Tigers find Prince to replace lost star
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DETROIT -- Free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder and the Detroit Tigers reportedly agreed Tuesday on a nine-year, $214 million contract that fills the reigning American Central Division champions' need for a power hitter.
CBS first reported the agreement. The deal is subject to a physical.
Detroit boldly stepped up in the Fielder sweepstakes after the recent knee injury to star Victor Martinez. A week ago, the Tigers announced that the productive designated hitter could miss the entire season after his left ACL was torn in offseason conditioning.
The Tigers won their division by 15 games before losing in the ALCS to Texas. Adding Fielder, 27, gives the Tigers two of the game's premier sluggers, pairing him with Miguel Cabrera.
- Age: 27
- Games: 998
- Batting average: .282
- Home runs: 230
- Runs batted in: 656
- Slugging percentage: .540
With Fielder in the fold, general manager Dave Dombrowski and owner Mike Ilitch have a team that figures to enter the 2012 season as a favorite to repeat in the division -- with an eye on winning the franchise's first World Series since 1984.
"Everyone knew Mr. Ilitch and Mr. Dombrowski were going to make a move when Victor went down," outfielder Brennan Boesch said. "But I don't think anybody thought it would be this big."
The move also keeps Fielder's name in the Tigers family. His father, Cecil, became a big-league star when he returned to the majors from Japan and hit 51 home runs with Detroit in 1990. Cecil played with the Tigers into the 1996 season, and young Prince made a name for himself by hitting prodigious home runs in batting practice at Tiger Stadium.
A few years ago, when Prince returned to Detroit as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, Tigers Hall of Famer Al Kaline recalled that power show.
"You can't ever say that you look at a kid that age and say that you know he's going to hit 40 or 50 home runs someday, but Prince was unbelievable," Kaline said then. "Here's a 12-year-old kid commonly hitting homers at a big-league ballpark."
In an interview with MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM, Cecil Fielder said he was "shocked" by the news that Prince was heading to Detroit.
"He's been there in Detroit most of his young life so I think he'll be comfortable in that place," Cecil Fielder said. "I know Mr. Ilitch is probably excited because he's been wanting that kid since he was a little kid, so he finally got his wish."
With Cabrera and Fielder, Detroit will begin this season with two players under age 30 with at least 200 career homers. According to STATS LLC, that has happened only once before. At the start of the 1961 season, the Milwaukee Braves featured Eddie Mathews (338 homers) and Hank Aaron (219).
Several teams had shown interest this winter in Fielder, who had spent his entire career with the Brewers. He visited Texas, and the Washington Nationals also got involved in the discussions.
First Published January 25, 2012 12:00 am
