Have we been thinking about Fielder the wrong way?

[clancyphile]

If I am not mistaken, both Pujols and Gonzalez become free agents after 2011 as well - potentially hurting Fielder's chances of getting a mega-deal.

Would a better option be to offer Fielder a two-year, $37 million deal over the offseason, buying out one free agent year, and then take the picks?

It would be a win-win - the Brewers get an extra year of Fielder, they don't get a long-term deal that would weigh them down, and Fielder would not wind up having teams use Pujols and/or Gonzalez as leverage to keep the offers down.

By 2013, could one of the K-Davis duo, Cody Hawn, or Chris Dennis be ready to take over at first?

[nate82]

If I am not mistaken, both Pujols and Gonzalez become free agents after 2011 as well - potentially hurting Fielder's chances of getting a mega-deal.

That won't hurt Fielder it will only help him.

[Hate those Rodents]

Not a bad idea. Might help us trade him too, if we so choose.

[RockCoCougars]

I doubt that Fielder would go for that. If he gets hurt or something in the next two years, he would end up leaving a ton of money on the table. I think one way to get Fielder in a soft market would be to give him a 5 year 100-ish million contract giving him the option to opt out after year three. That's a big risk for the Brewers though.

[Invader3K]

They've already offered him a contract around $100 million, which he turned down. I doubt giving him a third year opt out option would sway him.

 

It's a creative idea that clancy has, but I firmly believe Fielder is hell bent on testing the market after 2011.

[hurricanecrush]

I thought this was going to be about moving Fielder to shortstop. :-)

[LouisEly]

I'm not so sure it was about Fielder being hell bent on testing free agency as it is Scott Boras being hell bent on testing free agency.

 

If the market is soft, an "out" clause after three years might be very appealing. I believe Boras did that before very successfully with A-Rod - IIRC he had an out clause in his contract with the Rangers and exercised it to get an even bigger mega-deal from the Yankees.

 

It would also give the Brewers more time to develop/acquire LH bats to replace Fielder. If the Brewers have RH bats entrenched in LF and RF in Braun and Hart, they need to find or develop LH bats in CF (Logan Schafer), 3B (Taylor Green/FA), 2B (Gennett), and/or 1B (Gamel).

[TooLiveBrew]

I'm not so sure it was about Fielder being hell bent on testing free agency as it is Scott Boras being hell bent on testing free agency.

 

Prince has wanted to make it very clear in the past that Boras 'works for me'

[BrewCrewForever]

Scott Boras is the devil. Plain and simple. Unless of course I was a baseball player, then I would want him to represent me.

 

I just don't see anyway whatsoever that Prince does not hit free agency after the 2011 season. If he doesn't it would be one of the most shocking things I have ever seen in baseball.

[logan82]

Scott Boras does what is good for Scott Boras. That is getting the biggest contracts possible for his guys.

 

Of course Boras works for Fielder. That comment tells us nothing until we see Fielder sign. Maybe Fielder told Boras to get the biggest contract possible and to wait and try free agency. Maybe Fielder said to get every single penny out of the Brewers he can. He obviously didn't tell him to take a team friendly contract so he could stay in Milwaukee.

[Oldcity]

For all we know, Boras told him to say that. It doesn't mean anything.

[Invader3K]

For all we know, Boras told him to say that. It doesn't mean anything.

Right. Actions speak louder than words. I get the feeling, given some of the comments Prince made after the July trade deadline, that he doesn't want to stay here long term anyway.

[clancyphile]

I'm not so sure it was about Fielder being hell bent on testing free agency as it is Scott Boras being hell bent on testing free agency.

 

If the market is soft, an "out" clause after three years might be very appealing. I believe Boras did that before very successfully with A-Rod - IIRC he had an out clause in his contract with the Rangers and exercised it to get an even bigger mega-deal from the Yankees.

 

It would also give the Brewers more time to develop/acquire LH bats to replace Fielder. If the Brewers have RH bats entrenched in LF and RF in Braun and Hart, they need to find or develop LH bats in CF (Logan Schafer), 3B (Taylor Green/FA), 2B (Gennett), and/or 1B (Gamel).

CF and 3B already have Lorenzo Cain and Casey McGehee, respectively. Ideally, the team needs a lefty bat at shortstop or 1B. One of the K Davises would be options, but they're not going to arrive in Milwaukee until 2013 at the earliest. Same for Dennis.

[TooLiveBrew]

For all we know, Boras told him to say that. It doesn't mean anything.

 

What I meant was that Prince is doing what he wants, which is ultimately heading to FA. Villainizing Boras might make us feel better about Prince still being "our" player, but let's face it -- the guy is just as big a mercenary as anyone in MLB. I completely agree with Invader's take.

[KCBrewerfan34]

I would love to be a fly on the wall when Boras calls up melvin and says is that 5 year $100 million dollar offer still available??

 

Boras has embarrassed himself over the last couple seasons.

 

His Varitek demands were ridiculous

 

the AROD fiasco

 

He is hurting some draftees

 

I'm not so sure he's the big bad wolf anymore, or maybe just not as big of a one http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

Should be interesting what Melvin does with Prince, in the WSSP interview he all but said no one is trading pitching......

[JohnBriggs12]

As much as he thinks he does, remember Boras doesn't set the market. The generally accepted notion that Boras wants Ryan Howard type money was floated when Fielder was coming off a 46 HR, 141 RBI season. Last year's 32 and 83 are a far cry from that.

 

To KCBrewerfan34's point, Boras isn't going to call up Melvin and accept his previous offer, even if he knows that's about all he'll get in FA. With Boras, it's about Boras looking good in eyes of other potential clients, and that would look bad. That's what Fielder needs to be aware of, but he's not likely talking to the right people that will tell him that.

 

Personally, I'll be shocked if Fielder gets more than something around what he turned down from the Brewers. If he does, it will mean he had a monster season in 2011, and if he's a Brewer doing that, I'm certainly fine with that.

[Invader3K]

As much as he thinks he does, remember Boras doesn't set the market. The generally accepted notion that Boras wants Ryan Howard type money was floated when Fielder was coming off a 46 HR, 141 RBI season. Last year's 32 and 83 are a far cry from that.

Actually it's been said he's looking for closer to Mark Teixeira money (like the $180 million range). He won't get that, but I could see some team paying him $140 million+ if he has a good season in 2011.

[1992casey]

I get the feeling, given some of the comments Prince made after the July trade deadline, that he doesn't want to stay here long term anyway.

I personally felt that Prince's trade deadline comments were wide open to interpretation. Some felt that they indicated that he was hoping to be traded. It could have easily been that he was just sick of all the questions and rumors.

 

After that final game of the season, however, Prince made comments on how great his teammates were, how great the Milwaukee fans were, and how he liked playing in Milwaukee.

 

I guess it just depends on which comment you latch onto and what meaning you attach to it. I try not to read much into things and assume that we're not always getting enough context to be able to fully interpret what someone is saying.

[Invader3K]

After that final game of the season, however, Prince made comments on how great his teammates were, how great the Milwaukee fans were, and how he liked playing in Milwaukee.

 

Well, I remember those platitudes as well, and those sound all well and fine. Maybe he was in a conciliatory mood since he knew he might be back in 2011. Still, if he wants to stay in Milwaukee so badly, why wouldn't he have Boras talking to Melvin right now about an extension? We heard that the two of them were at the GM meetings, but apparently nothing substantive came about, according to Doug Melvin. I don't see the point in holding onto empty hope that he's going to be a Brewer beyond 2011.

[Thurston Fluff]

There are only so many big market teams willing to pay mega year, mega dollar, contracts. Even less looking for a 1st baseman. Why sign him to two years if our best chance of resigning him is in a soft market year next year? Why not just let him hit FA and see if we can resign him to what the soft market dictates. Boras thinks he can get him a huge contract and maybe so. But if the choice is to give him huge money for two years, keep him for one year or to trade him for less than he's worth I say keep him and see if he hasn't overestimated his value? The absolute last hing I would do is give him another year. We would have two years of big money ties up and it would eliminate the one chance we have of keeping him long term.

[logan82]

After that final game of the season, however, Prince made comments on how great his teammates were, how great the Milwaukee fans were, and how he liked playing in Milwaukee.

 

Almost every player says that or something very similar when they are in Fielder's position. CC and Lee both said something similar just before they left.

[greeg35]

clancyphile wrote:If I am not mistaken, both Pujols and Gonzalez become free agents after 2011 as well - potentially hurting Fielder's chances of getting a mega-deal.

That won't hurt Fielder it will only help him.

Nate82, I'm curious as to why you think this.

[nate82]

Nate82, I'm curious as to why you think this.

Supply and demand. There will be a lot of teams that have money who will be bidding on Pujols if he isn't extended, Gonzalez, and Fielder. If Pujols is extended it leaves about 5 or 6 teams with openings at 1B/DH to bid on both Prince and Gonzalez. These are big market teams don't let the Orioles and Nationals fool you in thinking that they are small market teams they are not. Both the Nationals and the Orioles offered deals to Teixeira similar to what the Yankees offered a little bit less money but rather similar. Don't forget the Cubs will have a lot of money coming off the books next year and they would definitely be in on Prince or Gonzalez. It really is the perfect timing for Prince and Gonzalez with 5 big market teams with a lot of money available to spend. You will have the Dodgers, Red Sox, Nationals, Orioles, and the Cubs all bidding on possibly three players maybe only two.

[KCBrewerfan34]

I actually think it hurts Prince's situation. There's only so many big market teams (AL only most likely) that would pay him $100+ million, now if he goes for 40+ this year thats different, if he duplicates this years performance Prince is going to be asking Boras why we didn't take that $100 million :0

[sbrylski]

Nate82, I'm curious as to why you think this.

Supply and demand. There will be a lot of teams that have money who will be bidding on Pujols if he isn't extended, Gonzalez, and Fielder. If Pujols is extended it leaves about 5 or 6 teams with openings at 1B/DH to bid on both Prince and Gonzalez. These are big market teams don't let the Orioles and Nationals fool you in thinking that they are small market teams they are not. Both the Nationals and the Orioles offered deals to Teixeira similar to what the Yankees offered a little bit less money but rather similar. Don't forget the Cubs will have a lot of money coming off the books next year and they would definitely be in on Prince or Gonzalez. It really is the perfect timing for Prince and Gonzalez with 5 big market teams with a lot of money available to spend. You will have the Dodgers, Red Sox, Nationals, Orioles, and the Cubs all bidding on possibly three players maybe only two.

So if Pujols and Gonzalez were not free agents, how exactly would Prince be hindered? Then there would be five big market teams after just one guy. The theory of supply and demand dictates that when supply increases, price goes down.