Tigers close to sign Prince Fielder

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By Ben Nicholson-Smith [January 24 at 2:02pm CST]


Prince Fielder, who hit baseballs out of Tiger Stadium as a 12-year-old, is on his way back to Detroit, where his father, Cecil Fielder, starred for seven years. The Tigers have agreed to sign the free agent first basemanto a nine-year, $214MM contract.
The agreement -- the fourth largest in baseball history behind Alex Rodriguez's mega-contracts and Albert Pujols' recent deal with the Angels -- will keep Fielder in the Motor City through his age 36 season for an average annual value of $23.78MM. Though the market for Fielder seemed far from robust at times this offseason, agent Scott Boras has found an unexpected suitor once again. Over the years, Tigers owner Mike Ilitch and GM Dave Dombrowski have dealt extensively with Boras regarding clients such as Kenny Rogers, Ivan Rodriguez, Johnny Damon and Magglio Ordonez.
Fielder will play first base and Miguel Cabrera will change roles, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports tweets. Victor Martinez will miss most or all of the 2012 season with a torn ACL, so it's possible that Cabrera will DH this year. He has only played 14 games at third base since being traded to Detroit after the 2007 season, but a return to the hot corner seems to be a possibility for Cabrera.
Fielder's considered a below average defender at first base, but he's a force at the plate. He posted a .299/.415/.566 line with 38 home runs in 2011, finishing in the top five in MVP balloting for the third time in the past five seasons. He has a .282/.390/.540 line in seven seasons in Milwaukee, where he averaged 37 home runs per 162 games played.
This June the Tigers will surrender their first round pick (27th overall) to the Brewers, who offered Fielder arbitration earlier in the offseason. Milwaukee will also obtain a second compensatory pick for losing Fielder, the seventh overall selection in the 2002 draft. Fielder is among the Brewers' all-time leaders in many offensive categories, including home runs (230), on-base percentage (.390), sluggling percentage (.540) and walks (566).
Cecil Fielder, whose off-and-on relationship with his son has been well-documented, hit 245 home runs in a Tigers uniform, good for fifth on the franchise's all-time list. The elder Fielder led the American League in home runs in 1990 with 51 and in 1991 with 44.

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This is the one that all of baseball has been waiting on... Im not saying what each team will do but the door is now open so expect a lot of moves in the near future.

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On a pluss side, this means that both Pujols and Fielder are now in the American League and I consider that adding up to roughly 10 more wins this year....


See the Bucs didn't need to pick up a power hitter this offseason...We just needed everyone to get rid of theirs

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Tigers find Prince to replace lost star
Fielder agrees to $214 million to replace Martinez
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
By Noah Trister, Associated Press

DETROIT -- Free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder and the Detroit Tigers reportedly agreed Tuesday on a nine-year, $214 million contract that fills the reigning American Central Division champions' need for a power hitter.

CBS first reported the agreement. The deal is subject to a physical.

Detroit boldly stepped up in the Fielder sweepstakes after the recent knee injury to star Victor Martinez. A week ago, the Tigers announced that the productive designated hitter could miss the entire season after his left ACL was torn in offseason conditioning.

The Tigers won their division by 15 games before losing in the ALCS to Texas. Adding Fielder, 27, gives the Tigers two of the game's premier sluggers, pairing him with Miguel Cabrera.
Prince Fielder's career

Age: 27
Games: 998
Batting average: .282
Home runs: 230
Runs batted in: 656
Slugging percentage: .540

With Fielder in the fold, general manager Dave Dombrowski and owner Mike Ilitch have a team that figures to enter the 2012 season as a favorite to repeat in the division -- with an eye on winning the franchise's first World Series since 1984.

"Everyone knew Mr. Ilitch and Mr. Dombrowski were going to make a move when Victor went down," outfielder Brennan Boesch said. "But I don't think anybody thought it would be this big."

The move also keeps Fielder's name in the Tigers family. His father, Cecil, became a big-league star when he returned to the majors from Japan and hit 51 home runs with Detroit in 1990. Cecil played with the Tigers into the 1996 season, and young Prince made a name for himself by hitting prodigious home runs in batting practice at Tiger Stadium.

A few years ago, when Prince returned to Detroit as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, Tigers Hall of Famer Al Kaline recalled that power show.

"You can't ever say that you look at a kid that age and say that you know he's going to hit 40 or 50 home runs someday, but Prince was unbelievable," Kaline said then. "Here's a 12-year-old kid commonly hitting homers at a big-league ballpark."

In an interview with MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM, Cecil Fielder said he was "shocked" by the news that Prince was heading to Detroit.

"He's been there in Detroit most of his young life so I think he'll be comfortable in that place," Cecil Fielder said. "I know Mr. Ilitch is probably excited because he's been wanting that kid since he was a little kid, so he finally got his wish."

With Cabrera and Fielder, Detroit will begin this season with two players under age 30 with at least 200 career homers. According to STATS LLC, that has happened only once before. At the start of the 1961 season, the Milwaukee Braves featured Eddie Mathews (338 homers) and Hank Aaron (219).

Several teams had shown interest this winter in Fielder, who had spent his entire career with the Brewers. He visited Texas, and the Washington Nationals also got involved in the discussions.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12025...#ixzz1kTmfHAoa

I think it's time to change MLB to MLI...Major League Insanity. No way that fat slob plays for 9 yrs. Money down the drain.