With Albert Pujols all locked up and taking his talents to Southern California, Prince Fielder is now the biggest name left out on the free agent market.
Obviously, there are plenty of other names out there to be had, like Jimmy Rollins, but none come with the impact that Prince could potentially bring to a big league lineup.
Despite the way-past-his-prime Peter Gammons tweeting that the Cubs lacked the cash to bring in Fielder, they have been in the mix to sign him the entire time, and might even be the favorite to land the former Milwaukee slugger.
There are conflicting reports as to how many teams are in on Fielder, but teams mentioned have included the Cubs, Rangers, Brewers, Mariners, Nationals, and Marlins. The only realistic ones of that group at this point, appear to be the Cubs, Rangers, and Mariners.
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, it appears that the Cubs are actually the front runner to land the hefty hitter in the coming weeks. Despite the new Cubs regime making it clear that they are avoiding Alfonso Soriano-type contracts, it’s not difficult to see why they would be in on Fielder.
As it stands right now, Fielder is easily the best talent that the free agent market is going to see in the next few years. Matt Kemp was locked up by the Dodgers earlier this offseason and Josh Hamilton looks like he’s going to get a longterm deal from the Rangers sooner or later.
Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer obviously know this, and it’s already been reported that the Cubs were more interested in Fielder than they were in Pujols. While the Cubs won’t seek “quick fixes”, planting Fielder in the middle of that lineup will give them the power presence to build the rest of the team around. And he’s a lefty.
Many have considered a drawback of Fielder to be his defense. His glove at first might not compare to some of the other names out on the market, but he’s certainly proven that he’s a capable…fielder at first. Yes, he had 15 errors last season, but had just 11 combined in the two seasons previous.
Fielder’s stats speak for themselves. He’s a career .282 hitter and has averaged 37 homers and 106 RBIs per season, to go along with a .390 on-base percentage. If you have a chance to add that to the lineup, then you take it.
While Prince would almost certainly prefer a number of years closer to that of the deal that Pujols got with the Halos, he isn’t going to see that, especially given the questions about his physique. It’s been suggested that the Cubs go after Fielder to the tune of five years and $125 million, which is the deal Ryan Howard got with the Philadelphia Phillies.
I can certainly see why many have projected the Cubs as the team with the best shot at landing Fielder. The Mariners have been the other team most often connected to the 27-year-old slugger, but that’s an even bigger rebuilding project than the Cubs. And I highly doubt Prince wants to try and hit homeruns in that ballpark.
The Rangers are the one team I could see seriously competing with the Cubs for the services of Prince Fielder. They have the cash and they would be able to play him at both first and throw him in the lineup as the designated hitter. It would also be a strong response to the Angels grabbing Pujols off the market.
The picture surrounding Fielder is almost as cloudy as the one that was around Pujols as far as trying to predict where they wind up. What at one point was just a pipe dream to Cubs fans is looking like it could be a real possibility. For the right price, of course.
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How is jimmy rollins available wasn’t he signed to the marlins?
Jose Reyes was signed by the Marlins. Rollins is still out there, but probably going to end up back in Philly.
yeah we will get prince
these mariner rumor sites are ridiculous why would he wanna waste his time on that team when its dead and look at their ball park frankly not homerun friendly
also with prince tellin his friends hes interested in the cubs..that says obviously that he wants to play there and is likely to land there