Tigers sign Prince - 9/214 - Heyman

[Bryants Disco Ball]

I still think that if nobody steps in with at least a 6/135 offer that he'll end up back with the Brewers for something like 3/60 with a mutual option or two so they can make the most of their final years with the window open.

If he is willing to sign for 3/60, the Cubs and other teams would be all over that and give him even more. That doesn't seem possible.

 

If nobody steps in with 6/135, he'll go somewhere for less years and a lower AAV. I don't understand what's so crazy about that.

 

Not just any team, just for the Brewers. I could see him taking a gamble on himself to accept less money and years from the Brewers for a shot at winning it all with them. 2/45 might make more sense so he's 29 when the deals up and still has a shot at a 5 year deal. You never know who could need a 1st baseman by then. Weeks, Braun, Fielder, Ramirez, and Hart In in the middle of the lineup with a very strong rotation and back end of the bullpen? That could be an NL fav for a few years.

 

I see what you're saying, but I've never gotten the feeling that Prince will pick championships over the best contract. If he did, he wouldn't have been willing to go to the Cubs at all this offseason.

 

There is no reason for him to take 2/45, etc. There will be enough money out there to easily top that and will eliminate the risk of having to do well and stay healthy the next two seasons. He just wants too many years right now. He can get four or five years right now at $20 to $24 million if he wants. At least in my opinion. And he can still go to a place like Texas and have a chance to win a championship.

[davearm2]

The only way Fielder is going back to the Brewers is if they decide to raise their payroll by the entirety of his contract for the length of the deal. That ship sailed a long, long time ago, before the 2011 season when they dealt for Greinke and extended Weeks.

Your point is well taken, but on the other hand you'd have to consider that at a certain pricepoint, the Brewers might try and get real creative to make it work.

 

Maybe dumping Hart and KRod for anything frees up the $$$, for example.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

The only way Fielder is going back to the Brewers is if they decide to raise their payroll by the entirety of his contract for the length of the deal. That ship sailed a long, long time ago, before the 2011 season when they dealt for Greinke and extended Weeks.

 

100 percent agree.

 

All bets are off if the Brewers want to raise payroll to $102 to $110 million. They can retain Prince then. But going by the fact that they are often in the $80 to $90 range and seem very uncomfortable getting close to $100, I don't see how it's possible without some trades.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

The only way Fielder is going back to the Brewers is if they decide to raise their payroll by the entirety of his contract for the length of the deal. That ship sailed a long, long time ago, before the 2011 season when they dealt for Greinke and extended Weeks.

Your point is well taken, but on the other hand you'd have to consider that at a certain pricepoint, the Brewers might try and get real creative to make it work.

 

Maybe dumping Hart and KRod for anything frees up the $$$, for example.

 

Yes, they could get creative and do that. Totally agree. Just not sure they want to start creating other holes on their team AND invest a great deal of money into Prince over a five or six year span.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

And I will admit I hate the Brewers like people hate the Cardinals, and I have nightmares of Prince re-signing with the Brewers. Until he signs elsewhere, I'll still have that fear, even if I refuse to believe it's possible.

[davearm2]

The only way Fielder is going back to the Brewers is if they decide to raise their payroll by the entirety of his contract for the length of the deal. That ship sailed a long, long time ago, before the 2011 season when they dealt for Greinke and extended Weeks.

Your point is well taken, but on the other hand you'd have to consider that at a certain pricepoint, the Brewers might try and get real creative to make it work.

 

Maybe dumping Hart and KRod for anything frees up the $$$, for example.

 

Yes, they could get creative and do that. Totally agree. Just not sure they want to start creating other holes on their team AND invest a great deal of money into Prince over a five or six year span.

Actually I was speculating on how the Brewers might respond if the ask goes to 2/45 or 3/60 as others threw out. I presume that they're totally out if it's 5-6 years.

[Bryants Disco Ball]

The only way Fielder is going back to the Brewers is if they decide to raise their payroll by the entirety of his contract for the length of the deal. That ship sailed a long, long time ago, before the 2011 season when they dealt for Greinke and extended Weeks.

Your point is well taken, but on the other hand you'd have to consider that at a certain pricepoint, the Brewers might try and get real creative to make it work.

 

Maybe dumping Hart and KRod for anything frees up the $$$, for example.

 

Yes, they could get creative and do that. Totally agree. Just not sure they want to start creating other holes on their team AND invest a great deal of money into Prince over a five or six year span.

Actually I was speculating on how the Brewers might respond if the ask goes to 2/45 or 3/60 as others threw out. I presume that they're totally out if it's 5-6 years.

 

Gotcha.......then they are totally out.

[davearm2]

And I will admit I hate the Brewers like people hate the Cardinals, and I have nightmares of Prince re-signing with the Brewers. Until he signs elsewhere, I'll still have that fear, even if I refuse to believe it's possible.

I'm not that concerned about the Brewers. Years ago they launched their homegrown core of Fielder, Weeks, Hardy, Hart, Braun, Sheets etc., and we worried. Now that group is breaking up and/or getting expensive, and the pipeline to replace it doesn't look too great.

 

Soon, the Cubs will both have more money to spend, and a better group of young/cheap guys.

[biittner77]

It's time for the Orioles to drive a truck full of money to Fielder's house.

 

Too bad they won't though.

[Little Slide Rooter]

And I will admit I hate the Brewers like people hate the Cardinals, and I have nightmares of Prince re-signing with the Brewers. Until he signs elsewhere, I'll still have that fear, even if I refuse to believe it's possible.

I'm not that concerned about the Brewers. Years ago they launched their homegrown core of Fielder, Weeks, Hardy, Hart, Braun, Sheets etc., and we worried. Now that group is breaking up and/or getting expensive, and the pipeline to replace it doesn't look too great.

 

Soon, the Cubs will both have more money to spend, and a better group of young/cheap guys.

 

I'm definitely with PWC. I dont know any Cards fans personally, but plenty of Brewer fans. They simply can't win one before we do. With Fielder added to what they have, that could become a reality. And Dave, back when that core first came up, they could never get any good pitching aside from Sheets and the occasional closer who would come out of nowhere with an all star season and never repeat it. By the time Yovanni came up, Sheets was already falling apart. Who knows how far they could have taken that wild card in 2008 if they could have managed to have CC, Sheets, and Gallardo healthy and in the rotation.

[Banedon]

A Card fan buddy at work sent me this all breathless....

 

http://www.stlsportsminute.com/2011/12/new-developments-may-push-cardinals.html

[fromthestretch]

A Card fan buddy at work sent me this all breathless....

 

http://www.stlsportsminute.com/2011/12/new-developments-may-push-cardinals.html

 

 

Then there are the Cubs, who, depending on who you believe, have Fielder locked up or haven’t even talked to him yet. If you ask me, it wouldn’t make any sense for the Cubs’ new GM Theo Epstein to add another bad contract on top of the several the team is already lugging around from the last regime.

 

The Cubs have several bad contracts? Several?

[Rob]

A Card fan buddy at work sent me this all breathless....

 

http://www.stlsportsminute.com/2011/12/new-developments-may-push-cardinals.html

 

This is a month old and disregards the Blue Jays because they're negotiating with Yu Darvish.

 

Your buddy is a moron.

[Guest]

A Card fan buddy at work sent me this all breathless....

 

http://www.stlsportsminute.com/2011/12/new-developments-may-push-cardinals.html

 

I assume he works at some satellite office and spent the last month running to your location to relay the news?

[Banedon]

lol...he msg'd me a few min ago that he just realized how old the article was. hehe.

 

He's actually quite a smart guy...just got a bit over-excited about it. Which is something I will enjoy bring up again at a later date.

[SouthSideRyan]

A Card fan buddy at work sent me this all breathless....

 

http://www.stlsportsminute.com/2011/12/new-developments-may-push-cardinals.html

 

Send him this in response.

 

http://www.thedovecreekranch.com/gallery.html

[Derwood]

Rangers now claiming they "aren't likely" to sign Fielder.

 

I can't remember the last time every team pretended to not want a Top 3 free agent

[Bote McBoteface]

I can't remember the last time a fat, poor defensive first baseman saw the best player on the planet get a 10 year deal and decided that he had to have one too.

[17 Seconds]

probably never

[Cubswin11]

I can't remember the last time a fat, poor defensive first baseman saw the best player on the planet get a 10 year deal and decided that he had to have one too.

The 10 year thing is absurd and I doubt Prince and Boras are holding firm on that. I think it's weird though, that as to this point, there have been no reports of any teams even offering him a 5, 6, or 7 year deal. Granted we aren't privy to all the info out there and he may very well have offers in those year ranges from a team or even multiple teams.

[seanimal]

at this point, if the market has truly evaporated (assuming there ever was one to begin with), why not seek a max dollar one-year deal and hit the market next offseason and try again?

[TruffleShuffle]

at this point, if the market has truly evaporated (assuming there ever was one to begin with), why not seek a max dollar one-year deal and hit the market next offseason and try again?

 

i read an article, i think it may have been on BP, suggesting that this might be prince's best course of action, since the big market clubs either don't have a need at 1b or haven't shown much interest. maybe by next offseason, the dodgers have sorted out their financial issues and some other big market clubs are looking for a 1b or dh. he can probably get close to $25m on a one year contract so as long as he doesn't have a bad year, he could still be looking at a nice long-term payday.

[biittner77]

at this point, if the market has truly evaporated (assuming there ever was one to begin with), why not seek a max dollar one-year deal and hit the market next offseason and try again?

 

i read an article, i think it may have been on BP, suggesting that this might be prince's best course of action, since the big market clubs either don't have a need at 1b or haven't shown much interest. maybe by next offseason, the dodgers have sorted out their financial issues and some other big market clubs are looking for a 1b or dh. he can probably get close to $25m on a one year contract so as long as he doesn't have a bad year, he could still be looking at a nice long-term payday.

 

 

 

on page 43 I wrote

Would it be such a terrible idea for Fielder to sign a one year deal with someone? If he doesn't like any of the deals available, would he really hurt himself that much by signing a short term deal to see who needs a first baseman next season? He'd be all but assured of finishing the season with a contender since whoever signed him would certainly be able to trade him at the deadline if they fell out of the race. Maybe by then a team that can't afford him now frees up enough payroll or has an injury.

 

Did whoever wrote that article cite me as a source?

[Old Style]

A guy I know posted this on another board. I don't necessarily trust him having "inside sources" at the Rangers any more than I do (I know someone that works in their ticket office) but take this for what it's worth.

 

Not public news yet. Rumor is a 6 year back loaded deal with an out clause for both sides after three, which effectively makes it a three year deal.

 

The market doesn't seem to be there for Fielder to sign the long term deal he wants this off season, and he really wants to play in Texas. Hence, a compromise that will get him paid big $ for the next three years and THEN the market will hopefully be better for him to get along term deal.

 

We'll see. This is from a source inside the Rangers organization that has been accurate in the past.

[treebird]

A guy I know posted this on another board. I don't necessarily trust him having "inside sources" at the Rangers any more than I do (I know someone that works in their ticket office) but take this for what it's worth.

 

Not public news yet. Rumor is a 6 year back loaded deal with an out clause for both sides after three, which effectively makes it a three year deal.

 

The market doesn't seem to be there for Fielder to sign the long term deal he wants this off season, and he really wants to play in Texas. Hence, a compromise that will get him paid big $ for the next three years and THEN the market will hopefully be better for him to get along term deal.

 

We'll see. This is from a source inside the Rangers organization that has been accurate in the past.

 

the deal is backloaded AND it will get him paid big $ for the next three years?