Prince being sued to $400k?

[Paul77]

I'm on my way out the door and heard something about Prince Fielder being sued by the IRS FOR $400,000. Anyone else heard about this yet?

[BrewerBrent]

WSSP is reporting he owes something like $400+K in taxes to the IRS from his signing bonus

 

Edit: found the link in the detriot news:

http://info.detnews.com/redesign/blogs/taxingdetroitblog/index.cfm?blogid=34

[rluzinski]

You have to wonder if the old man gambled it away....

[Oldcity]

Exactly what I was thinking. Wonder if they should really be after Cecil?

[chinabob99]

According to the link, the IRS filed this lien in late '05. Given that Prince already felt Cecil stole some of his signing bonus, I'd imagine this is something else Cecil had a big hand in. Plus, didn't Prince and his grandparents get sued last year because of some of Cecil's other business dealings gone? (edit: yes, for $380,000)

Kind of puts Cecil's "why won't my son reconcile with me" crocodile tears from last season in perspective. If my father left my mother after stealing $200,000 from me and wracking up $800,000 in other debt in my name, I might be a little upset as well.

[afeter]

maybe he should cut a braun-esque deal. Its a quick fix prince.

[MickeyDavis]

According to the Detroit News, Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder owes the Internal Revenue Service $409,149.

The report says the IRS filed the lien on Oct. 6, 2005, for unpaid income taxes. According to the lien, Fielder owes the money from 2003, the year after he signed his first contract with the Brewers and after he received a $2.4 million signing bonus.

Fielder and the Brewers were unable to agree on a salary for this season, so his contract was renewed at $670,000, up from $415,000 a season ago.

Fielder is not eligible for salary arbitration until next winter. The Brewers use a system to determine salaries for all players with less than three years of service time, including incentives for winning awards and placing high in the balloting.

The Brewers referred a call for comment to Scott Boras, who is Fielder's agent. Boras could not be immediately reached for comment.

[MickeyDavis]

Perfect time for a reasonable contract extension. Mark bails Prince out with the IRS Prince signs a Brewer friendly deal.

[BrewerBrent]

Perfect time for a reasonable contract extension. Mark bails Prince out with the IRS Prince signs a Brewer friendly deal.

That's what I was thinking, but the report says the lien was served Oct 6 2005. Not like this is news to Prince. I also wonder what kind of deadline there really is for this. I mean, if it has been almost 2 and a half years since it was served, might Prince just be waiting until arbitration to pay it off?

 

[MickeyDavis]

It's possible he's trying to stall another year and then pay it off when his paychecks get a whole lot bigger. Of course he could get a nice signing bonus right now and get the feds off his back. I know which way Boras will advise.

 

Was Boras his agent when he first signed with us? Whoever was advising him then didn't do a good job of explaning the taxes he would have to pay.

[Ando Calrissian]

I'm pretty sure that Prince's signing was handled by his dad. I'm not sure though about when Boras became his agent. I would suspect that some type of deal has been worked out in regards to this.

[davego]

Feds know they will get paid. Feel sort of bad for Prince that his family stuff bubbles into the pubic square.

[MickeyDavis]

If his dad had anything to do with that first contract/signing bonus...oh oh.

[chinabob99]

If his dad had anything to do with that first contract/signing bonus...oh oh.

 

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_24_226/ai_95792856

 

Cecil will act as his son's agent and hopes to sign a deal that will include a $2 million signing bonus. Cecil began his pro career by signing for $3,000 with Kansas City in 1982.

"I don't think it's going to be a problem" Cecil says. "I told him I'm going to go 24-7 to get it done so he can go and start the season where he needs to go."

Not sure if Cecil actually ended up being his agent, but it sure looks that way. I bet Cecil was supposed to take care of the taxes and just helped himself.

[brewtank34]

I just hope that all the media press asking him questions about it doesn't result in him slumping at the plate. Unfortunately, I can see Prince getting frustrated with the media and trying to jack HR's every swing to shut the media up...ending up swinging at bad pitches and then........yes, all the "trade Prince talk" will come back into play.

 

God,

Please don't let that happen.

Amen.

[Legacy25GT]

Did anyone notice that Prince's new walk-up "music" is now Thunder. Not sure if this is the first game since he changed, but its the first time I heard it.

[jazzytrav]

I just hope that all the media press asking him questions about it doesn't result in him slumping at the plate. Unfortunately, I can see Prince getting frustrated with the media and trying to jack HR's every swing to shut the media up...ending up swinging at bad pitches and then........yes, all the "trade Prince talk" will come back into play.

 

God,

Please don't let that happen.

Amen.

 

The "trade Prince talk" never really went away, and it probably won't go away unless he ditches Boras, plays better defense, and/or changes his body type. Quite honestly, I don't see him staying with the team past '09. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have him, but I don't think it will happen. This IRS thing will get put aside until he hits arbitration. If he has a major injury before then, I imagine the IRS will start chasing him a little, but assuming he's going to have a huge payday coming up in a year and a half, they'll find ways to leave him alone until then.

 

I'm just waiting for another Cecil interview to come out so I can laugh at him as he explains how bad Prince is because he should "honor thy father". Shockingly, the Bible leaves out the part about "honor thy father's gambling addiction".

[jwill535]

I dont think this would be the best way to approach Prince with in terms of an extension. I know some made the point TIC but I know I would be turned off if they came to me with "You can sign this extension and your problems will go away."

[MickeyDavis]

Ths IRS lien is from 2005 and Prince was offered an extension earlier this year so he obviously doesn't feel the need to sign now and take care of the debt. It appears as if he'll wait until next year when he gets his big arby bump.

[Bring Back the Stein]

Yuck. I hope the curtain stays closed on this drama. I'D like to see Cecil in chains, if he's responsible for this mess - and all the evidence seems to point to that. But it's Prince's call. He had to have prepared for this coming out, so I hope it won't be much of a distraction, but it just sort of adds to the sourness ratio of the stories coming out about him this season (even as he has been a model teammate and is heating up at a critical time).

 

Here's where being in a small market will redound positively to Prince. But again, yuck.

[bigredrobbo]

Maybe this explains why he was so pissed at the contract the Crew offered, knowing this was in the background. I must admit to thinking "you'll get yours, Big Fella, why so desperate?"

 

The IRS chasing you makes you desperate I guess...

[Ashford Lando]

Maybe this explains why he was so pissed at the contract the Crew offered, knowing this was in the background. I must admit to thinking "you'll get yours, Big Fella, why so desperate?"

 

The IRS chasing you makes you desperate I guess...

Perhaps, yes. And I may even agree that might be the case with Prince; however, I wish my company would based my annual raise not only on performance, but also my personal financial background -- I would have the boats, snowmobiles, and "weekend" car by now.

 

Create-the-debt-and-the-raises-will-come-accordingly is not a real life circumstance, and if that is why Prince is a bit pouty this year, well then, I hope he moves on to his AL team sooner than later.

[samwise]

I agree with you Ashford. This is not the Brewers business at all and unless Prince approaches the Brewers they should stay out of this. They should not dangle a contract out there based on the fact that Prince is being sued. That would be insulting.

 

If I am being sued for any reason, unless it is my employer bringing the lawsuit, it is none of their business. It is the same for Prince.

[chinabob99]

Maybe this explains why he was so pissed at the contract the Crew offered, knowing this was in the background. I must admit to thinking "you'll get yours, Big Fella, why so desperate?"

 

The IRS chasing you makes you desperate I guess...

Perhaps, yes. And I may even agree that might be the case with Prince; however, I wish my company would based my annual raise not only on performance, but also my personal financial background -- I would have the boats, snowmobiles, and "weekend" car by now.

 

Create-the-debt-and-the-raises-will-come-accordingly is not a real life circumstance, and if that is why Prince is a bit pouty this year, well then, I hope he moves on to his AL team sooner than later.

 

I agree with you in principle, but I think the here Prince didn't "create the debt". His father did, and then signed Prince's name to it. Cecil "allegedly" stole $200,000 of Prince's signing bonus, was apparently Prince's agent when the IRS was unpaid to the tune of $400,000, and Cecil got Prince sued for $380,000 for another transaction.

 

It looks to me like Prince is in a financial hole not of his own making, but rather one dug for him by someone he trusted.

[mls4]

It is too bad things like this need to be reported in the news. I know it's public information, but I feel like there are certain personal issues we shouldn't really care about.

 

I wouldn't put too much of this blame on Cecil though. It's Prince's income, it needs to be reported as such on Prince's tax return, and Prince should be aware that Prince owes the money. Whether or not Cecil took the money from Prince's signing bonus is really irrelevant to who owes the tax.