Prince Fielder signs with Tigers - 9yrs/$214 million

[bigredrobbo]

I don't think the Tigers were seriously a player until V-Mart went down for the year. But they are an easy team to root for and I wish the big guy all the best. Thanks for the memories, Prince - now to teach Detroit that bowling ball thing!

[Patrick425]

Makes sense that only an AL team would be willing to go nine years on Prince, and it will be interesting to see if he's a DH next year. A defense with Fielder at 1B and Cabrera at 3B would be brutal.

 

All-in-all, I'm happy for Prince. He stayed healthy and productive, and he got the deal he wanted. I wish the Brewers could have gotten more for him than a draft pick, but he helped us get a division title, so I guess it's worth it. Let the Gamel era begin.

What's happening this year? Is Miggy going to be the DH? Is Miggy a worse fielder than Fielder? My understanding all along was that Fielder was adamant about not being a DH. I doubt that he would be happy about becoming the DH next year. I think it's more likely that the Tigers try to swing a trade involving one of these guys before next season (2013) starts.

 

[brewerjamie15]

Miguel Cabrera just got better.

[patrickgpe]

i always knew this day was coming, but i am still saddened. Atleast he signed with a team i don't completely hate and we will get a late 1st instead of early 2nd round pick.

[jazzytrav]

I was in Miller Park for Prince's first career homerun, was there to see him hit 50, was there when Reed Johnson robbed him of the grand slam, was in the left field bleachers when he hit the walk-off against the Pirates in the final week of 2008, his last Brewers at-bat and so many others. I've known for three years this day was coming, but still sad to see an era end. Best of luck in Detroit for Prince. Here's to eclipsing everything his father did.

I was driving home from Minneapolis on the Sunday afternoon when he hit his inside-the-park homer off the speakers in the Metrodome. I was supposed to go to that game (I was at the game the previous night), but wanted to get on the road earlier. Still kicking myself.

 

 

[carniesandrubes]

any word on an opt-out clause at any point?

[craigharmann]

I had a gut feeling all along this was the place he was going to go. For as much as Prince wanted to get paid, the stick it to daddy thing I thought would win out in the end. Good luck.

[yoshii8]

Good luck to Prince, my favorite Brewer of all time. Thanks for giving all of us Brewer fans a great six seasons, it's going to be sad not seeing him in the lineup anymore.

 

I hope he dominates well into his thirties, and proves that just because you have a certain bodytype doesn't mean you can't have a long productive career.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Congrats Prince...you earned every dollar the market would bear. Gotta hand it to the devil Boras. If Prince wanted the big contract, he hired the right guy. I thought nothing above the 8/180.

 

I have nothing but fond memories of the big fella's time in Milwaukee...although a couple extra playoff wins last year wouldn't have hurt. I'm sure he feels the same way. Glad he's staying in the Midwest...while I won't pull for the Tigers, I will sure root for Prince. I'd love to be there cheering at that future interleague game.

 

A contract like that would have crippled the Brewers so no harm there and unlike when CC left, at least we don't get screwed on the picks. Time to reload.

[Invader3K]

I had a gut feeling all along this was the place he was going to go. For as much as Prince wanted to get paid, the stick it to daddy thing I thought would win out in the end. Good luck.

Supposedly Prince and Cecil have at least somewhat patched things up.

[craigharmann]

Supposedly Prince and Cecil have at least somewhat patched things up.

Supposedly.....according to Cecil.

[bkroppy2]

Just saw a clip on MLB network where Prince was taking BP in detroit when he was a teen. He was batting righty and was hitting the ball solid. Anybody else see that?

[Team Canada]

Man, that's a pile of cash.

[hurricanecrush]

Just saw a clip on MLB network where Prince was taking BP in detroit when he was a teen. He was batting righty and was hitting the ball solid. Anybody else see that?

I thought Prince was a natural righty that taught himself to bat lefty.

[pebadger]

Hate to see him go, but understand it had to happen. Given that, this all couldn't have worked out much better for the Brewers. Oddly enough, this is the year the Brewers play most of the ALC teams in interleague, but they don't play the Tigers.

[monty57]

Makes sense that only an AL team would be willing to go nine years on Prince, and it will be interesting to see if he's a DH next year. A defense with Fielder at 1B and Cabrera at 3B would be brutal.

 

All-in-all, I'm happy for Prince. He stayed healthy and productive, and he got the deal he wanted. I wish the Brewers could have gotten more for him than a draft pick, but he helped us get a division title, so I guess it's worth it. Let the Gamel era begin.

What's happening this year? Is Miggy going to be the DH? Is Miggy a worse fielder than Fielder? My understanding all along was that Fielder was adamant about not being a DH. I doubt that he would be happy about becoming the DH next year. I think it's more likely that the Tigers try to swing a trade involving one of these guys before next season (2013) starts.

By "next year," I meant 2012. They're paying Delmon Young $5.375MM to play LF, and Ordonez $10MM to play right so Cabrera probably won't play in the OF. It's possible Cabrera replaces Inge at 3B, but they would have a really bad defense if that happens. I'd have to think that some combo or Fielder and Cabrera will have to DH. I guess it comes down to what was more important for Fielder... getting a $214MM deal to play DH in Detroit or taking a 5 or 6 year deal to play 1B for the Nationals. Maybe playing 1B wasn't worth $100MM.

 

[smbrewersfan15]

Watching MLB network's coverage and they just make me angry. I think Mitch Williams was talking and he says now that Prince is gone, the Cardinals are the favorite to win. Seriously? They lose arguably the best hitter in the game and they are still the favorite? Just makes me not want to watch any national coverage.

[Raw Biz]

I'm pretty sure people have been saying Cabrera will DH with Prince playing 1B, at least for this year with VMart out.

edit: Heyman says just changing roles while Knobler says 3B. It's all speculation until the Tigers actually announce their plans. I would probably at least see what Cabrera can do at 3B in spring training but if it ain't pretty, I wouldn't hesitate to move him to DH.

[jazzytrav]

You have to imagine Detroit will go crazy with the father-son connection and the batting practice videos. He already earned part of that contract by being a marketing dream.

 

As for watching him play, I think I'll feel more pride than sadness/anger as he mashes the Yankees and Red Sox.

[Warning Track Power]

Great news for Brewers' fans, IMO. First, he signed a contract that the Brewers had zero chance of giving him. No regrets on that end for us, then. Second, he's in the AL on a team that isn't perennially dominant (i.e. Yankees, Red Sox, etc.). So we have excuse to continue to like him. Last, we get another first round pick out of it.

 

I can't really think of another team I'd rather have him go to.

All of this.

 

I would have been truly sad had he taken something we could have rationalized affording i.e. 5 years $125m or something of the like. Instead we will always be able to fall back on the fact that a 9 years $214m deal with the Brewers was just never even remotely plausible. I wish he could've continued here in Milwaukee for the rest of his career but I was glad we had him for the time we did.

 

It is rather amazing to me how much bigger of a deal in terms of total dollars he got than the following 1B who are arguably just as good if not better than Prince:

 

*Adrian Gonzalez 7 years $145m

*Mark Teixeira 8 years $180m

*Ryan Howard 5 years $125m

 

This is why if I would have anything close to major league level baseball talent I would hire Scott Boras as my agent. He is the devil to us small market fans and he has his occasional hiccups (see Madson, Ryan) but most of the time he flat out gets people paid.

 

Thanks for the memories Prince.

[GB12]

Watching MLB network's coverage and they just make me angry. I think Mitch Williams was talking and he says now that Prince is gone, the Cardinals are the favorite to win. Seriously? They lose arguably the best hitter in the game and they are still the favorite? Just makes me not want to watch any national coverage.

Now that Prince is gone? As if anything changed within the division today. He's been gone for months.

[UeckerAddict]

[craigharmann]

the Cardinals are the favorite to win.

Of course!! They won the WS and they still have McGwire! What more do you need?

[Fear The Chorizo]

Watching MLB network's coverage and they just make me angry. I think Mitch Williams was talking and he says now that Prince is gone, the Cardinals are the favorite to win. Seriously? They lose arguably the best hitter in the game and they are still the favorite? Just makes me not want to watch any national coverage.

Now that Prince is gone? As if anything changed within the division today. He's been gone for months.

exactly - the biggest surprises of this offseason in the NL Central is that Pujols isn't a Cardinal, and that the Cubs don't have either Pujols or Fielder (that's a media-spin surprise, the Cubs were smart to steer clear of both of them).

 

 

[monty57]

From Fangraphs:

 

UZR/150 for Fielder @ 1B: 2008 -9.0, 2009 +1.8, 2010 -7.8, 2011 -5.2

UZR/150 for Cabrera @ 1B: 2008 -4.1, 2009 +3.4, 2010 -6.1, 2011 -4.1

 

TZL for Fielder: 2008 -12.1, 2009 -12.8, 2010 -13

TZL for Cabrera: 2008 +3.3, 2009 -4.4, 2010 -7

 

Aggregate Defensive Ratings

Fielder: 2008 -10, 2009 -4, 2010 -11

Cabrera: 2008 -2, 2009 -1, 2010 -6

 

Cabrera started playing 1B in 2008, so that's why I only went back to 2008. They're both pretty bad defensively, and if I were a Tiger fan, I'd sure want one of them to man the DH spot in 2012.