January 9th, and still no resolution appears on the horizon for the Prince Fielder situation. Fielder remains a free agent, and rumors continue to tie the Prince to more than a half dozen potential suitors. While the list of teams believed to have interest in Fielder has included the Blue Jays, Orioles, Brewers, Rangers, Marlins, Mariners and Cubs, most believe Prince’s eventual landing spot will be D.C. Peter Gammons of MLB.com wonders; if Fielder doesn’t sign with the Nationals where else could he end up?
Many teams have admitted that free agent sluggers the caliber of Fielder don’t hit the open market very often. This has caused many to be drawn into the Fielder rumor mill, but the list of Prince’s suitors has slowly but surely been whittled down this offseason.
Early on, the Rangers and Cubs were both mentioned as favorites in the Fielder sweepstakes. Since then, the Rangers have repeatedly denied interest in Fielder and it seems unlikely that they will be signing both Yu Darvish and Prince. The Cubs have acquired Anthony Rizzo, a player they hope to be their first baseman of the future, through trade, likely putting them out of the race for Fielder.
The Mariners are another team that’s been tied to Fielder.
Jack Zduriencik, Seattle’s general manager, has definite interest in Fielder, and the Mariners could reportedly afford Prince’s required price. Still, it remains to be seen if Fielder would be willing to play on the West Coast, far from his Florida home, for a team that just last year won only 67 games.
In the end, Gammons says that if the Blue Jays are indeed “paring payroll” and the Rangers aren’t in fact willing to sign both Fielder and Darvish, it becomes hard to find a serious suitor for Prince that doesn’t reside in Washington.
You can check out all of the available free agents by position below.