Prince Fielder will sign before Spring Training, but he probably won't agree to a long-term deal with the Dodgers or Marlins, or a one-year deal with the Brewers, according to yesterday's reports. Here are today's Fielder rumors, with the most recent updates up top:
- An executive tells ESPN's Buster Olney (Twitter link) that the Cubs, Nationals and Rangers could receive a Fielder contract structure of six years and $22-$24MM per season, but with an opt-out clause after three years.
- The Rangers' pursuit of Fielder may come down to whether they believe Fielder or Josh Hamilton is the better choice for a multiyear contract, writes Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas.
- Fielder will travel to see several teams in the next few days, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets.
- The Rangers are meeting with Fielder at a Dallas area hotel today, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. It sounds as though the Rangers don't consider Fielder and Yu Darvish mutually exclusive. Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram hears that the Rangers are interested in Fielder in case they don't sign Darvish (Twitter link).
- One executive who speaks with the Nationals regularly tells ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark that he’s confident Fielder will end up in Washington. GM Mike Rizzo and the team’s owners won’t sign a nine or ten-year deal and may not offer the first baseman a no-trade clause, however.
- The Cubs are not totally out on Fielder, Stark reports. If agent Scott Boras needs a deal somewhere, the Cubs would be open to an agreement on their own terms.
- One observer tells Stark that Boras and Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria chatted briefly at this week’s owners’ meetings and that reports of a meeting are overblown.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports explains that Boras has been shut out of the big money so far this offseason and argues that the agent can turn things around by finding a massive deal for Fielder.
- Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post explains how Boras could represent almost the entire Washington lineup within a couple of seasons if the Nationals sign Fielder.
- Tom Verducci of SI.com explains that local and national TV revenues can help the Nationals add Fielder while keeping Jayson Werth and Ryan Zimmerman in place even as their contracts escalate.
No news is no news.
I’m just waiting for this tweet from Fielder:
“The Mariners suck” “Trade Felix so you dopes can get better first”
I’d be very much complete after reading this.
So your solution to help the mariners get better is to trade a 25 year old perennial cy young contending phenom that is still in the middle of a large contract and hasn’t even hit his prime yet… Good call dude. There’s obviously a reason you aren’t a GM for a major league baseball team. Trading the best pitcher in baseball can only make your team worse. If you trade any pitchers it should be some of your young talented arms that haven’t proven themselves yet.
It isn’t on topic to debate on this thread. Another time. Believe me, it would be a lesson in basic economics. You, as well as many others, fail to realize the greater issue with the Mariners retaining Felix.
Put it like this:
If you had $5k to invest, would you spend it all in one place? Or would you diversify your portfolio over a few different areas? What if you buy $5k in GE stock, only to find out two weeks later, they are facing one of the largest federal lawsuits in history. What is that stock worth? Much less. In comparison, this is like Felix. They have everything and when I say everything, they have 100% on the back of Felix. If he is injured, what does that do to both his value and the organization overall? Alternatively, You could buy $1500 worth of biotech, $1500 worth of oil and gas, $1500 worth of financial and $500 worth of T&L. If one area doesn’t perform, or faces resistance (equal to injury of a player) you have other strong areas of support.
As it stands, the Mariners are one roll of the dice away from being bust in my opinion. Never in 100 years would I run a business the way they are. You have an asset of unlimited value, part of a business where returns are diminished in every other sector and to add to the problem, the books need to be balanced in the next 24 months or the banks come in (Yanks, Sox, Philllies) and take your assets.
I’m betting you lost him dude….
I would never in a million years trade Felix.
I would also not keep this Fielder saga lasting as long as it has. If the M’s were truly series about him they would offer what he wants and be done with it.
The fact that he’s meeting with Texas is very bad news if you’re an M’s fan.
If they drop the ball on this one they will be looking at last place again.
Even if you’re a diehard fan, why would you continue to watch last place teams? Wont’ happen.
Even if they don’t drop the ball they will be looking at last place. Just saying.
Ya, looking at the A’s in last place…
It appears the price for Fielder is dropping. Which bodes well for the Reds re-signing Votto. Fielder is a much more prolific hitter than Votto. There would be no justification for any team to pay more for Votto in 2 years than what Fielder ends up getting. Albert Pujols is on a level of his own, with no others comparable to him. Fielder would be the next closest, but still above Votto.
I don’t know if Fielder’s contract will have any impact on Votto. I think most organizations see Fielder as a fielding liability in the near future. This is why no one seems to want to go past 4 or 5 years on him. I don’t get that sense with Votto. If Votto has another solid year he could be looking at a $200 million contract.
“Fielder is a much more prolific hitter than Votto. There would be no
justification for any team to pay more for Votto in 2 years than what
Fielder ends up getting.”
Not really.
2008-2011
Fielder: .284/.400/.537
Votto: .312/.406/.550
The real reason Fielder isn’t getting the same offers as Pujols is because his weight and fielding concerns. NL teams are reluctant to sign a potential DH to a long term contract. Votto doesn’t have that problem. He’s been an excellent fielder (19.5 UZR compared to -19.9 UZR from Fielder during that same time).
I would rather have a 30 year old Votto over a 28 year old Fielder, and I’m sure most NL GMs would too.
There is also the problem with most big market teams already having first basemen locked up under big money contracts.
Players like Fielder are scarce, but so is the money to afford him currently.
i like votto’s chances of playing good ball at 35 rather than prince……come on bro ask yourself logically why nobody has signed him to a long term deal yet and i predict he isn’t getting one either……
No question in my mind, right now, I’d rather have Votto than Fielder. In three years, I’d rather have Votto than Fielder. In six years, I’m positive I’d rather have Votto than Fielder.
Sorry. Not buying the argument. Votto is just plain better than Fielder, and will get more money than Fielder will.
I think 9 years at $180 mil for Votto with $27 mill deferred would get it done. That would be a $17 mil per year salary, same as Griffey Jr was making.
Noooo way. Votto is a great great player, but I’m sorry, I don’t see him getting anything more than $115mm over 5 years. For starters, and following this offseason, they’ll be virtually no market for him. Or at a minimum, a very limited market. While much can change in two years, I just don’t see Votto getting as big of a contract, or more, than his peers.
The Cubs, Mariners and Jays may all be closer to competing at that point. I could easily imagine any of those three making a big move for him.
I could see the Jays and Cubs for sure on Votto.
I really don’t see the Cubs being interested and visa versa.
Why not? Rizzo hasn’t proven anything yet, and 2014 is the year Theo is targetting to become a perenial contender. Unless Rizzo really is as good as Jed thinks he is, they can certainly use an All-Star first baseman, and they’ll have the money to pay him.
I think the Cubs would be in for certain.
As much as Votto may not like the Cubs at this point, he is currently a Red. They are rivals. Once he’s a free agent, all bets are off.
Mets and Dodgers will likely have their respective financial situations cleared up as well, and be back in the market. White Sox may be able to spend by then as well. I think the market will be fine.
There are alot of good free agents this offseason, but the first base market isn’t that exceptional. There will be need in two years, and there will likely be teams able to pay.
Not sure there.
Howard: $25 million
Pujols: $24 million
Teixeira: $22.5 million
Gonzalez: $22 million
Don’t see any way Votto gets less than those guys got.
That would represent a fairly sizable home town discount. Tex is getting the same $180 over 8 years, and he seems a decent comparable.
Heck, over the last few years, Votto has matched Pujols and he’ll be a year younger in two years than Pujols was for this contract. He doesn’t have the physical outlook of Fielder, so there is a good shot of him keeping his production for a while.
No reason to believe he won’t get the $200 million Fielder wants, unless he sees a decline in the next few years or gives a big discount.
Adrian Gonzalez never hit free agency so if Votto hits free agency the situation will be a little different, but I think the Gonzalez contract would be a good baseline for Votto (Gonzalez is a possibly the best comparable for Votto, and Votto will be a little less than a year older than Gonzalez when their respective contracts would start).
I always felt that Gonzalez could have gotten a bit more had he gone to the highest bidder, but I agree he’s a good comp.
If he signs before free agency, that’s a deal that makes sense, and a discount. If Votto hits free agency, I can’t see him ending up with that little.
I think Gonzalez’s contract will be used by people trying to sign him (and Pujols’ will probably be used by his agent), and whether he gets considerably more than that will depend on which team(s) and how many teams have serious interest in him. As a free agent he’ll likely get more than Gonzalez, but without most of the ‘big’ teams in the mix for him I could see it sticking somewhere pretty close to Gonzalez’s contract (maybe he gets 7/161 or 168 instead of 7/154, or maybe he gets an extra year instead of more money and ends up at 8/176 etc.)
Local and national TV rights for the Nats aren’t going to help WSH retain Werth, but his immovable contract will.
Jason Bay is thanking you for taking attention away from his contract with NYM.
As a full Nats STH and Nats fan, I’m not gonna be happy if Fielder ends up as an excuse for not re-upping with Zimmerman. If it comes between Zimmerman and Fielder, I know who I want. And it ain’t Fielder.
Zimmerman will get his extension if he A. Cuts down the throwing errors and B. Proves he can stay healthy.
Mixed signals from the Rangers…suddenly they’re interested in Oswalt and meeting with Fielder. Maybe the Darvish deal won’t happen and they sign those two instead? This is starting to get interesting again.
It’s pretty obvious Oswalt is a safety for Darvish. It’s also obvious that Texas has much more money available than what’s been reported and can fit both Darvish and Fielder on the payroll. If Texas signs those two, and extends Napoli, then Texas takes over as the team who has had the best offseason in my eyes. Still big ifs at this point but who knows.
I would much rather sign Prince and Oswalt/ or trade for a pitcher rather than just signing Darvish.
While I hope the Rangers might sign both Fielder and Darvish, I read a report elsewhere from today that negotiations between the Rangers and Darvish stalled and maybe: A)they are going to sign Fielder to soothe fans since they can’t sign Darvish or B) the Rangers are using Fielder as a ploy to make Darvish agree to terms?
I saw that Darvish was looking for 15 to 20 mil per year, and the Rangers won’t go that high
most rumors out there have the deal 95% done and Norm H had the deal done this morning…
This might seem counter-intuitive since I’m a fan of a fellow AL team, but I’d really like to see the Rangers sign both Darvish and Fielder. That team would be deadly.
I hate you.
You heard it here first. I think the Yanks will sign him.
The Yankees will sign Fielder and play him where exactly? There’s no open spots he can play.
They could always use him as a pinch hitter
They should put him in center and trade Granderson.
He can bat leadoff in place of the aging Jeter.
Don’t make me have to post another update on what I’m drinking tonight Ben – I thought that killed the daily Prince updates.
I don’t want him coming to the Rangers unless he is willing to sign a one year deal.
Haha he wouldn’t do that. I’d be fine signing Fielder to a 6-7 year deal as long as Fielder understands he’d be DH’ing for a good portion of the contract. Plus Young comes off the books soon which makes a deal like this a lot easier to handle.
Very true, plus he would be a great backup plan if Texas doesn’t want to bring back Hamilton because of injuries/money or even relapse which I think is BS at this point. I would hate to lose Hamilton but if we have to, who better to replace him than Prince? I would give him a 6-7 year deal no problem, even an 8th option would be fine. The guy is only 27 so hes 33-35 at the end of that deal? I don’t see a problem honestly.
So you wouldn’t want him on a 2 year duh? Sure….
No I wouldn’t, duh. I don’t really want to them to spend that much money for one year. DUH!!
How is it that a guy with no market is still gonna get $150 million over 7 years?
Two words:
Scott and Boras
I would still rather have Pujols and Wilson than Fielder and Darvish but if TX gets both then the Angels are in trouble. Come on Kendrys go see Mr. Miyagi to heal up that leg…
The problem with that is Pujols is an unknown age at this point and is coming of an injury. CJ was good in Texas, but he struggles against bigger hitting teams, especially in the playoffs. Now Darvish is unproven at this point, but he’s young, has a huge frame, sick stuff and will also be learning from Nolan and the Maddux brothers. Texas would also be getting the two players in their prime whereas the two guys LAA got are beginning the decline (maybe not so much with CJ since he’s pitched so little innings).
“The problem with that is Pujols is an unknown age at this point and is coming of an injury.”
This entire line is pure crap, sorry. Pujols had an injury midseason which he bounced back spectacularly from, his injury risk is minimal, and as for his age…..really? He went to high school in the US, it’s not like he’s a completely mysterious product to the US. This accusation is false and is just a stereotype towards foreign athletes.
Pujols is going to be a top 5 hitter all time when it’s said and done. His worst years as a hitter are career years for most people, and his decline I expect will follow the same trend.
I will not refute that Pujols’ age is a legitimate concern, but a case can be made that if any player is capable of defying the alleged “mid-30’s decline”, it’s Albert. Now, that’s not to say that he will continue to put up video game caliber slash lines, but I think he’ll still be able to stay above .300 and produce 30/100 for the majority of his contract.
While not devoid of injuries (ulnar collateral ligament injury a few years back and the recent hairline wrist fracture), he’s shown a keen ability to heal well, and fast. He also keeps himself in impeccable shape (try saying the same for Fielder while keeping a straight face).
I cannot wait to see what Darvish can do in the major leagues (even if it’s with a team I thoroughly despise). While he might not post better numbers than Wilson in 2012, he should easily eclipse Wilson the following year.
My concerns with Darvish aren’t how well his stuff will translate in the pros, or how well he assimilates culturally…it’s how he responds to the more rigorous schedule of an MLB starting pitcher (pitchers get an extra day of rest in Japan) and the not-so-friendly conditions in Texas (as opposed to pitching virtually every game in a climate-controlled dome). That’s not to say the heat will create some major psychological meltdown, but it might prompt a few more mistakes here and there.
Expectations weigh heavily in this debate as well. The Angels gave Wilson an AAV of roughly 15.5 million to be their 4th starter, possibly 3rd should Santana or Haren get away 2 years from now. Conversely, the Rangers will likely be giving Darvish an AAV of 20+ million (including posting fee, even though it doesn’t count towards payroll [at least not to my knowledge]) to be their #1 starter (if not this year, then definitely 2013 and beyond). Again, pressure is just one more variable to consider, whether it’s calculable or not.
Anyway you slice it, this will be one heck of a match up for the next few years.
If the implementation of the extra wild card spot wasn’t such a foregone conclusion, I’d probably be sweating the Darvish signing more.
I agree. I think both the Angels and Rangers are making huge leaps this year (assuming Texas gets the Darvish deal done).
Ron Washington said today that they’re going to walk Pujols every chance they can get. This came straight from his mouth at the Rangers Fan Fest today.
Yet another honorable move by the great Ron Washington.
Fielder+Darvish>Pujols+Wilson
“Mike Rizzo won’t sign a nine- or ten-year deal and won’t offer a no-trade clause.”
“The Cubs would be open to an agreement on their own terms.”
“Boras has been shut out of the big money this offseason.”
What’s the matter, Scott, lost your touch?
“”Boras could represent almost the entire Nationals lineup.”
Oh, I see, he’s transitioning from free agent representative to union leader for the Washington Nationals Players’ Union. Everyone knows unions are where the big money is now anyway.
The Nationals are strangling themselves if they let Boras represent most of their lineup. Either way overpay to keep together a decent, maybe good team, or have a firesale in a few years.
Me as an M’s fan: Ugh, Prince going to the Rangers??? With Darvish. And Pujols/Wilson to the Angels…
Thank goodness I have fantasy baseball!
This just in: Prince Fielder signs a 1 year -$5 MM deal with the Red Sox. That’s right, he’s paying THEM to play for them for bailing him out for playing this waiting game, allowing him to persue a long term deal at the end of the 2012 season. In other news, Scott Boras has been fired by Fielder.
There better be a lifetime supply of beer and fried chicken or he wont take the deal from the red sox
Can’t wait for this sideshow to be over with so Jack Z. can pull his
thumb out of his hole and start to do something to pull the M’s out of
the basement!
Can it be we have reached the point that a great player wants so much money that no one can actually afford him at his asking price? or no one wants too? or
is it his weight? Someone should have signed him by now……
He’s waiting for an offer from the Dodgers.
hes waiting for the rangers to figure it out with darvish because boras wouldnt want to miss out on another team to bid against eachother
I think that it may well have reached that point indeed. Scott Boras is having perhaps his worst off-season in a while. I wonder if the Nationals may lower their offer once they realize that they are bidding against themselves.
Predictions:
Fielder signs with the Rangers.
Rangers trade Mitch Moreland to Pittsburgh for Zach Von Rosenberg
I wouldn’t be surprised if Texas kept Mitch as a possible Hamilton replacement in LF.
I’m hearing from my sources close to the situation that Nolan Ryan will be wining and dining Prince Fielder at the local Chic-fil-A.
No info on what they’ll be ordering. More to come.
“No info on what they’ll be ordering.”
A lot.
just goes to show that no one wants this soon to be 500 pound porker….
Yeah…once he gets ‘life changing money’ (which for us would have been two years at the ML minimum) he’ll tank I’m betting.
I don’t think the Cubs will sign Prince, but if they do, what kind of message would that send to Rizzo? I know he’s under control through ’17, but would he want to basically wait at least 3 years just to see if he’ll get regular playing time?
Given that he’s under team control, would he have a choice?
I know he doesn’t have a choice. I was asking if signing Fielder would affect his psyche at all. Right now, he’s gotta be thinking he’ll be the starting 1B by the beginning of ’13 at the latest.
After the Pineda deal, I actually think the Jays might be (FINALLY) willing to make a splash in order to compete. That deal just shored up the top of the Yankees rotation for the next few years… It’s definitely going to be a bigger, and tougher hill to climb for the Jays before they are competitive in the AL East.
Yes, the Jays are improving and the Yankees and Sox are aging, but if the Jays keep standing pat they’re not going to be gaining any ground.