Does Prince Fielder's situation make team's pause on Brice Harper's future contract?

History will tell you no but I would have to give some serious thought before I stroked a half a billion dollar contract for a player that has a history of injuries. Some of his injuries are his nature to play all out. It is certainly something to admire but if you are having as many physical setbacks as he has at such a young age will it continue as he ages? He kind of reminds me of Fred Lynn. A great talent that couldn't stay out of the trainer's room because of his hard play.

I think the large step back he has taken in 2016 will have more of an impact.

He hasn't been bad but he certainly hasn't been special.

I think the large step back he has taken in 2016 will have more of an impact.

He hasn't been bad but he certainly hasn't been special.

His performance the next two seasons will obviously have a huge impact. Will he be the Harper of 2015, 2016, or somewhere in between?

In any event, those who were leapfrogging him over Trout based on one great season need to think again. Trout has been a top-3 player every single year for five years now.

Getting back to the OP, yes, I think Harper's tendency to get hurt will have some impact on his value. However, I don't think Fielder's situation will have much to do with it. Every player is different, and with Fielder's body type, the risk that he'd break down physically was pretty obvious (though not certain). Harper will be less of a risk because he's younger and in good shape.

Fielder was almost guaranteed to break down after lots of wear and tear, Harper not so much

Did anyone else notice that Jason Heyward is having a season that must have the Cubs twitching and mumbling? He's OPSing .621 2/3rds through year one of a 8/184 contract. He's still a +1.3 fWAR player because of defense, but they probably didn't think they were getting 90% of Joey Rickard's bat for one of the ~10(?) biggest contracts in history.

Fielder, Harper, and Heyward are all individuals with their own circumstances, but all have lessons about risk and uncertainty. Harper is almost guaranteed to have many fine seasons ahead, but the other two? Fielder may be done, and Heyward is very worrying if you're a fan. Can't help but compare him to Markakis.