Welcome home, Prince Fielder.
Cecil Fielder’s son, Prince, will join the team his father hit 245 home runs and 758 RBI’s with.
The Detroit Tigers signed Prince to a nine-year, $214 million deal, Tuesday afternoon according to sources.
The Tigers were in search for a designated hitter after catcher/DH Victor Martinez tore his ACL in off-season workouts.
Other rumored names to fill the void were Vladamir Guerrero, Hideki Matsui, Juan Pierre, Johnny Damon and Raul Ibanez, but it looks like the Tigers found a better, more expensive option.
Prince, 27, has hit 230 home runs and 656 RBI’s in seven seasons, all with the Milwaukee Brewers.
What does this mean for the Tigers?
Tigers owner Mike Illich wants to win.
With Martinez likely out for the season, the team needed to make a move. Many, including myself, expected a veteran to fill the void with a one-year contract.
That player would provide stability at the DH position until Martinez returned.
Instead, Illich and general manager Dave Dombrowski went big. Literally.
Fielder, who weighs 275 pounds, is big and plays the same way.
He helped the Brewers get a win in the NLCS, but they couldn’t beat the St. Louis Cardinals, who went on to win the World Series.
The Tigers have all the tools to make a run at World Series championships.
And yes, championships…not one, not two…OK, not going there, but the talent is.
Detroit has a legitimate starting rotation, adding veteran reliever Octavio Dotel from the Cardinals, and now the team filled its DH void.
Next season should be exciting for baseball, especially for Tigers’ fans, but this team is built for more than a few runs at a World Series championship.
Lineup will be dynamite but defense may struggle. With Delmon, Prince and Cabrera, two of them will have to be on the field at the same time. And that does not include Raburn who will probably get a bulk of the playing time at 2nd base. But yes, should win the Central Easily, but in the playoffs anything can happen
so far so bad for the tigers