The rumors last week that the Washington Nationals were the frontrunners for Prince Fielder? Seattle Times' Mariners beat writer Geoff Baker told King 5 Sports' host Paul Silvi he believes those whispers were likely coming from the 27-year-old free agent first baseman's agent, Scott Boras. Mr. Baker's reasoning? "We started hearing a little buzz just under a week ago," Mr. Baker said, "about how the Washington Nationals are very close to signing Prince Fielder. Now, a lot of that stuff was coming out of leaks. Where's it coming from? I would have to say probably coming from Scott Boras, the agent for Prince Fielder. Now, if you're the agent for Prince Fielder, you're not going to leak stuff about the team that you think is really going to sign Fielder, you're going to leak stuff about the team that might be in second place, because that way you scare the leading contender into actually offering up more money."
The Seattle Times' writer says he's "pretty sure" the Mariners are serious about Fielder, because if they aren't, "They've let it go on way too far, because they're going to be opening Spring Training for pitchers and catchers in about five weeks from now and they don't really have a Plan B that we've seen so far. I'm sure they have it somewhere in their back pocket, but it looks like they're all in on Fielder right now."
D.C. GM Mike Rizzo's backup plan is Michael Morse. The Nats' general manager told Washington Times writer Amanda Comak last week that Adam LaRoche is still Plan A and his comments about not having changed their stance since the Winter Meetings could lend some credence to the Seattle Times' writer's speculation. MLB.com's Bill Ladson, in reporting that, "...ownership recently visited with Fielder's agent, Scott Boras, in the nation's capital," last week in an article entitled, "Nats meet with Boras, in running to sign Prince", quoted a second source who said they believed, "Boras is using [the Nats] to drive up the price with interested teams."
The Seattle Times' Mr. Baker said he thought the Nationals and Mariners were alone in the race, but there's a lot of speculation about the Texas Rangers remaining a possibility. The Yu Darvish negotiations and the possibility of the 25-year-old Japanese right-hander not signing with Texas means the Rangers, "... still have one eye on Prince," as CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) wrote last week, "but their No. 1 goal is to sign Darvish. if they get Yu, chance for Fielder lessens."
Chicago Tribune writer Phil Rogers too, in an article entitled, "MLB whispers: Mets sale could follow Dodger", wrote this weekend that the Rangers are, "... studying a late run at Prince Fielder as a contingency if it deems Darvish's demands too high." Dallas Morning News' writer Evan Grant (judging by the title of his article, it's subscriber only) said much the same, wondering if the fact that Fielder remained on the market would convince Texas to get involved as he wrote in an article entitled, "Deadlocked slugger Prince Fielder is enticing to Rangers."
"Where is there a team with local media rights that Fielder could impact?" MLB.com's Peter Gammons asked this weekend in an article entitled, "Big markets remain silent during strange winter." The Yankees and Red Sox aren't in the mix for Fielder, the Angels already did their spending, the Mets and Dodgers can't get involved and the Cubs aren't expected to go for Fielder. In order for Boras and Fielder to find the deal they want, Mr. Gammons writes:
"Boras needs the Dodgers to have been sold last week, the Rangers to start spending its future television revenues or Nationals owner Ted Lerner to say 'I have seen the future and it is Prince, Strasburg and Harper' and not worry about life in Washington without Ryan Zimmerman after 2013."
Like Washington Post writer Adam Kilgore wrote last week, it doesn't have to be a Fielder or Zim decision, though signing the 27-year-old slugger and extending the Nats' first 1st Round pick, "... would require a fundamental change in how the team’s ownership operates." Will the Nationals' owners take the risk that Fielder would make the team a contender, draw more people to Nats Park and have them tuning into the games on MASN? Can the Nats count on increased tv revenue from the reset of their deal? (Washington Post writer Thomas Boswell says their not likely to spend what they don't yet have.) Of course, Washington Examiner writer Jim Williams quoted Harold Reynolds saying he thought Prince would end up in D.C. and Jim Bowden and Prince Fielder's father, in two separate interviews, both said last week that the Nationals were the likely destination for the 5'11, 275 lb pound high-OBP, HR-hitting first baseman, so it's all fwiw until Fielder signs...
0 recs | 109 comments
Is Prince Fielder still a free agent?
d_c_guy - January 9, 2012
Who's Prince Fielder? Oh the guy up there...
Patrick Reddington - January 9, 2012
Is that what Prince Fielder looks like?
Pig.Pen - January 9, 2012
So now he's the "former-future National"?
I miss the optimistic Prince Fielder rumors (IMTOPFR).
RobBobS - January 9, 2012
Optimistic Fielder rumors are "so last week"...
Patrick Reddington - January 9, 2012
LOL !
Fielder fatigue, eh!!!
Berndaddy - January 9, 2012
Im Fielded out
Let me know when it’s over.
Mezza - January 9, 2012
Me too...
Sick of Fielder rumors…just sign somewhere already! I prefer Rizzo’s Plan B! Roll Beast Mode!
Dan Shields - January 10, 2012
Harold Reynolds, Jim Bowden and Cecil Fielder all say Prince will make your dreams come true...
Patrick Reddington - January 9, 2012
Why does everybody have to mess with our dreams?
My dream was to sing at the Kennedy Center. I don’t read Prince Fielder in that dream. Child please!
Berndaddy - January 9, 2012
I've sung at the Kennedy Center Opera House
Of course, I was on stage with the Arlington Metropolitan Chorus during the KenCen’s Messiah sing-along. But I was onstage, darnit! Unlike others in this group, though, I have not sung at Wolftrap :-)
Hey, we should start planning our National Anthem group! Patrick, if I write a fanpost will you put it in the main thread?
d_c_guy - January 9, 2012
If you all wear FBb t-shirts when the Nats pick you to sing...
Patrick Reddington - January 9, 2012
Of course we'd wear FB t's we're the FB singers...
d_c_guy we got to get things going to me in voice for the auditions, eh… Soul baritone/bass calling in for duty..
Berndaddy - January 9, 2012
I couldn't sing in the shower...
Mezza - January 9, 2012
We can record your voice saying "play ball"
I can’t imagine DC wouldn’t mind a good Aussie play ball, eh!!!
Berndaddy - January 9, 2012
I do a good Leslie Nielsen ‘Plllaaaayy Bawwwwl’….
Mezza - January 9, 2012
LOL!
Berndaddy - January 9, 2012
Didn't you do Millenium Stage?
That’s*in* the Kennedy Center…
jbg2772 - January 10, 2012
Harold Reynolds thought '10 C.C. over Felix because of pitcher wins,
Bowden is just a great judge of talent, and Cecil is his dad. So take it with a whole shaker full of salt…
William.Hatheway - January 10, 2012
Rob, If the Nats sign Fielder, how many wins do you project for them. How many if they don’t sign him?
PerryMason - January 9, 2012
85 w/o. 89 with.
I’m being optimistic on a snowy day, if that’s possible.
RobBobS - January 9, 2012
How would the shuffle work to put him in and then what's the math for the added 4 wins?
Okay, Laroche to the bench for Fielder. That’s not quite 3 extra, if you take the average of Prince’s six up-down up-down up-down seasons and use Laroche’s full-season low in ’10 of 1.2.
But that’s splitting hairs, so you could certainly be right about ‘12. But after that, how does he impact the Nats? For one, after you re-sign Zimm and Werth starts collecting about twice what he does now, and you add Fielder, you have 3 players totaling about what they spent on the entire team this past year. This, after they eat 9 million in LaRoche because he’ll be a non-factor on the bench, or well over 10% of their budget. And that’s before arb raises, which will become significant. And they also have to add the price of a CF, which won’t be cheap. Or go without and you have Morse who can’t field even corners very well, Werth who even management is clear about not being a long term CF option, and Harper who most project to play corner as well.
So I think your answer is probably spot on, but I’d suggest that what you were asked is just a very small part of what it means to sign Fielder and that taken in the full context of the other seasons he’d be signed for makes his immediate bump nice for guys like you who have season tickets this year but a hindrance for a number of seasons to follow…
William.Hatheway - January 10, 2012
One quibble
By the time that the Nationals re-sign Zimm and Werth’s salary jumps LaRoche will be long gone. The Nationals are only on the hook to him for $1,000,000 (only! what a weird world this is) in 2013, because that’s what it would cost them to buy out the last year of his contract.
d_c_guy - January 10, 2012
Right, sorry
I only meant that would impact this year, and you’re right that it doesn’t come across that way.
William.Hatheway - January 10, 2012
My suppositions for the future years:
RobBobS - January 10, 2012
fair enough
good points…
William.Hatheway - January 10, 2012
(hopefully without getting into the pro and cons of the merits of Tom Boswell), how do you respond to his reasoning regarding the signing of Fielder below from yesterdays Ask Boswell chat?
To me the key issue when it comes to signing Fielder is “how much and how long”.
Yes the signing would be very exciting but not without a sizable risk. It seems to me that with this signing (especially if it’s for more than 4 years) the Nats could very well be unnecessarily be painting themselves into a financial corner.
PerryMason - January 10, 2012
It's not just the Fielder contract
It’s how you structure Zimmerman’s extension. A longer term deal could easily backload the contract so that the bill comes due after Fielder’s (five year) deal has run its course. Zim is currently due $26 million over the next two seasons ($12 in 2012, $14 in 2013). An extension could easily match that or walk it back slightly in 2014 and 2015 (Pujols will actually make$2.5 million less this year with the Angels than he did last year with the Cardinals) with the big years coming in 2017-2020 (when Zimmerman will turn 36), after a five year contract with Fielder would expire.
Or you could give Fielder an out after four years (so he can chase $$ in Boston or NY) in exchange for a reasonable club buyout after five years in the language of a longer term contract.
Or, you could defer some of the payments until after the player retires. This is a dangerous road to go down (I understand that the Mets are still paying Darryl Strawberry >$100,000 a year, and are also on the hook for >$1.1 million every year through 2035 to Bobby Bonilla), but there are many, many ways a contract can be structured.
d_c_guy - January 10, 2012
All true, but as Johnny Cash sang, at some point, “the man comes around”
On the other hand, as much as I hate to admit it, there is a certain owner, whose name I refuse to invoke, who has somehow managed to spend at will with impunity, in an industry with a salary cap, no less.
This is to say that i admittedly may be way off base with my reservations about Fielder and that hopefully there are folks handling the Nats purse strings that are a lot smarter than me who will know what works financially and what doesn’t
PerryMason - January 10, 2012
That owner was given a "get out of SalCap jail free" card by the NFL and NFLPA
With Allen on board (i.e., an adult in charge), the Redskins didn’t use the uncapped year the way everyone expected them to – signing every free agent on the planet. For once they did something really smart instead: they piled up a ton of their costs onto the uncapped year instead. They can’t count on that sort of luck again.
d_c_guy - January 10, 2012
True, but it seemed like for years they were able to speed at levels that others thought would doom them (from a spending point of view) in the very near future, but it never seemed to put a halt to the madness
PerryMason - January 10, 2012
I'm gettin a bit depress
lol this crazy never ever would I have imagined rumors could do so much to the innocent fan..ahh is he coming to town or nott..I keep hearing Texas might get him bc darvishes asking for 100$ mil 5 years.. I’m not so sure he’s comin here now? Boras really is evil
Sportzxpert - January 9, 2012 via Android app
There is life after Prince Fielder, that and will there is alway medications to help out otherwise...
Berndaddy - January 9, 2012
I like my medications extra hoppy.
Doncosmic - January 9, 2012 via iPhone app
Mmmmm! hoppy goodness.
Beer is good food, yes !
Berndaddy - January 9, 2012
I dont like the fact that Laroche is Plan A
RossingtonCollins - January 9, 2012
He is Plan A for 2012. Even if no Fielder, Nats will upgrade 1st base in 2013.
dc Roach - January 9, 2012
My glass is now half full, thank you sir.
RossingtonCollins - January 9, 2012
It's an interesting question
They will definitely be looking at some of the premier CF options next year, but the list of good first basemen who are potential 2013 FAs is pretty thin as best as I can tell. According to mlbtr:
Berkman (getting old)
Cantu (Bench material)
Giambi (really old)
Hinske (old, and not very good)
Huff (you don’t want any part of this)
LaRoche (…)
Lee (You think Fielder’s body type is a red flag?)
Loney (LaRoche clone)
Napoli (might be the class of the class, and that’s not saying much)
Overbay (seriously?)
Wigginton (again, bench material)
They could hope that Moore rises to the occasion, or they can go all in with Morse. I still say that they should sell high with him though.
RobBobS - January 9, 2012
Yup
That being said, the CF class looks pretty good and it wouldn’t take much to sign a CF and move Morse back to 1B.
Pig.Pen - January 9, 2012
How strong is the 1B market?
Clearly, considering how weak the interest in Fielder, not very… so what sort of package would the Nats really get for Morse (who has only one full season — of a good but hardly earth shattering 3.4 WAR — to put your trust in, and is turning 30)? The Cubs are rebuilding, so they won’t be giving up good prospects and they have nothing interesting on their roster. Seattle will probably get Fielder, and no one else is really looking.
I mean, I like him too, but I can see how he’d come with the caveats of small sample size, advancing age, and most of all you need demand as well as supply…
William.Hatheway - January 10, 2012
Seattle will only get Fielder if Fielder wants Seattle
At this point Seattle is further out from the playoffs then we are. Before when we needed to add 20M and a year to contracts to persuade FA, see Werth, now we are showing that we are above teams like the M’s, O’s, Jays (maybe), Cubs and so on. I truly believe Fielder wants to come here and the price isn’t to Boras’s liking right now. I think this may turn into a Holliday style deal where we end up with him on our terms only because the market is quickly drying up for the slugger.
Mattionals - January 10, 2012
fair enough
you could certainly be right that we add him for just a few years, which I didn’t consider and should have. On the flip side, I wouldn’t be absolutely certain that he’d turn down a bigger deal due to championship probability. Werth certainly went with the money instead of a worse deal to stay with Philly, and since one of the main reasons people have held back on Fielder is because they think he very well might decline sooner than later, you’d have to imagine that he’s aware that he’s taking a real risk if he goes for the shorter deal with the idea of getting another big payday when he’s in his 30s… just food for thought.
William.Hatheway - January 10, 2012
Werth
Was also sold by the ownership on the “winning soon” mentality. He was wooed by the ideas of Strasburg, Harper, and Zimm on the team. The M’s have an aging Ichiro, King Felix, and Pineda. Outside of that the team is lacking in almost every statistical category, thus being quite far off from playoff contention.
Payday isn’t for all players. A-Rod got the money, then jumped ship to the Yankees. The thing is, if Fielder took a big money offer from Seattle, assuming they could even pay for it (doubtful), if he went looking for a team to play for in playoff contention within a year or two, who would it be? The biggest problem right now is that all the big spenders have 1B locked up for a while and Fielder doesn’t want to DH, especially not until he is beyond 30. I can only assume that he wants to win now, and the three teams that are closest to doing that in the Fielder “sweepstakes” are the Dodgers, Rangers, and Nats. The Dodgers may not want to sign a big contract considering the financial movement they are undergoing and the Rangers are bent on signing Darvish since they feel the offense doesn’t need work. That leaves the Nats.
Mattionals - January 10, 2012
Correction
A-Rod didn’t jump ship from Texas; the Yankees traded for him (Soriano, Arias, and some pitching prospects). Granted, A-Rod probably had to agree to the trade, but he wasn’t giving up any money to do so. The Yankees then essentially bid against themselves to re-sign him afte he opted out.
Boras clients typically go to the highest bidder.
jbg2772 - January 10, 2012
But have we had a Boras client
Sign for a bunch of money and go to a team that they aren’t interested in? One could say Werth, but you have to believe that he truthfully believed that we are going to win soon. I’m not sure about anyone else.
Mattionals - January 10, 2012
Fielder did get unlucky
In that the standard teams who would toss money around are either well set at first base already or are for other reasons not in the buying mood at the moment; that and the fact that Pujols came out the same year.
Still, I don’t think anyone besides Boras really knows what the market is for Fielder now. We know Boras has no problems waiting to sign his big players, and clearly the Darvish negotiations are going to have an effect on whether Texas makes an offer to Fielder next week, which in turn means that Boras probably has any and all current suitors on the phone, waiting on hold.
RobBobS - January 10, 2012
Agreed
I expect the suitors on the phone are comprised of the Nats, M’s, O’s and the Jays. My speculation is the Nats already placed an offer, probably above the other three, and Boras is hoping for a counter from Texas.
Mattionals - January 10, 2012
+catcher
washingnats:
The #Nats have agreed to terms on a Minor League deal with C James Skelton. #MLB
dc Roach - January 9, 2012
Is that good?
Berndaddy - January 9, 2012
just depth
dc Roach - January 9, 2012
SKELTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now for the read question, did he go to Fordham?(Arizona Cardinals fan)
jeff550 - January 9, 2012
Apparently not.
165 lbs for a catcher.
http://players.piratesprospects.com/2010/04/james-skelton.html
Tvm950 - January 9, 2012
It's snowing!!!
woohoo!
dc Roach - January 9, 2012
have the schools & the Feds closed yet?
(I knew I should have picked up toilet paper yesterday …)
jbg2772 - January 9, 2012
Snow is evil! It's even worse than Scott Boras!
Oye, I hate snow…
Berndaddy - January 9, 2012
crazy!
Ive never seen it snow. We’ll some light snow on the ground…
Mezza - January 9, 2012
Well, I've never seen the outback just a steak house with it's name.
Kind of the same, right?
Berndaddy - January 9, 2012
Probably
But I can assure you that 108F is alot less comfortable than snow. And ive seen a bit of 108F+.
Mezza - January 9, 2012
I've seen 120 in the shade w/ 99% humidity. My Mother is from Honduras. Not very nice weather like that...
still I’d rather have heat than that darn snow stuff.
Berndaddy - January 9, 2012
I'd rather drive in 120 ...
… if I could get my tires unstuck.
DaRube - January 10, 2012
Seriously?
Not snowing in Richmond, just ugly outside and raining.
Pig.Pen - January 9, 2012
It depends on who you ask.
I look out the window and and see nothing but sheets of white stuff falling down hard. I look at the NWS site and it insists that we are currently experiencing a “light rain”. I guess I should not believe my own lyin’ eyes.
RobBobS - January 9, 2012
there ain't no way to hide your lyin' eyes
jbg2772 - January 9, 2012
I want a sabermetric view...
Mezza - January 9, 2012
so I was standing out in the snow, looking up at the sky..
It was snowing these gorgeous big puffs of snow.. just beautiful. I started catching them in my mouth.. they were big and there were lots of them.. it was fun! I didn’t care if anybody saw me standing there moving left and right and back with my mouth open towards the sky. I quit eventually, though, because I couldn’t figure out how to do combos or submit my high scores.
dc Roach - January 9, 2012
Oops, someone hit publish early by mistake:
Larkin elected to HOF?
Patrick Reddington - January 9, 2012
hehe.. we'll see in 45 minutes :)
dc Roach - January 9, 2012
Mea Culpa:
@MLBNetworkRadio: RT @FOXSportsOH: @brentsgambill It was an early, accidental release of an article we’re working on in case he makes it in. Sorry for the false alarm!
Patrick Reddington - January 9, 2012 via mobile
...kinda like the way obituaries are written years in advance?
By the way, I wonder that the Post’s obituary for me says?
RobBobS - January 9, 2012
RobBobS Obit...
RobBobS…blah blah blah blah wanted Prince Fielder to be a National blah blah blah wa happy to hear about interest in Prince Fielder blah blah blah blah TBD…
Berndaddy - January 9, 2012
Have to mention Adam Dunn, and early membership on the Bryce Harper Bandwagon (tm)
d_c_guy - January 9, 2012
(Premature) Congrats to Barry,
the presumptive sole member of the 2012 class. Definitely one of the good guys!
RobBobS - January 9, 2012
My favorite player growing up, along with Chris Sabo.
Doncosmic - January 9, 2012 via iPhone app
Vinny Castilla on the HOF ballot
My jersey is proud
jeff550 - January 9, 2012
He could pick it.
Patrick Reddington - January 9, 2012 via mobile
By all rights
It’ll be his LAST time on the ballot.
RobBobS - January 9, 2012
True
but still fun to see a form nats name on there
jeff550 - January 9, 2012
*former
jeff550 - January 9, 2012
He ended up with 6 votes
jeff550 - January 9, 2012
Where did you get vote totals?
How close did Bagwell get?
Pig.Pen - January 9, 2012
It's on the BBR site now
Here
Among those on the outs: JuanGone, “EY”, Javy, Ruben, and Tony Womack. Bags got 56%.
RobBobS - January 9, 2012
Tony Womack
a Bob Carpenter-type player if there ever was one.
RobBobS - January 9, 2012
Larkin in the HOF
jeff550 - January 9, 2012
86% of the vote.
That’s pretty convincing.
I would go to the induction ceremony (he was one of my all-time favorites, too), but it’s such a zoo up there on HoF weekend.
RobBobS - January 9, 2012
Am I the only one...
who thinks Larkin has no business in the HOF?
Expos 4ever - January 9, 2012
I believe so
Did you also vote for Jack Morris while leaving Tim Raines off of your list?
Pig.Pen - January 9, 2012
im a fan of Morris
And probably the only one… its a Game 7 thing.
Mezza - January 9, 2012
Apparently not:
14% of the voters agreed with you this year.
RobBobS - January 9, 2012
Well I meant here not among the BBWAA
To me he was a very good player, not dominant and not very durable. I would’ve voted Raines ahead of him for sure.
And Bagwell too.
Expos 4ever - January 9, 2012
Hmm.
Eighth all time in bWAR for shortstops, and 61st among all players. Put up 56 bWAR between 1988 and 1998, nearly twice as many as the next nearest shortstop, and in fact third most of ANY player during that time (behind a couple guys named Bonds and Griffey). 10 seasons with at least 500 PAs, ties him for 20th among shortstops. Fourteenth in games played at shortstop. Third all time in homers by a shortstop. Twelve All Stars. Nine Silver Sluggers. An MVP.
I think he’s qualified.
RobBobS - January 9, 2012
In todays system Larkins teams would have been in the playoffs almost every season as well.
Finished second to the Braves in the old NL west several times before realignment and the wildcard.
Doncosmic - January 9, 2012
Larkin was a better all around play than eiter Ozzie or Cal.
Doncosmic - January 9, 2012
No, but you're in a pretty small minority....
ricksnats - January 9, 2012
Ladson on the rotation competition:
link
dc Roach - January 9, 2012
This is the kind of thing that I trust Ladson on not much at all.
What are they going to do with Lannan then? Make him an expensive insurance policy. Send him back down to the minors? My money is that they have Detwiler start in the bullpen and he’s the first guy out when something goes wrong.
souldrummer - January 9, 2012
my thoughts too
I like Ladson but he’s not really on the mark with this kind of stuff. Unless the org trades Lannan to someone (which I thought was quite on the cards this offseason) I cant see him coming out of the pen. Detwiler would probably do it as you suggest. Personally I dont see a future for both at the club unless Wang falls over.
Mezza - January 9, 2012
I don't think you can trade him now with Peacock and Millone out of the picture
I really think Lannan and Det are Wang insurance. Everyone needs wang insurance.
The Herndon Kid - January 9, 2012
Best Wang joke of the day…
Mezza - January 9, 2012
It's true, Ladson is untrustworthy here
But I personally believe that Detwiler has a higher ceiling than the Eyeball Leech.
RobBobS - January 9, 2012 via mobile
Yea but Lannan has the runs on the board…as they say here.
Mezza - January 9, 2012
Doesn't Lannan still have an option remaining?
That’s the only thing I can see, although it really would be a slap in Lannan’s face. Otherwise you have two LH long men ( with Gorzelanny) in the bullpen, which also bloats the pen and further shortens the bench.
jbg2772 - January 10, 2012
If they could somehow put Lannan’s head on Detwilers shoulders, the Nats would have one hell of a pitcher
PerryMason - January 9, 2012
I just don't believe that Wang has done more to earn a spot than Lannan.
Lads on loves Lannan, and I do t know why.
Doncosmic - January 9, 2012 via iPhone app
MLBreports
on Twitter MLBreports is saying big news tonight..anyone know what they are implying? Prince?
Sportzxpert - January 9, 2012 via Android app
Larkin?
Bsullivan - January 9, 2012
Or the release of a story on the Moneyball DVD/Blu-Ray...
Patrick Reddington - January 9, 2012
"The BIG release of Moneyball on DVD and Blu-Ray............."
some people’s chiidren…
cat daddy3000 - January 9, 2012
Ah
MLB news .. a movie wow lol sry
Sportzxpert - January 10, 2012 via Android app
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