Fielder to the Tigers
Everyone who writes about baseball is reporting that the Tigers have agreed to a 9-year, $214 million deal with Prince Fielder. According to Jon Heyman, Fielder's going to be the first baseman, with Miguel Cabrera as the DH.
4 months ago
BeefMaster
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That sucks.
"Somebody once asked me if I ever went up to the plate trying to hit a home run. I said, 'Sure, every time." --Mickey Mantle
hahaha
what a freaking overpay they outbid everyone by at least 60 million. Scary 1-2 punch for a year then vmart comes back and they have the most expensive log jam of gigantic first basemen should be dhs ever. Think of the defense Miggy at 3rd Prince at first and Vmart catching worst defense ever.
first-worst-first?
Nate Silver just tweeted:
“Having a roster with 3 catchers and 6 DHs is the new Moneyball”
by ColossusOfRhode on Jan 24, 2012 3:40 PM EST up reply actions
And after he releases the ball he covers both third and first, along with charging in for a bunt
by twinscrazy_german on Jan 24, 2012 4:49 PM EST up reply actions
Nah Prince Fielder is the only one that can cover first and third at the same time
By laying down.
Remember, remember the seventh of November.
by Go Twins! on Jan 24, 2012 4:55 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I never forget Verlander
(swoons just a little)
by ColossusOfRhode on Jan 24, 2012 5:31 PM EST up reply actions
They're gonna hit the
hell outta the ball for the next few years, but that contract is huge and probably 3 years too many.
Going to play where his dad played for most of his career I guess
Remember, remember the seventh of November.
doesnt he hate his father
I would say the 24 million dollars a year had a lot more to do with it
first-worst-first?
by holymackerel on Jan 24, 2012 5:02 PM EST up reply actions
Maybe the Tigers will reunite father and son?
Probably not.
by ColossusOfRhode on Jan 24, 2012 5:20 PM EST up reply actions
Cecil doesn't live in Detroit anymore
Prince did spent most of his elementary years in Detroit (he went to HS in Florida) so maybe he’s still got some childhood ties. Its a different stadium. Not sure how many of the old Tigers are around anymore.
Anyhow, they found Cecil for a quote:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/al/tigers/story/2012-01-24/cecil-fielder-shocked-prince/52775222/1
Think both Cabrera and Fielder are going to like DHing? Plus VMart?
3 Dhs in one lineup is scary on one side of the field for Detroit, and scary bad on the defensive side.
Let loose the hogs of war!
Dogs of war..
Whatever farm animal of war, Lana...
Guess Delmon will have to stay out there on defense for this team.
Let loose the hogs of war!
Dogs of war..
Whatever farm animal of war, Lana...
Elmon Efense Eserves an image
Remember, remember the seventh of November.
by Go Twins! on Jan 24, 2012 4:43 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Tigers will win this division by 20 games
by RaysOfHope on Jan 24, 2012 4:03 PM EST via mobile reply actions
They are going to have the best offensive 1B-3B duo by a lot.
And the worst defensive 1B/3B duo by more than that.
That being said, for the first 3 years of this deal, the Tigers are going to be stacked. The last 6 years, that is another story.
The moral: Scott Boras is amazing. Evil, but amazing.
Let loose the hogs of war!
Dogs of war..
Whatever farm animal of war, Lana...
I don't know
Fister is a pitch to contact guy. This can’t help.
How does this move make any sense?
They can’t actually believe that Cabrera can play 3B adequately when sober?
Or do they just not care about defense, since Verlander doesn’t need any?
by twinscrazy_german on Jan 24, 2012 4:22 PM EST reply actions
Cabrera's the DH
Fielder’s at first. Still, the defense is going to be pretty bad. They’ll need to make a few adjustments but my guess is that Young is a one year guy and then VMart takes over LF for a few years when he comes back.
Even with Fielder, I don’t think the Tigers are going to be much, if any, better offensively than last year. VMart’s out. Cabrera had a career season and so did Peralta and (probably) Avila . Jackson could have a break out year and obviously two 140+ OPS+ guys back to back is pretty scary.
It certainly is a lot of money for what might not be a huge upgrade
Then again this is just the first feeling I had about it, not the in depth analysis fangraphs will post.
by twinscrazy_german on Jan 24, 2012 4:35 PM EST up reply actions
"when sober"
LOL
"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett
"Tell Gardy there's nobody around to protect him now." Ozzie Guillen
by less cowbell, more 'neau on Jan 25, 2012 8:33 AM EST up reply actions
JOE MAUER HAS A HUGE CONTRACT!!!!!!1111!!!1111
you knew it was coming….
Remember, remember the seventh of November.
I love how we’re the ones getting screwed by an injury to Victor Martinez.
Remember, remember the seventh of November.
Sorry it was a quote From Let's Go Tribe
I missed putting that in the header
Remember, remember the seventh of November.
This year, he's a replacement for Martinez
Next year, they’ll have to make room for Cabrera at another position. Then we’ll know once and for all if a team can hit its way to a pennant.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
And thay can pitch with Verlander and Fister right behind him
Remember, remember the seventh of November.
Only Verlander scares me
I guess Schertzer misses bats. But Fister is a pitch-to-contact guy with the worst fielding team in baseball behind him. Not a good combination, especially when they move Cabrera back to third.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
Max Scherzer isn’t anything special though. He’s a slightly above average pitcher.
by Brady Eyestone on Jan 24, 2012 5:35 PM EST up reply actions
Or just move Martinez to another position
Victor Martinez could play LF and Cabrera continues to DH.
Wha?
He can barely move. I’d love to see him in right field with Delmon in left.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
Beautiful
Austin Jackson will need wheels out there with VMart and Elmon flanking him….. too funny
"live EVERY week like it's shark week" Tracy Jordan(30 Rock)
by carlpavanosmoustache on Jan 24, 2012 9:57 PM EST up reply actions
I've been worried about this one...
seems like just the “out of the blue” move that Dombrowski and the Tiggers make. Should be interesting for sure; but it’s never a good thing for our biggest competition to get a guy like Prince Fielder. The division title just got a lot tougher to achieve. Uggh.
Still gotta play the games
Anything can happen.
by bf4mvp on Jan 24, 2012 7:30 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Congrats to Tigers fans....
Prince is a beast! I guess there is one team not cutting payroll in the central!
Stalling for time
By playing chess with Death in Sweden during the Black Plague?
"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett
"Tell Gardy there's nobody around to protect him now." Ozzie Guillen
by less cowbell, more 'neau on Jan 25, 2012 8:40 AM EST up reply actions
Oh and how long til Miggy starts thinking he is underpaid. I don't see this as a good
thing for the team chemistry.
This is just batsh!t crazy.
There is no bigger (pun intended) candidate for rapid decline in baseball. Even at ordinary rates his contract will be an albatross for at LEAST a couple years at the end. But his body projects to be a giggly ineffectual mess at a point when he’s still owed $100 million. I figured he’d end up signing for 5, 6 years (plus options to save face), tops.
The only way I can make any sense of this is that they gamed out the FA market for a few years and believe he can be moved with the contract to New York/LA/Chicago/Texas in a couple years. Barring that: they’re going to dominate the Central for a few years and then be hamstrung, just in time for Cabrera to leave.
On the bright side: when Martinez comes back in 2013, for six series I’ll have way less reason to hate Prof. Gardenhire when he bunts. Cabrera @ 3rd = no such thing as a mere sacrifice attempt!
+1
This contract is Pujols-ish, but Feilder isn’t Pujols. -And Pujols’s contract was probably overpriced itself.
Paying Fielder $24 million per year isn’t the worst part of this. The worst part of this is the length of the deal. IMO, there’s about a 90% chance that the Tigers are going to regret this contract. They’ve signed him several years beyond his prime. There’s a real good chance that his salary is going to be a giant, unmovable anchor that handcuffs the franchise in 5 years.
It’s funny, but even with Morneau’s concussion problems his contract doesn’t look that bad right now.
There are few things in life I love more than baseball and roller derby.
The contrary position
The other way to look at this is top talent is probably actually worth $30M a season. Ownership knows this and is willing to have a few worthless years at the end of the contract in order to keep salaries more linear than geometric.
Maybe so, but it's not worth it unless they win at least 1 World Series
And if he should get hurt during the contract’s “good years” or decline sharply because of his physique, the whole contract ends up being a steaming pile of mistake. -Especially considering that they probably outbid their closest rivals by a significant margain here. The risk outweighs the reward here, IMO. But GMs on average are way too shortsighted when it comes to giving out long-term contracts.
There are few things in life I love more than baseball and roller derby.
I think "ownership" actually knows onswership is gonna die soon...
and doesn’t give two craps about the team’s budget come 2019. Also, he’s a giant mark for winning and doesn’t mind flushing money away to do so, unlike a certain wealthy Minnesota family.
The thing is, if they win 2 or 3 Series over the next 4 seasons, the contract is quite literally paid for in those years (tickets alone 2+ mil per home playoff game), and then who cares about the backend?
I guess my take is: there is either some kind of rationalization (meant non-pejoratively) process going on beyond simple wins per dollar, or else they’re crazy. That or (and maybe this qualifies as calling an org. “crazy”) the people speculating that Boras (again) went around management to negotiate directly with ownership nailed it.
by tobynotjason on Jan 25, 2012 1:22 PM EST up reply actions
Obviously it's a good problem to have...
but it’s interesting to think about;
If the Tigers somehow make the World Series this year (I think they’re all-in at this point and could see them completing a Garza/Turner swap soon as well now that they have Prince) what do they do in the NL-park games? Especially if VMart is somehow back? Do you just go all offense and put Miggy at 3b, Fielder at 1b, and VMart at C? How do you get those bats all in the lineup together without having a total disaster defensively? Could be interesting to watch.
Avila was actually a better hitter/player than Martinez last year
If he can be anywhere close to that this year I don’t think it would be a hard decision.
Jack Morris ________
Unreal.
I had no idea he was that good, but you’re right: 140 v 130 wRC+. Most the difference lay in walking twice as often.
by tobynotjason on Jan 25, 2012 1:25 PM EST up reply actions
I wouldn't bet on Avila...
ever having a year like that again in his entire career.
You win a lot of 10-9 games.... ;-)
Let loose the hogs of war!
Dogs of war..
Whatever farm animal of war, Lana...
V-Mart is out for the year
His knees, size and position make an ACL tear a deal breaker.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
I just wouldn't rule out a playoff return completely...
that is 8 months away. But yes, probably.
Still, I think it’s going to be tough to play Fielder and Miggy together in an NL park if they make it that far.
For the record, I still think the Rays are going to win it all this year; that pitching staff is going to just dominate teams. Price/Moore could be aces for just about any team (Moore’s that good already) and Davis/Niemman/Hellickson/Shields are all pretty damn good in their own right.
Small ball!
We can only hope…
C: Martinez (just awful), although Avila is good.
1B: Fielder (-6.4 UZR/150)
2B: Raburn (-23.8 UZR/150), Santiago (-3.5 UZR/150)
3B: Cabrera (-4.5 UZR/150)
SS: Peralta (-3.0 UZR/150)
LF: Young (-14.0 UZR/150)
CF: Jackson (only positive: 6.8 UZR/150)
RF: Bosech (-11.8 UZR/150)
Just hit the ball away from CF and good things should happen. Ben Revere could be amazing by bouncing the ball around on these guys.
It's a bad fielding team
It’s an interesting experiment. It might just work, but it won’t be the slam dunk people who just look at offense think it will be. As someone said, a lot of 10-9 games.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
and a lot of pissed off/messed up (psyche)...
Tigers pitchers.
Ouch
Verlander is going to need to get his k/9 around 20 to win another cy young…
by diehardtwinsfan on Jan 25, 2012 2:40 PM EST up reply actions
They tried this some time back
with Cecil, Rob Deer and company……. 2012= the sequel….
"live EVERY week like it's shark week" Tracy Jordan(30 Rock)
by carlpavanosmoustache on Jan 27, 2012 11:07 PM EST reply actions
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