Prince Fielder Goes Home with a Pile of Cash
The Detroit Tigers
After a long, drawn out process and months of rumor, conjecture and speculation, the Detroit Tigers emerged as the winners of the Prince Fielder sweepstakes. Fielder’s arrival helps to take the sting off of the season-ending injury sustained by Victor Martinez.
Fans in Chicago, St. Louis and the cities of the NL Central most certainly celebrate his departure, particularly with reigning NL MVP Ryan Braun currently facing a 50-game suspension. The teams of the AL Central aren’t quite as fond of the move.
Fantasy owners are already looking for the domino effects in Detroit. That is, perennial MVP candidate and powerhouse Miguel Cabrera has already spoken of his willingness to return to his original third base position. Cabrera played third base for five full seasons before joining the Tigers and shifting to first base (he played 14 games at third in 2008). I believe that he’ll play enough games at the position to gain eligibility, but don’t be surprised if he and Fielder flip-flop a bunch at first base and DH.
As for Fielder, he takes a bit of a hit because of the change of venue, but I certainly don’t foresee much of a shift.
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Naturally, the questions about Fielder’s stature came into play during the off-season as numerous free agents signed deals and we awaited word of his landing place. The debate centered around whether Fielder would sign a shorter deal or max out like Pujols. Well, we now have our answer.
In the next three weeks, I will begin to burrow through stats and dazzle your mind with enough stats and figures to make you the king of your office water cooler (chat room). For now, enjoy the final weeks before pitchers and catchers report, the second quarter of the NBA regular season and the build-up to Super Bowl XLVI.
