Prince wants to stay

[Kennyfelder]

Found this article on espn tonight...still a long shot but looks like Prince is a bit jealous of Braun and would like to stay long term.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6411334

[ilovebeer]

No thanks. I rather spend the money on Grienke.

[logan82]

Sounds like the same stock quote we hear from every free agent to be. Lee and CC come immediately to mind.

[Funketown]

Sounds like the same stock quote we hear from every free agent to be. Lee and CC come immediately to mind.

"I want to stay, (but only if Milwaukee gives me the most lucrative offer)". Not that I blame him.

[Baldkin]

The headline is totally misleading.

 

Prince wants a long term deal, with someone, next year, after he becomes a free agent.

[logan82]

I am not upset at all with Fielder for not wanting to sign for less money. Why should he?

[brewmann04]

i would not be surprised if Prince turns around and resigns with the Crew to team with Braun

[prophet]

i would not be surprised if Prince turns around and resigns with the Crew to team with Braun

I would be totally shocked, but happy.

[Ennder]

I think Prince honestly wants to stay, still don't think it will happen, he doesn't want to leave money on the table just to stay.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Yeah, Fielder likes it here and all, and I'm sure he'd rather stay. The problem is that we won't be able to give him the best offer. It'll be hard to turn down the money other teams offer him, and I highly doubt he'll do it. It would be nice to see, but then again we might be better served to just make sure we lock up Greinke and/or Marcum.

[danzig6767]

I think Prince honestly wants to stay, still don't think it will happen, he doesn't want to leave money on the table just to stay.

I actually think Prince would leave some money on the table to stay, just not significant money and the amount the Brewers would be willing to pay in both years/overall money compared to a few other teams would likely be pretty significant.

 

If say hypothetically Milwaukee offered 6yr/120 million and the best offer Prince got elsewhere was 6yr/130-135 million, my gut says Prince would stay here. More likely though even if the Brewers were still willing to make a sizable offer, it would be something in the range of the last offer of 5yr/100 million, while odds are Prince will get 6 or 7 years from another team in the 140 million or more range.

[Invader3K]

All I gathered from that article is Prince is basically saying, "Yeah, I'd stay here if Milwaukee can give me the best long term deal."

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

I saw that headline on ESPN last night and initially was pretty excited, but after reading the article, it was clear that ESPN was inferring that "Prince wants to re-sign", rather than Prince coming out and saying I want an extension in Milwaukee.

 

In some calculations i figured out last night, we should be able to afford a 6/120 for Greinke AND a 4/56 for Marcum, but adding Prince at $20/per would push our payroll north of $110M. I wonder if he's consider 4/100 with some heavily deferred money? (say 5 per) Prince could then cash in again 4 years from now... then again, he could right now.

 

Puts in perspective how special it is this season to have Gallardo, Greinke, and Marcum PLUS Fielder, Braun, Hart, and Weeks all on the same team

[davego]

Sure he might want to stay. I didn't want to leave my last job either. But my new employer was willing an able to increase my pay by an amount greater then the old gig could match. Completely different economy of scales here (sadly for me); Prince would rather cash in with the 'Crew, but cashing in (I assume) remains the goal.

[Invader3K]

Sure he might want to stay. I didn't want to leave my last job either. But my new employer was willing an able to increase my pay by an amount greater then the old gig could match. Completely different economy of scales here (sadly for me); Prince would rather cash in with the 'Crew, but cashing in (I assume) remains the goal.

Yes, or he would have already signed the extension the Brewers were trying to get him to sign last year...or perhaps changed agents. Actions speak louder than words.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Agreed, just the fact that Boras is his agent tells me that he's out looking to take the highest offer he gets. Any Boras client is out for the same thing, MONEY. It's pretty obvious that he'll just take the highest offer he gets, and move on. I can't fault him for that either. It's like the CC situation, there was no way he could turn down the Yankees offer. Just like that situation, there's no way we'll be able to match the other offers Prince gets. I just foresee someone giving him a ridiculous offer like the Yankees gave CC. Not saying the money will be similar, by Boras will get him paid somehow.

[PilprinBuddha]

Maybe he should have signed before we allocated our $ elsewhere. I have to believe there is little or no chance we even have additional talks with him and Boras.

 

Braun initiated the discussions and Prince would need to do the same thing....even at that I would say its less than 50/50 it would go anywhere.

 

Grienke and Marcum have become higher priorities...IMHO.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Yeah, I think we'll go hard at Marcum and Greinke. It just seems like we've given up completely on Prince, and I can't say I blame Doug for that. He's already preparing for Prince to depart by playing Gamel at 1B in AAA. I just think that he'll spend his time this offseason trying to extend Marcum and Greinke, rather than making another futile attempt to keep Prince. We're probably better off with Gamel on the cheap for 5 or 6 years, and using the money to pay pitchers. We will be able to go cheap in CF, C, and 1B. We will probably have to sign a SS though, because we really don't have a legit SS option in the minors. Farris could be useful as a utility guy though when Counsell retires. Other than that we have guys locked up at the other positions. So, we should focus on spending our money to extend Greinke and Marcum at this point.

[PilprinBuddha]

I don't see Marcum or Grienke extending until after the season....but could be wrong.

 

I also don't think Gamel has a future in MKE... I might be wrong but he seems to have Billy Jo Robideaux written all over him.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I said we'd try to extend Greinke and Marcum in the offseason, and if not Gamel, then who will play first base? I think he'll be fine.

[TooLiveBrew]

looks like Prince is a bit jealous of Braun

 

There's nothing from those quotes to indicate this, aside from huge speculation by the reader. Prince's situation hasn't changed, the Brewers shouldn't be spending as much money as it's going to take to sign him. Gamel will be fine as a replacement, and just a tad cheaper.

[strawbossisevil]

I agree on Gamel. We'd have him at league minimum. He probably wouldn't be able to replace Prince with the bat (few could), but I expect Gamel to be far superior with the glove. The difference between Gamel and Fielder and Greinke and Rogers/Rivas definitely favors giving the money to Greinke.

 

With Weeks, Braun, Gamel, Hart, Lucroy, McGehee all on board for the next three + years. I think our priority needs to be pitching and defense for filling out the rest of the roster. Bring in a stud defensive SS and let Plush/Gomez fill the CF role.

[Thurston Fluff]

The only way the Brewers resign Prince is if he is serious about not wanting to be a DH and the Brewers are the only team who will let him play first. I doubt that will be the case.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Agreed, just the fact that Boras is his agent tells me that he's out looking to take the highest offer he gets. Any Boras client is out for the same thing, MONEY. It's pretty obvious that he'll just take the highest offer he gets, and move on. I can't fault him for that either. It's like the CC situation, there was no way he could turn down the Yankees offer. Just like that situation, there's no way we'll be able to match the other offers Prince gets. I just foresee someone giving him a ridiculous offer like the Yankees gave CC. Not saying the money will be similar, by Boras will get him paid somehow.

I agree with this. Having Boras as your agent is a signal that the man values getting paid...he's earned it and I can't fault him. We probably tried shopping him and got no legit offers, so let's all enjoy Prince this year and hope he helps take us to the promise land. In the meantime, I have to give credit to both the Brewers and Prince for saying all the right things and the effort they are both putting into the club this year. Neither have allowed his eventual move to be a distraction despite the efforts of the national media. It's funny how they keep trying to make it a big story, when in Milwaukee it's just viewed as a fait accompli.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Yeah, the situation has definitely been handled well. I thought for sure Prince was gone this offseason, but when I knew he was coming back I just decided to stop thinking about his contract situation. I just want to enjoy him this year, and cheer him on. Hopefully he will help us get back to the playoffs, and then we can all give him a nice send off. I appreciate what he has done, and will be sad to see him go, but the situation is what it is.