The Case For The Cubs Signing Prince Fielder

He is likely to start mainlining Bavarian cream and chili con queso after signing a long-term, guaranteed deal.

Pujols will wring every ounce of talent from his body. As he ages, he will work harder ot maintain edges. He will learn new tricks and will still be a great leader and work with younger player.

I have no confidence Fielder will do any of that. Stay away.

Dale says Prince is a hard worker and a great guy. He knows best and currently has no vested interest in lying about him.
Team Theo thinks Albert is the one. In team Theo we trusty (sorry about that one).

So, a rebuild with the chance to get either of the two best power hitting first basemen in the game. I’ll leave that to our experts. As long as we win, as long as we win.

Better discipline (can push himself to stay in shape), better golve, great community spirit. If the cost is essentially the same for either player, you get more for your money with Pujols.

 Let the Angels take that risk for a very expensive DH.

My gut feeling is no. The money, at present, could be better spent elsewhere.

But what do I know – In Theo I Trust!

But that said I would be thrilled with Fielder who is a leader. The LH slugger we always seem to not have.

He is an improvement over Pena offensively, maybe not on defense, but he is as strong in the clubhouse.

The Cubs can rebuild a little, but the division is getting weaker and we should be able to compete as we go. That seems to be what Theo is going for.

……. I’ve read several different places this morning that the Cubs and Rangers are talking about a multi-player deal for Matt Garza, which would include first baseman Mitch Moreland. One of those prospects would then go to Boston to shut them up about Epstein.

Even if we added Pujols or Fielder (which WOULD help our offense), I still think we have too many holes in the starting pitching for either slugger to really make a difference for us.

One giant contract like that could, and would hamper our efforts to sign key pieces we might need down the road.

Bottom line is that it just isn’t enough to get us over the top and make us an elite team. That comes from building within the system.

with that said , i don’t think pujols turns down the nine years the cards are offering . so it may be fielder or bust .if six years at 22 million isn’t enough , i would offer six years at 25 million and not a penny more . as for trading garza for moreland and prospects , i would hope that moreland wouldn’t be the biggest piece in that deal .

Whichever player you choose, I’d work towards a front-loaded contract. I know that makes it even more difficult to afford in the next few seasons, but if they get too old (Pujols) or too rotund (Fielder), you aren’t on the hook for as much guaranteed money.

Otherwise there is a lot of ‘base-clogging’ coming up via IBB to either Pujols or Fielder should they be signed…

I’m good with Fielder but I’d choose Pujols, and the reasons are three-fold. 1) I think he’s a better player, regardless of age. 2) It would be DEVASTATING to Cardinals fans. 3) No one thinks the Cubs will ACTUALLY get him.

Want to change a culture? Turn the tables on a rival and get the right people that no one thinks you can (like they did with Theo). I honestly think Fielder would be great for the club but signing Pujols would be a major coup for the organization. Yet another sign to the rest of MLB that things are gonna be different around here going forward.

But did we really need Theo Epstein to sign players to bloated contracts that are likely to be a huge burden on the team for their last few years? Heck, the last guy could’ve done that.

I realize that the new CBA has thrown a monkey wrench into things, but I was really hoping for a different approach.

All of that said, again, having either in blue pinstripes for the next few years would be awfully fun to watch.

Who doing nothing more than create headlines with the junk that comes off their keyboards. “Sources say.” Hahaha. For one, the Cubs organization right now is so tight lipped that it’s night and day from the Trib days. They don’t leak information or their intentions to any “unnamed sources.”

Secondly, this article wreaks of more baseball speculation crap, worthy of being published by Phil Rogers.

Third, it’s been plain and clear that the Cubs current philosophy on building a winner will not undertake any contracts in the short term that will damage the team in the long term. And that they will pay for future performance… not past performance.

I know I’m probably in the minority here, but the last thing I want for the Cubs to do is to start making high profile free agent signings that are going to make very little difference in the coming season(s).

As difficult as it is for a lot of people to accept, we’re in rebuilding mode now. As I believe that we have the right guys in charge of that (for the first time a LONG time) I’m completely satisfied to be patient with the process.

Please Theo-no attempts a “quick fixes”.

the value he brings to a franchise justifies the cost. He would bring in nearly enough revenue himself over the length of the contract to almsot pay for it self. He is the best player of our generation. Plus it would hurt cardinals fans so much! It’s almsot like their Lou Brock. Heres to hoping to one of them joining the Cubs!

Overpay for Pujols who arguably plays the best baseball in the league and led his team to two World Series championships. His age is a factor, but the leadership skills and his experiences in a winning environment in St Louis brings unmeasured intangibles to this stale clubhouse. This off season, we need to sign both a first baseman and a slugger that produces an excellent OBP. Pujols fits that description perfectly. I could not think of a better position player that this team so desperately needs.

Pujols has a injury history and is older and probably even older than his stated age.

Heres a query for everyone. Does the possibility of a DH in the NL make anyone else feel a little bit better about long term deals to hitters? IF their D starts to go south late or its better for them not to field for health reasons they can DH at the end,

Pujols will also be more expesive. I thknk the Cubs are better with Fielder and second player that would be in that money difference than Pujols.

And Albert has had a lot more health issues than Fielder.

We’ve already seen the beginnings of decline in Pujols, a single three HR game in the playoffs notwithstanding. He’s older and will get a longer, more expensive deal.

Fielder’s body will hold up fine for six years at this rate, and his production is unimpeachable. He’s younger than Pujols, and entering his prime. Pujols will likely be Soriano Redux; Fielder will not.

Let’s try something new. Pitching…defense…speed…pitching…defense…speed…and then more pitching…then start filling in the pieces. This team is at least 2 years away from really contending. Maybe by then someone like Votto will be available. Right now isn’t the time to empty the bank on one player. I wanna see this Epstein/Hoyer combo work some magic. We just got rid of one GM who was great at handing out cash like candy…we don’t need another like him.

Last year we paid Carlos Pena $10M to play 1B, and Fukudome $14M to play RF. Next year there’s a good chance we’re going to have a lower cost regular (or platoon) in RF, and just for the sake of argument let’s say it ends up being someone like Bryan LaHair or Tyler Colvin, or even Marlon Byrd shifting from CF to RF to make room for Brett Jackson. In any of those scenarios, you’d be saving $13.5M in the outfield by putting a low cost player into one of the three OF spots alongside the incumbent starters Soriano and Byrd. Do that, and you could easily spend less money on 1B and OF combined in 2012 than you did in 2011, e.g.: ($23M in 2012 for Prince Fielder or Pujols) + ($500k for young OF) < ($10M for 2011 Pena) + ($14M for 2011 Fukudome).

The question is whether you want to commit to these guys years down the road, and that is a legitimate question that should be asked by anyone who has criticized the Soriano signing. But the 2011 budget should not be a factor here.

is by far a better player than his dad ever was. I understand why people want to compare the two, but I really wish they’d stop.

If we offered Pena arbitration, doesn’t that hurt the chances of signing another first baseman?

I mean, Pena doesn’t have to accept it right away, so what if we signed Fielder or Pujols next week to huge money, then after a month or so, Pena sees that he’s not getting an offer that he likes, so he decides to take the Cubs one year offer? Aren’t we kinda screwed in that scenario?

(apologies if this has been discussed already, or if my understanding of the arbitration system is wrong)

And I thought that if the Cubs got Pujols, I would be a little disappointed with the decision but would accept it.

In the last week or so, I have begun to feel better and better about if Pujols were to come. I’m still in favor of Prince over Albert, but I would now be all around happy if we got Albert.

Maybe this is because the last few weeks have been so boring with basically NO signings across the league, or maybe not. Who knows.

And I will pull my hair out if Carlos Pena is re-signed. I do not like him.

…that Al lays out, I’d be all for it. But Jon Heyman has noted recently that Fielder is looking for eight years, so I’ll be curious to see where things end up. I wonder whether he could be signed for six years with a team option for a seventh.

I predict the Cubs are going to get Fielder. People at work call me crazy but I predict.

I have a good track record in office sports predictions this year. I predicted in August and held my guns since the NBA would be back for Christmas games at latest first of the year.

And in the past I predicted when he was first put on the market Cutler would be a Bear.

Okay people call me crazy for many reasons but specifically they have called me crazy on these three things.

Signing either one is a bad idea for the Chicago Cubs, their future, and their potential to start a short-term dynasty a la The Boston Red Sox.

1) Signing Fielder or Pujols to multi-million, multi-year contracts is essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul and act of terrible desperation. Yes, the Cubs have 103 years of desperate measures building up. Pujols is no guarantee to produce the numbers that he has in the past. Personally, I think his ego is awful despite whatever leader status the baseball gods would bestow upon him. He’s definitely a future Hall of Famer but no Stan Musial. Fielder has genetics working against him. The apple doesn’t fall to far from the tree. I see Fielder hitting a steep decline after x-number of years just as his father did, and again Cecil Fielder is not in the HoF. Giving him a backloaded multi-year deal is like saying a 12 year old mare will win the Kentucky Derby 5 years from now. No good.
2) Signing these two men shows both a lack of faith and a lack of patience on Cubs fans for the new regime. Theo and Jed needed time in Boston. Let’s face it, their hands are a bit tied here in Chicago. It’s a formidable challenge that has been a blotch on the careers on some great managers and regimes from the past. We’ve had a lot of lean years and chokes since ‘87 and ’03. We want to win the World Series so bad we can taste it. It’s time though that the “win right NOW” attitude and the quick fix approach change. If it’s one culture change that needs to happen in Cubs nation right now, it is that very attitude.
3)Theo & Jed would only be potentially making the same mistakes of the past. You can’t build a better future on mistakes from the past. Let them grow the farm system and do the bargain-shopping overhauls at the lower profile positions first. Go back to the Vince Lombardi School of Fundamentals and show everyone what a baseball is. Again, it’s going to take a few years, maybe even 3 to get to the position of being a contender again. The Cubs have conquered more formidable men. An awful year on the North Side will truly test the mettle of Theo Epstein. Let him work his voodoo magic and see if he can pull off what he did in Boston. Unlike all the rest here, I question his legacy there. I ask myself if he was just a hometown boy who really did will his hometown team to winning or was he just a victim of being in the right place at the right time? I think he’s a sharp guy, but he’s going to have to prove himself even more in Chicago, and one way to prove that is to not make Hendry-esque mistakes from the get-go by signing long-term deals on aged or unproved stars all for not (ahem..Dice K).

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/vaughmo01.shtml

really gets me excited. I preferred Prince Fielder over Pujols even last postseason, and Al made excellent points about his upside and “better age.”

For me, the Brewers revolved around Fielder, even with Braun, as he was the focus of excitement in that clubhouse most times. He brings emotion (still youthful), and is getting better it seems as a hitter. I’d expect him to knock out some windows on Sheffield…A mashing lefty with fielder’s presence would be HUGE for the Cubs.

Less risk with PF in terms of age, imo, although Pujols would be great! Thank God theo is considering both publicly – either would be awesome. He would be quite the toast of the town in Chicago!

I’ll keep it short and sweet. Don’t mortgage the future for Pujols or Prince. We are going to suck for a few more years, but build this team up with prospects and up and comers. My number one fear with Epstein is he will take the Cubs to where Boston was when they let him go….Without the 2 WS titles.

It’s going to cost a whole lot more to sign the young guys now? Not a lot of news about it, but I guess Theo’s job just got a lot harder…Ok, fudge it, I vote for Fielder… Pujols will sign with someone and promptly go on the DL….Book it…

I would love it, stick it to the Brewer fans, they are all saying he can go anywhere but Chicago. The left handed bat we have been looking for, way better than Milton

If fielder won’t rejoin the Brew Crew then let him leave. If you sign Pujols then you keep the Cards from resigning him, which may happen if the Cubs sign Fielder…
I hope you get my point

Sorry, couldn’t help it.

The Fielder signing flies in the face of Theo’s focus on run prevention and defense and getting more athletic. This signing would make the whole infield worse than it was last year. Add to that the fat chance that the Cubs will be handing out an eight-year deal to a guy who may fade in his early 30s, and I’m thinking this is not the way I want to see the Cubs go. I think five years, 140 million for Pujols makes more sense, though I’d rather see the focus on pitching. I do agree that the Cubs need to add an impact bat, somehow, but not at the expense of Theo’s stated vision.

Sign both Pujols AND Fielder. Easy.

pitching, pitching, pitching

the younger Fielder would seem the smarter choice over Pujols. But I gotta say, signing Pujols would be fun just to see Cardinal fans reaction.

I don’t have a link to show this but it was reported on the local news station this morning ( I’m a Cubs fan living in Wisonsin) and the hosts seemed to think that he doesn’t go to the Cubs he might resign with Brewers. No mention of the Nationals or Marlins locally as suiters.