting .330
Prince will hit towering HR’s, but won’t hit .300 and will drive in perhaps 10-15 more runs than V-Mart did… was that worth 24 million a year? really???
Let’s not forget that if they DO put Cabby at 3b, they will give up more runs on defense, and defense and PITCHING wins World Series. Hitting helps, but they could have used Oswalt more than Fielder.
The contract is hella bad, but they’re offensive stats don’t even compare.
Really though, as a fan I could care less about the contract. That’s for management to worry about. I just want to see him mash the ball out of the park.
It’ll be something for you to worry about when the team sinks under the weight of these terrible contracts.
No, not really. I never bought stock in the company, so I’m good to go. Plus, we know ALL those teams who have sunk under the weight of terrible contracts don’t we?
Prince hit .299 last year. . .
Tigers will coast to the playoffs this year.
Then in 2013, Fielder will be traded to the Dodgers for prospects and salary relief.
Nothing like laundering Debt!
the tigers???!!! where were they mentioned by all the mlbtr reporters in the endless off-season prince speculation?? sure sounds like i’m as qualified, sitting in front of my computer, as the reporters are, with all their “sources”!!
They can call their lineup the buffet line.
The Tigers lose a first-round draft pick? I thought they changed that rule about three days after Papelbon signed in Philly, so that’s the only team that lost one.
You only lose a 1st rounder if you sign the player for 12 or 12.5 mil (can’t remember which). Needless to say…Fielder got a lot more than 12 mil per year.
they changed it for certain ok players not super stars like prince.
I used to like Prince this is one reason to hate him now. This is a damn dirty shame.
So you hate him cuz he got a fat contract on a really good team? great.
hehe, fat contract
I’m sure he’s losing sleep over this as we speak.
Yea! how dare he maximize his earning value over his career! What does he think he is a free agent?!?!
Too bad it doesn’t change the fact that Verlander can’t pitch 162 games. That’s a lot of money for a guy who can’t stay in shape.
Prince Fielder has played THE MOST GAMES IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL OVER THE PAST 6 SEASONS. His size is a concern for the last couple years of his deal, but to say he hasn’t been able to stay in shape is moot when you look at that statistic.
There’s no room for facts here. He’s fat, and that’s all that is important.
I’ll be the first to admit I NEVER thought it was gunna happen. This is nuts.
This makes me want to purchase stock in the company that provides game day catering for the Tigers.
whoa
thank you tigers for making sure texas didn’t get him!!
We’re still better than the Angels, with or without Fielder, so don’t get too excited.
That remains to be seen, but I do hope Darvish pans out because it’s going to make for some fun games to watch in the west this year.
Well, I do believe they’ve made a foolish signing while in panic mode. After the Tigers toy with Cabrera at 3rd and Left in the spring and see that he’ll give up more runs defensively than Prince will drive in, they’ll move him to DH, which I assume Cabrera won’t like at all. I smell volatility brewing.
Not to mention they just blew all of that money to solve a one year issue instead of fixing other areas of need.
So Prince Fielder is on the Tigers with Miguel Cabrera now…
looks like Detroit needs to open a few new enormous all you can eat buffets in the next few months.
Word is they did check with Miggy and he’s on board. Good thing, you gotta check with the big dog before you give someone else his kibble.
I say that Fielder and Cabrera alternate at 1B/DH, a week at a time. That way they both get to play in the field and to get all their ABs. And they are not on the field at the same time!!
That only works this year. Next year, Victor Martinez is back. Unless he’s going back to catch, someone has to play third base or outfield.
he can’t catch.. but vmart could probably be traded once they show the league he’s healthy…
Or Miggy could be traded for a boatload of young players.
Plenty of options.
Good signing for the Tigers. Gives them the best 3-4 combination in baseball, possibly best 3-4-5 once Martinez comes back.
Isn’t Detroit still struggling with the recession yet the Tigers can spend nearly a quarter billion dollars on one guy. I like Prince or did, but he’s not worth the amount and actually no one is worth that much to play a game.
top 1%
Top 1% of what? At least try to make sense.
“Top 1% of what?”
Really? Haven’t watched the news lately, right? Like for the past 6 months?
No, I don’t get news from Detroit.
try leaving your basement once and a while
but but but…. that’s where i play warcraft all day.
“Mom! Sandwich!”
hahahahhaahha
Just because he`s 40 and living in his parent basement…..lol. He probly refers to his parents as roommates !
Illitch probably puts more of his own personal wealth into his club than any other owner in sports.
I’m Predicting a 1 year Opt out clause. :)
Y on earth would he opt out of this deal?
“so does this mean Miggy’s in play??”
-AA
At least when LA signed Pujols to his megs-deal, they already had Weaver and Wilson locked up and were able to leave some flexibility to work some extensions. I really have to wonder, with a contract like this, what sort of flexibility DET is going to have to keep their core together. It will be even harder if too many of their heavy hitters are better DH material than they are fielding a position.
And were in a market that makes Detroit look like a blade of grass from the top of the sears( Willis) tower. A richer owner and had more contracts worth more money coming off the book in the next 3 years. And a ton of Alberts contract is deferred
Prince is going to make more per year than all the everyday residents of Detroit combined.
This is really a shame, as I hoped the Angels would have signed him.
The White Sox or Marlins can have Yoenis Cespedes now – why bet on a maybe when you can have a sure thing.
Where have the Sox even been put in the top 4 in that running?
There are numerous reports of cespedes him self saying the whitesox have been one of the teams aggressively pursuing him. Also dyan vicedio has been open about him trying to recruit cespedes and soler
Of what I have seen, the most likely suitors have been named as the Cubs and Marlins. Not the White Sox. If you want to include them, fine, but don’t disregard the other numerous reports claiming that those two are the main suitors.
…and overpay in the process. makes sense to me!
When Vmart comes back they flip Prince to the M’s for Felix :D
After Detroit eats how many years of Fielder’s contract?
I believe they would trade V-Mart instead.
Terrible signing. Need I say more?
I’m excited about this! What an amazing 1-2 punch.
For those interested in supporting the signing of Fielder – there is a Facebook page called “Little Caesar’s for Fielder” in which we are buying a Little Caesar’s pizza to support the decision to sign him. Check on the page for details!
Congrats to the Nats for not falling for the Boras B.S.
Fielder will probably make a fantastic contribution to the Tigers for about 3 years. After that he’ll likely be a $100+ milllion albatross.
Nonetheless, good luck to you, Prince !
Any word on the yearly monies? Backloaded contract?
9 years $214mm. In 9 years PF will be Jaba the Hut.
I was way off on this one, I never thought he would get nine years or 214 million. I thought he was signing with the Nats for 8/160. The Tigers are all in on trying to make it to the world series this year. All the top free agents went from the NL to the AL. I think it makes alot of sense for these big hitters to go to the AL because of the DH. This move locks the Central for years to come for the Tigers.
Ummm…it actually only locks Prince for the Tigers for years to come. I’m positive Boras isn’t that good. But I tell you, if he did do this, someone give Boras a fat raise and hire him to fight the insurance companies.
boras isnt that good? boras is the best agent in all of sports and people hate him because he is good.
I’d welcome you to allow yourself to read within the context at any time now.
Papelbon went to the Phillies ;)
Rumours coming out of Boston is that the Fielder deal will be followed up with a mega trade between the Tigers and the Red Sox. Tigers are going to send Inge and Carbera to Sox for Ortiz, Larnaway and Youk
Lol
lol
lol
lol
Hahahaha.
omg that is awesome welcome home prince….9 years maybe a bit long but man Carbera has some back up for sure this year wooo..im excited go Tigers
I’m excited for 2013 when DET will have to put Miggy at 3B, Prince at 1B, Avila at C and watch everybody bunt their way around the bases.
$214 million and all the Little Caesers pizza he can eat !! (And he’s already proven he can eat a LOT of pizza!)
The box has more flavor than the pizza
Hanley and Miggy work out together in Weston, Florida in the offseason…
…ironic
see ya later indians, we had fun last year….
love it welcome home prince.
hitting balls out of tiger stadium as a 12 year old..yeah ok
It’s not a joke.
How much money per Lb does that equal?
Wasn’t last year DD said they can only afford 2 $20 million players on the team. Heck they may as well get Cepedes, regardless of what he is asking
This obviously takes them out of the market for yoenis.
I do not want Cespedes at all now. No more long term deals, otherwise we will have no shot of extending JV and Miggy again. It’s also essential that we do not trade Turner or Castellanos, we’re gonna really appreciate their dirt cheap contracts for their first couple years of service time.
How the hell could the Tigers afford him?!
Same thing I was thinking.
Money can be traded for goods and services.
Their Tyson’s Chicken deal has opened up a lot of money. Alcoholic Chicken… Mmmm…
I heard megatron chipped in.
Ok I read through and it still puzzles me, isn’t Miggy a better 1B? So shouldn’t Fielder go to DH??
Defensively? They both kind of equally suck. I wouldn’t want either guy at first on my team for strict defensive purposes. This lineup is gonna be sick when V-Mart comes back. Miggy, Fielder, V-Mart – shoot even Delmon Young can all mash.
I agree that the lineup will be great when V-Mart returns, but where do they all play? Moving a below average defensive first baseman back to third base, where he was below average 50 pounds ago doesn’t help the defense.
Maybe they’ll put them both at 1B and only pitch to one side of the plate.
..and Detroit is preparing for the arrival of Fielder, locking up the local buffet’s.
Wow, didn’t see this coming. So Cabrera at 3B or DH?
i could imagine both. I can also see don kelly getting a lot of playing time at 3rd the days cabby is the DH. I dont see inge being on the team much longer.