Evaluating the Tigers through a Sabermetric lens

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Tigers Sign Prince Fielder

The Tigers have filled the void of Victor Martinez by signing Prince Fielder to a huge 9-year, $214 million deal.

I'm not going to fully defend the deal. It is an over payment. You cannot get around that. Will this deal be an albatross at some point in the future? Possibly. Will he be an over paid, under-skilled baseball player for the latter half of the deal? Probably. Show me a deal this large where the player isn't over paid and under-skilled in the latter stages of said deal and I'll be impressed because those types of players just don't exist.

Even Albert Pujols -- a clear superior player than Prince Fielder -- will be over paid. Remember when Alex Rodriguez was a lock for the all-time home run title? $31 million for 15.5 runs above average offensively from the Future Home Run Champion isn't exactly an Evan Longoria-like deal.

My point is that free agents that are held in high regard are often over paid because they don't hit free agency with many prime seasons left in them.

So what are the Tigers getting from Prince Fielder for the next nine seasons?