Fielder contract extension?

[TooLiveBrew]

But Russ's point was that Fielder's... fielding... has only gotten "worse" in that people are saying it's worse. Nothing you've highlighted there is anything that wasn't already a problem in Prince's defense coming into 2008. I really don't think his fielding was any worse in 2008 than it was in 2007. Funny how 50 HR will make you a better defensive player...

[rluzinski]

I stand by my prediction from June that one day we'll see Fielder on the highlight/lowlight reels with Canseco. Jose gets hit in the head on the 4-base error, Fielder gets hit in the face on a routine throw from his 3rd baseman.

 

That's not a very bold prediction to make concerning a player that was projected to be a DH before he even made the majors. If I'm accusing others of being unbiased, I have to accept that my memory might be as well. I'm sure he lost some speed but I always remember him being clueless defensively.

[DHonks]

Russ, he may have always been clueless. But at least there were occasional glimpses that he was getting better. Last year we saw him butcher so many plays that are routine for guys like Pujols, Lee, etc. These are plays that Overbay and Sexson made frequently. He may not have gotten worse, he just seemed to stop progressing and flashing occasional great plays.

[TooLiveBrew]

I really don't remember any flashes of brilliance from Prince either, whether from 2006, '07, or '08

[Ennder]

I thought fielder looked better in the first half of 2008 but he just looked brutal in the second half.

[greeg35]

Fielder became persona non grata after the details of his turning down a contract came out.

There is definitely some truth here; however, some of my negative feelings about the whole situation was the negativity on his part that appeared to happen after he turned down the offer. I have no problem with people going year to year arbitration wise by choice; but sulking about the lack of a contract or the pay amount after you make the choice doesn't make much sense to me. Maybe that was just my perception of Fielder's demeanor though.

[fondybrewfan]

Is anyone more comfortable with the prospect of trading Fielder since Nelson had such a good year at AAA and is having such a good year in the Winter League? If we could significantly upgrade another area of the team by trading Fielder, I think I would be comfortable giving Nelson a shot at 1st. He will be better defensively and I don't think he would be a huge liabilityoffensively if we started him in the #6-7 spot. I think he could do just fine. He won't be the offensive player that Fielder is, but the net gain of a Fielder trade might offset that a bit.

 

And for reference Brad is hitting .304/.381/1.185 in 17 games this winter including 7 HR's. I don't know how good the league is though.