Prince Fielder Costs Too Much

Maybe there is such a thing as too much money in baseball. Can’t blame players or their agents asking for every penny stock-piled in Fort Knox, but apparently some teams have their limits.

Since Prince Fielder still hasn’t called me to ask for advice, I am not sure exactly what kind of contract he is seeking on the free agent market this winter, but I am willing to bet that whatever the figure is, for however many years it is, that there are a lot of zeroes at the end. This is probably why Fielder is still The Man Without A Team. He played out his contract with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2011 and is looking for a new home, presumably before spring training begins. But he is not alone in delusional thinking that team owners must have direct access to the mint and can print whatever denomination of bills they wish.

The rumors about the hulking slugger’s landing spot for 2012, and maybe the rest of his career, have placed him all over the country, but to date Fielder has been more like a jet plane with an endless supply of fuel circling the airport of several major cities. Without him speaking out on specifics we can only conjecture why.

In a perfect world (most of us have to settle for less than that and remember I am channeling Prince here) the 28-year-old first baseman would like to sign a 10-year contract for $20 million a year. In the real world he is probably not being offered more than five years at $20 million each. Most of us would sign such a contract with hands atremble celebrating our good fortune.

But no doubt the Prince is looking at things from a different angle. If he signs for five years he will only be 33 when the contract expires and he is thinking he won’t be nearly as hot a commodity. For one thing he would have to produce at an All-Star level for these five years for suitors to line up offering big bucks again and no one is going to give a 33-year-old five more huge-bucks guaranteed years.

Also, if Fielder wants a really long contract he will have to sign with an American League team to offer the option of becoming a designated hitter down the road. Fielder is a huge man whom some general managers might worry about running to fat in his mid-30s. They do not envision him as a Baryshnikov around the bag in his 30s.

It’s not as if a multitude of teams don’t want Fielder. Unless a team already has an All-Star first baseman, anyone would. They just don’t want him for as long as he wants to stay for as much money as he wants to get.

He is not alone in discovering that there is a spending cap for many teams. Ryan Madsen couldn’t get the deal he wanted from the Phillies, so he ended up with a one-year deal from the Cincinnati Reds and will try free agency again next year. The Reds grabbed Madsen because their closer, Francisco Cordero, wanted too much money for too many years. Starter Roy Oswalt could enhance almost any team’s rotation, but how much money he wants for how long will affect where he goes.

Not to mention Manny Ramirez. Manny is trying to make a comeback. He is a guy who once made $20 million a year, but his 2012 asking price is likely shrinking by the day. Do I hear the minimum, $414,000? Do I hear $414? Right now Manny hears nothing.

But then, as best we can tell, the sounds of silence are deafening to Prince Fielder, too, because he really wants to become A Man With A Team in a hurry.