His father was probably my favourite baseball player of all-time, as a poster of Cecil Fielder "the long distance operator" long adorned the wall of my bedroom. Now Prince Fielder has signed a monster contract to play for the franchise where his father crushed the most baseballs, the Detroit Tigers. This is outstanding news, and possibly enough to make me a Tigers fan once again. $214 Million dollars over 9 years is a hefty price tag, one the Blue Jays were never going to match. The 9 years was probably the deal breaker for most teams, as it is a long commitment to make to an overweight player who could see his skills diminish rapidly and suddenly without warning. There certainly is risk involved, even if it feels warm and fuzzy from a Tigers fan nostalgia perspective.
It begs the question how many teams were in the bidding? Prince remained a free agent for roughly 3 months, and the biggest spending teams like New York, Boston, and Anaheim are already stocked with high price players at 1st base and DH. It's difficult to imagine the secondary market valuing Fielder in the $24M per year range without bidding from the Yankees or Red Sox. Either way, the money isn't coming out of my pocket and I'm happy to see a Fielder back in Detroit. If I owned that team, I'd never approve that contract, but as a fan, BRING IT ON!
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