Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder: Double Standard?

[TexasAggieBrewer]

Reading the forums, it seems like there's a good amount of cynicism to our first baseman, Prince Fielder. While, yes, we all wish Prince would forgo the better money and stick around, I just don't seem to understand the negativity around here toward the guy. Prince has done nothing but been an upstanding teammate, saying all the right things through this difficult process, keeping the focus unselfishly on the team. Not only this, but he has played a crucial role in reviving this franchise the past few years and creating a special atmosphere at Miller Park.

The guy is simply doing what many, many, many have done before him for many years- exit town for financial reasons. While we are all so befuddled to why he would leave our beloved Brewers, maybe consider the fact he wasn't/isn't a die hard true blue Brew Crew fanatic like the rest of us. The fact of the matter is it's a business, and unfortunately, these type of things happen. Whether it's the player leaving a team, or the team dumping the player. It just happens.

Rather than cynically looking down on the guy during his last season here, let us relish his enormous talent for 5 more months as we cheer on our team to win the Central.

Prince, good luck in 2011 and beyond.

[HiAndTight]

Well, Prince HASN'T "done nothing but been a upstanding teammate," he's actually have several instances of being an idiot.

 

The Dodgers whole fake bravado, the constant, "hold me back" type things, shoving Parra.

 

 

That said, I don't see what you're talking about. Prince is playing his tail off for us, he's a different guy than Braun for sure, but he plays hard, and I don't see anyone who's down on Prince at all.

 

 

So, I don't see the point of this lecture to be perfectly honest. I think you're preaching to the wrong choir here if you're trying to inform us that it's a business thing and that Prince isn't doing anything wrong. We know that. We do have added appreciation for Braun for sticking around, but I haven't see a whole lot of people, again, who are down on Prince. Certainly not enough to warrant a call to action to stop such behaviors...

[PrinceEatMeat]

I'm with you HiAndTight. I don't know where this is coming from. I haven't noticed any negativity towards Prince on this forum. Especially about his contract situation. The majority of people on this forum are very knowledgable, and know the situation he is in. We all know he's going to leave for more money, and we accept it. I haven't really heard anyone here bash Prince, or be negative about him because he will leave. Sure, we all do want him to stay, but we respect what he's doing on the field, and how he's handling the situation. We all know the situation, and we all know that it's business. You don't have to come in here and make a topic about it claiming that people are being negative and don't understand the situation, when the majority of people here do. This topic makes no sense to me.

[theavrock]

The difference between Braun and Prince?

 

Not sure how you don't see what it is as its fairly simple.

 

Braun signed a long term-team friendly contract essentially guaranteeing he will play with the Brewers for the vast majority of his career. Prince was offered a huge contract as well, which he turned down. Whether that is good bad or other is up to the individual to decide, but you don't see why Braun would get more love than Fielder?

 

I would never wish ill on him and he is off to an amazing start this year. I love the guy, but I love Braun more.

[Funketown]

I'm not entirely sure I understand where this criticism is coming from. Yes, there have been threads discussing Fielder, but nobody has been saying he's a bad player. My opinion is just that the club will be far better off taking that $20MM and spending it on other pieces.

 

I really like Fielder. I like Braun even more. That doesn't make Prince a good defender, and neither does it make Braun a good defender.

 

Just about everybody here is going to miss watching Braun-Fielder in the order, but most accept that keeping Fielder around would be detrimental to the club.

[yoshii8]

I do agree that Braun gets way more love than Fielder from Brewer nation, and thats mostly because he commited long term and isn't w/ Scott Boras. If Prince surprises us, and ends up signing a 6 year 120-130 million deal w/ the Brewers, I think he will be just as loved as Braun.

 

 

I think some are underestimating the impact of losing Fielder next season. I find it hard to believe that most people have no interest in going long term w/ Prince. He's only 26 years old and has shown the ability to play everyday while being one of the best hitters in baseball, and improving tremendously at first base.

[travisteck]

Not sure if any one knows this but this is the exact subject of an article on espn, so that's where this topic of discussion is coming from

[HiAndTight]

Not sure if any one knows this but this is the exact subject of an article on espn, so that's where this topic of discussion is coming from

That's fine, but it's still not being articulated on here.

 

People aren't bashing Fielder in droves for not signing a below market value deal on this message board.

[FVBrewerFan]

Even casual fans I have talked to seem to accept the fact Prince is leaving, and understand the Brewers can't afford to sign every player to a mega-deal. And they don't fault Prince for wanting a mega-contract. Sure, there's always a minority who complain whenever an athlete leaves for more money. This is a non-story in my opinion.

[dlk9s]

I find it hard to believe that most people have no interest in going long term w/ Prince.

Of course people want to sign him long term. It's just that most people don't want to pay out the wazoo for it.

[yoshii8]

What kind of a contract would you offer him?

[1992casey]

I don't see the point of "lecturing" the members of this site, either. I think Prince has been treated with the appropriate level of respect and that the Prince wants to stay topic is an example of that. Additionally I can't say that I've even heard the talk show idiots railing on Prince for declining any offers that the Brewers have made.

 

On the other hand, one idiot writer who's no longer in Milwaukee did try to make up a story that Ryan Braun was unhappy here due to the fact that he wasn't making as much money as Prince. Nobody bought it, though.

 

Let me suggest using Prince wants to stay for discussion of what kind of contract might keep Prince in Milwaukee. That topic would seem to be a better fit than this one.

[yoshii8]

If you were talking to me, I'm sorry if it came across that way, but I was not trying to "lecture" anyone, I just want to know how people value Fielder compared to Braun. If Prince changed his mind and wanted to negotiate, what kind of contract would people be ok with? Would you be ok if it was the same as Brauns?

[HiAndTight]

If you were talking to me, I'm sorry if it came across that way, but I was not trying to "lecture" anyone, I just want to know how people value Fielder compared to Braun. If Prince changed his mind and wanted to negotiate, what kind of contract would people be ok with? Would you be ok if it was the same as Brauns?

I assume, as mine was, it was directed at the person who started the thread.

[PrinceEatMeat]

If you were talking to me, I'm sorry if it came across that way, but I was not trying to "lecture" anyone, I just want to know how people value Fielder compared to Braun. If Prince changed his mind and wanted to negotiate, what kind of contract would people be ok with? Would you be ok if it was the same as Brauns?

No, people are referring to the initial posting in this topic, not you. Don't worry about it.

[Warning Track Power]

I don't believe that there is a double standard for love of Braun vs. love of Prince from fans on this site, although, there very well should be one in my opinion.

 

Here's my reality of the situation:

 

I feel very strongly towards Braun and I am rather ambivalent towards Prince these days. I love Prince because he is/was a Brewer from 2002-2011. I love Braun because he's more than a Brewer now. He's a phenomenal baseball player committed to being a member of the community of Milwaukee and more broadly, the state of Wisconsin. He'll become Brett Favre before the retirement fiasco.

 

However, perhaps the biggest thing in my mind that separates Braun from Fielder is Braun accepted the exact same "reported" deal that Fielder declined. Whether or not that is fair, it tells me that it is about more than money with Braun and with Fielder it is all about money. I personally relate better to people who don't base decisions solely on dollars; especially when you are talking about the astronomical numbers of $100-200MM.

[1992casey]

My comment about "lecturing" was directed toward the lead poster. I put the word in quotes because another message had used it previously.

 

The suggestion regarding specifics of a contract being a better fit for the other thread was directed toward everyone. I made that suggestion simply to avoid the possibility of duplicate discussions. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[The Truth]

When Braun signed his first contract extension, he said "hey there's not much you can't buy with 47 million dollars". Prince reportedly turned down 5 years 100 million dollars

 

Huge difference

[GAME05]

i've seen the difference between the two and have said so before on here. being very slightly harder on Prince makes the eventual separation after this season that much easier once we've concocted reasons to want him to go.

 

i just hope Fielder gets the standing ovation he deserves after his last game at MP. hard to see why he wouldn't, but there's always that handful of people.

[ilovebeer]

No , if Prince would sign a long term contract like Ryan did , people would love him more.

[JohnBriggs12]

Prince drove in 83 runs after turning down 5 yrs/$100 million. For the most part, he still escaped much criticism and no doubt that's because most people see Boras as the one pulling the strings.

 

If there's a difference, that's it. Braun took control of his situation, not his agent.

[FVBrewerFan]

If there's a difference, that's it. Braun took control of his situation, not his agent.

Sorry OT, but I'm shocked more athletes don't pull a Ray Allen and handle their own deals. Why not pay a much smaller one time fee to have an attorney review the contract, rather than pay a significant on-going percentage to an agent?

 

 

[Mr QL]

I'm not seeing it. Prince is well liked but most people understand that we can't afford what he wants while Braun is in it for the long haul. If Prince were to decided he wanted to stay a Brewers and took our best offer, he'd be just as loved as Braun.

[crewcrazy]

If there's a difference, that's it. Braun took control of his situation, not his agent.

Sorry OT, but I'm shocked more athletes don't pull a Ray Allen and handle their own deals. Why not pay a much smaller one time fee to have an attorney review the contract, rather than pay a significant on-going percentage to an agent?

Agents handle a lot more than just contract negotiations, which I'm sure Josh (agent39) can attest to if he still pokes around these forums.

 

As for the original topic, I think it may have been inspired by this ESPN piece by Tim Keown. I don't really agree with him, and think his first mistake was assuming the commenters from the troll-laden minefield that is JSOnline speak for the majority of the Brewers fanbase.

[RobDeer 45]

I think Prince is loved here but I also do think there is a natural speration a fan starts to have when he knows the player may leave. I do it. I love Prince but I notice myself not gushing over him as much so that when he leaves I can pretend we'll be ok. Some people might be a little quick to criticize him with the attitude that if he doesn't want to be hear then we don't want him (that sounds way too harsh but you get what I'm saying). So ya, I really don't think there is much of a double standard but I guess some people may be distancing themselves from him a bit.

 

As for Prince doing dumb stuff, Braun has too (pimping homeruns, giving looks, saying things to the press, etc) but they are all really small things. I have no problems with how either of them have handled themselves. Hope we can find a way to keep Prince and be able to sign pitching but just not sure it's in the cards.

 

I think most of us will appreciate the little time we may have left with Prince but I think we also sometimes try to trick ourselves about how fun he's been to have on our team.