Prince Fielder Signs with Detroit Tigers: Fan’s Opinion

It looks like Prince Fielder will be following his father’s footsteps a bit more closely. Tuesday, the highly sought after free agent Fielder reached an agreement with the Detroit Tigers to the tune of nine years and $214 million.

Detroit, the team Fielder’s father, Cecil Fielder, played for, plucked Fielder away from teams like the Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals, who seemed to be in the hunt to bring in the husky slugger. The move might have become more urgent for the Tigers once they learned that Victor Martinez will be lost for the year thanks to knee surgery.

The 27 year old slugger had himself a fantastic 2011 season for the Milwaukee Brewers, hitting .299 with 38 home runs and 120 runs batted in. Fielder’s strong 2011 season earned him third place in the National League MVP race behind Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers and then teammate Ryan Braun.

For his career, Fielder is a .282 hitter with 230 home runs and 656 runs batted in. Fielder always finds a way to get on base as well. Each of the last three seasons has seen Fielder with an on base percentage of over .400, with 2011 being his career high at .415.

The move was a big one for the Detroit Tigers who won the AL Central in 2011, and even bigger with the loss of Martinez for 2012. Detroit already boasts the power hitting Miguel Cabrera, and now with Fielder in the lineup, they will continue to batter pitching staffs all season. Another great thing about having these two hitters in the lineup is that Fielder is a lefty and Cabrera is right handed, making pitching matchups impossible for opposing teams.

The Tigers were primed to repeat as AL Central champs in 2012 without making any moves, but this clearly puts them back in the hunt, and even gives them a realistic possibility to go even deeper into the playoffs and potentially the World Series.

This move also shifts power over to the American League now that Albert Pujols changed leagues as well, once he joined the Los Angeles Angels. One thing is for sure, that move just helped heat up this frigid winter!

REFS:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fieldpr01.shtml
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=ApYbkAIQjCi6_.bDBuVLpWwRvLYF?slug=ti-brown_prince_fielder_detroit_tigers_contract_012412


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