Prince Fielder Rumors
Wednesday, Scott Miller of CBSports.com called the market for Prince Fielder “eerily quiet”. Still, even after we’ve passed the Winter Meetings and stand nearly a week away from Christmas, no real market has developed for Fielder. More information, or more accurately rumors, has leaked out over the past few days regarding Fielder, but there is only one thing that seems to be known at this point; no one knows where Fielder is going to land. Here are the latest Prince Fielder rumors.
Since we last ran down the talk surrounding Fielder, much of the discussion has revolved around the hefty first baseman’s next contract. Scott Miller tweeted Wednesday that Fielder is seeking a 10-year deal. That certainly makes sense, as it’s also being reported that Fielder is chasing an agreement similar to the one Albert Pujols reached with the Los Angeles Angels.
Makes sense.
Fielder has put up impressive numbers in Milwaukee and is only 27-years-old. The issue with the Prince is his weight and the likelihood that he will be forced to move from first base sooner than later. Teams aren’t nearly as willing to extend a five-plus-year offer to Fielder as they were to Pujols.
The next issue becomes which team can give Fielder the money he seeks. It’s easy to assume that a player such as Fielder will just get paid once hitting the free agent market, but there does have to be a fit. All of the big-time spenders are either set at first base or don’t seem to be interested in Fielder.
That leaves us with a very hazy Prince Fielder market. Some in the media have declared a frontrunner, but that’s more to do with it being their job then because one team has actually jumped ahead of the others.
A pair of Jon’s, Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports and Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, put together lists of potential Fielder suitors. Each went about formulating their lists in different ways.
Morosi gave us four categories to describe the Fielder sweepstakes; we know they’re in, we can’t rule them out, stranger things have happened and they’re out…we think.
Heyman, meanwhile, went Vegas and gave us a more tradition numbered list including odds of obtaining Fielder and a case for each club named.
Morosi lists three teams under “we know they’re in” on Fielder; the Cubs, Mariners and Orioles. Heyman has the Cubs and Mariners as his second and third choices of who will land Fielder, but the Orioles fall to number six on his list.
Heyman’s first choice is the Rangers, and even he admits that “they aren’t completely in the game yet” for Fielder. Nolan Ryan and company have come out repeatedly to say they are not interested in Fielder, yet their name continues to be tied to the slugger. After the stunner the Angels pulled a week ago today, many speculate that the Rangers will look to make a big splash to keep up.
To give you another idea of the murkiness surrounding Fielder, let’s look at the Cubs. Yesterday, hours after it was reported that Chicago was ramping up their pursuit of Fielder, it was tweeted that the Cubs aren’t ready to spend big.
So, we’ve reached December 16th and at least one thing has become clear regarding Fielder, someone has to sign him…don’t they?
You can check out all of the available free agents by position below.