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Prince Fielder

Prince Fielder Rumors: Tuesday

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The market for Prince Fielder is developing slowly. Yesterday we heard of varying degrees of interest from the Orioles and Mariners, while the Brewers and Dodgers admitted they likely can't afford the big man. Today's Fielder rumors are below:

  • Zduriencik told Brock and Salk of 710ESPN there has been ongoing dialogue about Fielder, but there will be a point where they can't be involved. Zduriencik says a time will come, be it this year or sometime in the next 2-3 years, where ownership "will step up and give us the resources that we absolutely need to get us over the top and I think we are all excited about that." (Hat tip: Shannon Drayer of MyNorthwest.com)
  • The Mariners are planning to meet with Fielder tonight, says Heyman (on Twitter). He's unsure of their chances to sign him, but says they "love" the slugger.
  • The Cubs' interest in Fielder appears to be "sincere," tweets Heyman.
  • Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik believes calling the Mariners the frontrunner for Fielder is "misleading," writes MLB.com's Greg Johns. "On any free agent," said the GM. "I have no clue how many clubs are in on any free agent that we’re talking to. To say anybody is a front runner, I don’t know how that would have come out." Zduriencik's comments at least indicate that the M's are talking to Prince.
  • For what it's worth, agent Scott Boras talked to Bowden (Twitter link) about Fielder, saying he has "many suitors and the coffee isn't even hot yet."
  • The Cubs aren't in any kind of a process with Fielder, Cubs manager Dale Sveum told reporters.
  • The Mariners are the frontrunner for Fielder, tweets Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio and ESPN.
  • Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos told Jim Bowden on MLB Network Radio he's unlikely to sign Fielder because he's not going past a five-year commitment.
  • The Cubs are eyeing Fielder more than Albert Pujols, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network.  The Cubs won't do nine or ten years for Pujols, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that they prefer high dollars and a shorter term for Fielder as well.

Prince Fielder Rumors: Monday

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The latest on free agent slugger Prince Fielder…

  • Fielder is too pricey to fit into the Dodgers' plans, writes Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times. That point is illustrated by GM Ned Colletti's rhetorical response when asked about the free agent slugger on Monday: "Can we sign Prince for $3 million this year and $30 million the next year?"
  • Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik seemed to suggest today that the Mariners have discussed Fielder with Scott Boras, writes MLB.com's Greg Johns. Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times views the GM's comments as a sign that the M's are in a holding pattern, waiting to see if Fielder's price tag will come down.
  • The Nationals are focused on pitching, and won't be a player for Fielder or Albert Pujols, a Nats source tells Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio (Twitter link).
  • The Brewers are indicating that they're out of the running for Fielder and are moving on, tweets ESPN.com's Buster Olney.
  • The market for Fielder appears to be shrinking, hears Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel from team executives.
  • A person who knows Fielder tells ESPN's Jerry Crasnick comfort is important to the slugger and he's not necessarily going to chase the most money.
  • The Orioles are interested in Fielder, confirmed GM Dan Duquette.  However, Duquette also told Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com that he doesn't want fans to get their hopes up.  The Orioles' interest in Fielder is the secret mandate of owner Peter Angelos, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.  I think a team's owner will be involved no matter where Fielder signs.

Morosi’s Winter Meetings Preview

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Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports covers some of the major headlines that we'll be seeing over the next four days during baseball's Winter Meetings. Here's a late night look at the highlights:

  • Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder are still the headliners, and Morosi thinks that Pujols will sign first (although not necessarily this week). Once Pujols signs — Morosi predicts he'll remain in St. Louis — it's possible that his the increased number of suitors for Fielder will land him more money than Pujols. Fielder, of course, is also four years younger than Pujols.
  • Fielder prefers teams east of the Mississippi River and teams that can win the World Series in the near future. The list of known interested parties includes the Brewers, Mariners, Cubs, Rangers, Blue Jays, and Nationals. Seattle's rebuilding status and geographic location may remove them from the mix, while the uncertainty around how much Chicago's new front office is willing to spend may remove them as well.
  • Morosi doesn't think Angels GM Jerry Dipoto would've moved Tyler Chatwood without knowing the acquisition of another starting pitcher was close at hand.
  • The Twins remain interested in Edwin Jackson, according to Morosi's sources, but the Scott Boras client isn't likely to sign before fellow free agents C.J. Wilson and Mark Buehrle.
  • The availability of Andrew Bailey, Huston Street, and Brandon League slows down the market for free agent closers, and Morosi speculates that a few wise teams in search of closers will be able to wait out veteran bargains as potential closing gigs dwindle.
  • The Yankees, Tigers, Marlins, and Nationals have been the most active in scouting Yoenis Cespedes. While he's not a free agent yet, his market will be dictated by whether or not teams like Miami and Washington land their other targets at the Winter Meetings and in the coming weeks. Detroit would be most interested if they decide that Cespedes can bat leadoff for them right away.
  • Robert Whiting, an expert on Japanese baseball, told Morosi over the weekend that there's still no word on whether or not Yu Darvish will be posted.
  • Whiting told Morosi that Darvish became disillusioned with the posting process, partly because of the failure of Hisashi Iwakuma and the A's to work out a deal last year. He is also wary of the struggles and ridicule that other NPB stars have incurred in their transition to MLB, Whiting told Morosi.

Prince Fielder Rumors: Sunday

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At just 27 years of age, Prince Fielder owns 230 career home runs and three consecutive seasons of an OBP north of .400. He hasn't played in fewer than 157 games in a full season, despite his hulking frame. All of that will contribute to what's likely to be plenty of Prince Fielder rumors at this week's Winter Meetings. Let's run down today's:

  • There is some growing optimism that Fielder could remain with the Brewers, according to Danny Knobler of CBS Sports. Knobler cites the slowly developing market for Fielder and the aggressiveness of owner Mark Attanasio as the reasons, noting that Attanasio seems to be indicating he wants to make a real effort to re-sign Prince.
  • Fielder is not a target for the Nationals, according to MLB.com's Bill Ladson (via Twitter).  The Nats already have Adam LaRoche and Michael Morse at first base.
  • The Blue Jays have plenty of spending money and appear to be in the mix for Fielder, writes SI.com's Jon Heyman (via Twitter).
  • Heyman also tweets that he's received some conflicting reports on the Mariners' involvement in Fielder. Two executives say they "badly want" Fielder, while two Mariners sources say they have little money to spend. 

Rosenthal On Capuano, Fielder, Marlins, Red Sox

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The Twins offered Chris Capuano a two-year deal before he accepted the Dodgers' offer, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Here are more of Rosenthal's notes from around MLB…

  • The Marlins have discussed Prince Fielder internally and some team officials like the idea of pursuing him, according to Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi. However, they're more focused on Albert Pujols. Agent Scott Boras is telling teams that Fielder is the last available young power bat until Mike Stanton hits free agency.
  • The Pirates were also pursuing Capuano before he signed, Morosi tweets.
  • One GM says other teams backed off from Jose Reyes after the Marlins offered him $90MM over six years.
  • The Cardinals offered Albert Pujols a nine-year deal worth $190-200MM in Spring Training and haven’t changed their proposal since.
  • The Red Sox are exploring every trade possibility and considering every free agent closer, according to Rosenthal. Boston is hoping to find a bargain somewhere in the crowded market for top-tier relievers.

Brewers Could Offer Fielder Six Years, $120MM

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The Brewers have indicated during negotiations with Prince Fielder that they would be willing to offer the free agent slugger a six-year deal worth $120MM, reports ESPN's Buster Olney (via Twitter).  This would be a notable increase over Milwaukee's "last formal offer" of five years and $100MM to Fielder.

It's almost been a foregone conclusion that Fielder would leave the Brewers this winter but Olney notes (Twitter link) "it's a fluid situation, and Milwaukee is probably in play" unless another team makes an offer in the neighborhood of $170-$200MM.  With the Mariners, Nationals, Cubs and possibly the Rangers all interested in Fielder, it's likely one of those clubs (or, Scott Boras' erstwhile "mystery team") will come forward with a contract that tops the Brewers' best offer.

Here are a few more notes about the Brew Crew…

  • The Brewers will bid on Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima, according to a Sanspo report (translated by NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman).  The Seibu Lions announced two weeks ago that Nakajima would be posted, and he is predicted to attract attention from several teams looking for shortstop help.
  • MLB.com's Adam McCalvy, however, reports the Brewers aren't likely to go after Nakajima due to the team's lack of in-depth scouting in Japan.  Milwaukee GM Doug Melvin tells McCalvy that he expects a relatively quiet Winter Meetings for the team, and that the Brewers' priorities are finding a shortstop and bullpen help.
  • Melvin was named the Major League executive of the year by Baseball America.  Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has the details.

Rangers Notes: Fielder, Pujols, Moreland, Levine

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9:25pm: The Rangers have interest in Fielder, but he's not high on their priority list, according to Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Texas isn't seriously courting Pujols, either.

7:43pm: The Rangers announced that Mitch Moreland underwent right wrist surgery today and may not be ready in time for Spring Training. However, the GM Jon Daniels expects Moreland to be healthy in time for Opening Day 2012 and says the team won't need to change its first base plans drastically.

"We may look for some protection there now, but I don't see it changing the level of investment we're going to allocate there," Daniels said, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan.

Michael Young and Mike Napoli can also play first base for the Rangers if Moreland's recovery takes longer than expected. Though Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols are available on the free agent market, the Rangers say they don't have interest in costly options at the position.

Rangers assistant GM Thad Levine, who ranked third on MLBTR's list of GM candidates, announced that he is foregoing job opportunities outside of the organization, according to Sullivan. The Astros requested permission to interview Levine for their GM vacancy.

Zduriencik On Mariners Offseason

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Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik says the Mariners are looking to acquire starting pitching depth, relief help, a backup shortstop and offense this offseason. Here are more of Zduriencik's updates on the Mariners from an afternoon conference call with reporters:

  • Zduriencik declined to comment on negotiations with specific free agents, including Prince Fielder (the Mariners are interested). The GM said the Mariners may turn to the free agent market for offense if they can match up with available players in terms of years and dollars.
  • "We will explore several options, even trades," he said. "But there aren't any promises on these things. You don't know where you're going to end up at."
  • The Mariners are looking forward to bounce-back years from Franklin Gutierrez and others who struggled with injuries in 2011.
  • Zduriencik will explore ways of adding starting pitching, but feels that arms such as Taijuan Walker, James Paxton and Danny Hultzen give the Mariners pitching that may contribute soon.
  • "When you look at some arms that are pretty close and you look at some arms we have in the Major Leagues, we have some pretty strong assets here," he said.
  • The Mariners will again be a young team in 2012, but the front office will likely add some veterans to complement the existing group.
  • Zduriencik expects restrictions on spending in Latin America to have more of an effect after this year. He likes the options on the international free agent market, but isn't promising to sign any of them.
  • "There are some nice pieces out there," he said. "But they're not going to come inexpensively."

Mariners Interested In Prince Fielder

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The Mariners are interested in Prince Fielder and will explore a potential deal with the slugging free agent first baseman. GM Jack Zduriencik, who drafted Fielder as the Brewers’ scouting director, told MLB.com’s Greg Johns that the Mariners may be able to afford a major expenditure such as the 27-year-old Scott Boras client.

"There's no question we could use a big bat in the middle of our lineup, but where is your limitation and threshold?,” Zduriencik asked. “We'll go down that road and experiment and see where it ends up, but until things get more definitive, we'll just have to wait and see."

Zduriencik cautioned that the Mariners will have to take the pace of the market into account, as well as Fielder’s asking price. Should the market for Fielder drag, it may become difficult for Seattle to allocate resources to other areas of need. The Nationals, Cubs and Brewers are also known to be interested in Fielder.

Cubs Pursuing Albert Pujols & Prince Fielder

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The Cubs are pursuing both Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The Cubs like Pujols’ defense and are more willing to sign him to a long-term deal, even though Fielder’s three years younger. 

The Cubs intend to rebuild, but they’re interested in signing one of the free agent first basemen, partly because they don’t expect many of baseball’s best hitters to hit the open market in upcoming offseasons. The Dodgers just locked up Matt Kemp and extensions for Josh Hamilton, Jacoby Ellsbury and others may follow. Plus, restrictions on amateur spending make it more difficult to build exclusively through the draft.

The Cardinals and Marlins are also interested in Pujols, while Fielder has drawn interest from the Nationals and Brewers. The Rangers could enter the mix for both players and the Mariners may have interest in Fielder.

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