Fielder and Tigers agree to 9-year deal

[Slats]

Nine-year, $214 million deal for an overweight DH? This is a disaster and will come back to haunt Detroit in a few years...



http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=A ... rs-fielder


NEW YORK (AP)—A person familiar with the negotiations says Prince Fielder and the Detroit Tigers are nearing agreement on a nine-year contract worth about $200 million.

CBS first reported the terms of the deal.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday because talks are ongoing. The person says “there are still some things that need to be worked out.”

Detroit, coming off an AL championship series loss to Texas, fills a void left by the knee injury to slugger Victor Martinez.

[kellmellus50]

BINGO.............................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ajaX82]

Word is it is done!

Sure it could hurt later, but this is huge! Unreal! Cabby and Fielder 3-4 is silly

[kellmellus50]

Detroit— Multiple sources are reporting the Tigers have signed free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder to a nine-year contract worth $214 million.

The Tigers haven't confirmed the signing yet, but if it's true, they've not only found a premier hitter to bat behind Miguel Cabrera, they've signed one of the most feared sluggers in baseball for almost a decade.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2012 ... t|Sports|p

[ajaX82]

He's 27. He doesn't get hurt or sit out (Played in 99% of Brewers games over career). He hits for average. He hits for power. He protects Cabby

DD showed he wants to spend to win. Holy *****

[kellmellus50]

How do we play both first baseman when were in the world series and you can't have a DH ?

they may now trade Miguel Cabrera i bet this is whats going to happen .

[ajaX82]

How do we play both first baseman when were in the world series and you can't have a DH ?

they may now trade Miguel Cabrera i bet this is whats going to happen .

No they don't.

You DH one of them for parts of the year and start to get Cabby ready for third. He doesn't have to be there full time this year so he will have time to adjust.

[kellmellus50]

23 million is too much to pay for him ,but its not my money so i don't care.

[m23uza1hem36]

Love the addition! Love an owner willing to cash out to win! Like AJ said, it can hurt in the long run, but oh man: Fielder and Cabby 3-4! Hopefully all is good coming the season

[kellmellus50]

Now only if they can get back v-mart at the end of season that woud be great for the playoffs

[Snakebites]

They must be trying to move Cabby to third ultimately. You don't pay Prince that kind of coin if he's only playing half of the game.

Still, thats an amazing 1-2 punch. Hard not to be excited even if it does bring up question marks.

[ajaX82]

They must be trying to move Cabby to third ultimately. You don't pay Prince that kind of coin if he's only playing half of the game.

Yup. And the good thing about this year is that Carbera doesn't have to go straight to third like if Vmart was healthy. Now I would obviously rather have Victor, but you can ease Cabby into it. Give him 50-75 games at third so that next year he is ready for it full time. Kelly and/or Inge can handle the other times

This is actually a pretty flexible line-up. Good grief i'm excited

[ajaX82]

BUT

Some aren't buying Cabby to third (which is a thought certainly). I'll be interested to see how this shakes out

The nice thing about Fielder is he maintains a lefty/righty balance through the first seven spots in the order. The other big positive is it may cut down on the intentional walks Cabrera receives -- 22 last season. I imagine Cabrera and Fielder will split time at first base and DH. According to Baseball Info Solutions' defensive runs saved metric, Cabrera was minus-6 runs in 2011 while Fielder was minus-1. In 2010, Cabrera was minus-8 and Fielder minus-13. Neither of these guys is exactly Keith Hernandez. And, no, Cabrera cannot play third base like he once did with the Marlins, so get that out of your head.

Yes, this situation will create a logjam in 2013 when Martinez returns with two years and $25 million left on his contract. But I don't think Tigers owner Mike Ilitch cares one bit about 2013 or how much Fielder will weigh in 2020. The contract is certainly excessive and likely to be an albatross by the end of it, but if Fielder helps deliver a World Series title to the Tigers in 2012, I'm pretty sure Ilitch will take your criticism and stuff it inside the crust of one of his pizzas.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/ ... -it-matter

[ajaX82]

Other ideas:

Given the obvious difference in age and hitting ability between Martinez and Cabrera, it seems like a no-brainer that Martinez will need to be dealt after this season. The Tigers will need to make a decision in 2014 whether to try and extend Cabrera, or whether to hand first base over to Prince. Given the deal that Albert Pujols just got at age 32 from the Angels, an elite slugging first basemen could still drive an incredibly high price on the open market even after age 30. If the Tigers can't get an extension done in 2014 that fits within their budget, and with Fielder locked up through 2020, I think it's safe to say Cabrera will be on the trading block by that point.

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2012/1 ... after-2012

What would you guys think about dealing VMart before next year? And what to do with Cabby and his contract?

[kellmellus50]

It makes absolutely no sense paying two guys who basically are the same player more than $45 million annually. And anyone who thinks Miguel Cabrera “easily” could move to third base or leftfield, do you need a reminder of how badly that played out in 2008?

http://www.freep.com/article/20120124/C ... ext|Sports

[Snakebites]

It makes absolutely no sense paying two guys who basically are the same player more than $45 million annually. And anyone who thinks Miguel Cabrera “easily” could move to third base or leftfield, do you need a reminder of how badly that played out in 2008?

http://www.freep.com/article/20120124/C ... ext|Sports

I wasn't saying I thought it would work.

Just saying that HAS to be something they're at least thinking about.

Either way, Victor being moved does seem to me to be a given.

[TSE]

It makes absolutely no sense paying two guys who basically are the same player more than $45 million annually. And anyone who thinks Miguel Cabrera “easily” could move to third base or leftfield, do you need a reminder of how badly that played out in 2008?

http://www.freep.com/article/20120124/C ... ext|Sports

It doesn't make sense to pay any player $24M per year, it's just not smart baseball or an intelligent use of monetary resources.

[kellmellus50]

Granderson hit more homeruns than fielder last year,sometime i wish we could have keeped him hopefully jackson will get better this year.

[TSE]

I wish I could run the team so that we would have a high probability to win the WS every year and for a ridiculously efficient payroll that a guy like Dombrowski would never be able to comprehend with the seriously flawed mind that he is working with. He has absolutely no clue how to logically manage a sports franchise. (this is assuming the game of wishes for discussion purposes has to be limited to practical baseball-related ideas!)

[kellmellus50]

Everybody check out the photo below,was that a a future sign ?

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos- ... 6417_n.jpg

we have to give up our 1st rd pick too .