Would you sign Fielder to a 6/140 contract?

[El Gordo]

Great photo. What's amazing is this guy hit 49 verifiable 500+ feet HRs. I don't believe MacGuire has more than 10. So much steroids.

[MrOrange82]

How would you know? They don't look any different to me and some of them look a lot fatter.

The average height/weight of an NFL linebacker is 6'2" and 247 pounds. The shortest linebackers are 5'10" (Fielder is 5'11")...and you really, really shouldn't be surprised to learn that Fielder outweighs the 5'10"-ers by upwards of 60 pounds (and that's being conservative with Fielder's weight).

So no...conditioning-wise, Fielder is not even remotely close to the same class as NFL linebackers.

[Icterus galbula]

If Prince were an NFL linebacker, no one would say he is fat. He isn't, he is just too big for baseball. What would be the playing life expectancy for a guard or linebacker? That is how you should see Prince. I think he probably will age better than his father because training and conditioning are better now. He will definitely not age as well as a SS or a Nick Markakis body type, but I think he will be much better than Mo Vaughn at 33.

A) Guards and Linebackers do not look the same. Did you mean defensive line and guards? Your follow up post of "some of them look a lot fatter" is ludicrous. Aside from Levon Kirkland, a decade ago, show me a LB with a fatter physique than Prince. Maybe Gary Brackett on a bad day.

B) Life expectancy in the NFL is very short. Except for the elite, they are typically all done in 3-4 years. Since I guess we will call the Prince elite, I might say age 31/32.

C) I see no reason aside from wishcasting that Prince would age better than Mo. I agree that conditioning might give him an advantage over Cecil, but no one ever considered giving Cecil a contract as pricy as this.

[MrOrange82]

A) Guards and Linebackers do not look the same. Did you mean defensive line and guards? Your follow up post of "some of them look a lot fatter" is ludicrous. Aside from Levon Kirkland, a decade ago, show me a LB with a fatter physique than Prince. Maybe Gary Barnett on a bad day.

B) Life expectancy in the NFL is very short. Except for the elite, they are typically all done in 3-4 years. Since I guess we will call the Prince elite, I might say age 31/32.

C) I see no reason aside from wishcasting that Prince would age better than Mo. I agree that conditioning might give him an advantage over Cecil, but no one ever considered giving Cecil a contract as relatively pricy as this.

I'm thinking a visual aid might be helpful.

Here's 5'11" linebacker Stephen Tulloch:

And here's 5'11" Prince:

[El Gordo]

The average height/weight of an NFL linebacker is 6'2" and 247 pounds. The shortest linebackers are 5'10" (Fielder is 5'11")...and you really, really shouldn't be surprised to learn that Fielder outweighs the 5'10"-ers by upwards of 60 pounds (and that's being conservative with Fielder's weight).

So no...conditioning-wise, Fielder is not even remotely close to the same class as NFL linebackers.

If you can tell me Fielders times in a 60 yard dash, his percentage of body fat as compared to a linebacker or a gaurd, if you could see how a linebacker could play 160 games over a 6 month season, then you might be able to draw some meaningful comparsisons about their relative conditioning. My point is many football players look a lot fatter than Fielder to me. Yet few regard them as fat. Fielder performs his sport at very high level, so I'm not so sure why people make casual assumptions about his conditioning based on his appearance. Babe Ruth looks in a lot worse shape than Fielder, but he did pretty well up into his late 40's.

[MrOrange82]

If you can tell me Fielders times in a 60 yard dash, his percentage of body fat as compared to a linebacker or a gaurd, if you could see how a linebacker could play 160 games over a 6 month season, then you might be able to draw some meaningful comparsisons about their relative conditioning. My point is many football players look a lot fatter than Fielder to me. Yet few regard them as fat. Fielder performs his sport at very high level, so I'm not so sure why people make casual assumptions about his conditioning based on his appearance. Babe Ruth looks in a lot worse shape than Fielder, but he did pretty well up into his late 40's.

Well, I clearly can't provide those numbers...one, because they're not floating out in cyberspace (you think Prince wants his body fat percentage out in the universe?), and two, because, even if I COULD give you sprint times, the NFL doesn't measure players against the 60, and they test for different kinds of speed, so the comparison would be useless.

I can, however, give you fangraphs' take, along with the final paragraph of the piece I'm about to link (which, incidentally, did a better job of polling fat players than I did...and hey, there are a few more pictures to help you out, as well)...

Only time will tell if he continues to be productive into his 30′s like David Ortiz and Jim Thome, or collapses like Mo Vaughn and Adan Dunn. Either way, it is clear that his best days are behind him. Unless I am running a team that is a serious World Series contender over the next three seasons (flags fly forever), I am extremely reluctant to hand over the contract that Fielder and his agent Scott Boras are going to want.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/how-will-prince-fielder-age/

[JanJaap]

If only that pesky Angelos guy wasn't around.

Bingo, we have a winner. Al that talk about Fielder coming here or that Duquette made trades for Martinez and Manny is just daydreaming, Angelos will never approve contracts like those guy get/got.

[waroriole]

How would you know? They don't look any different to me and some of them look a lot fatter.

You must be confusing linemen with linebackers.

[DrungoHazewood]

The Babe Ruth comps might have some relevance if a) the Babe wasn't about 175 pounds in his early 20s and b) it was 1933.

[Burg]

Ahem...

I agree with you Roy. The Orioles have a great chance at landing Fielder. Let's hope they see that and take advantage...

Why do you continually do this to yourself?

[DrungoHazewood]

Babe Ruth looks in a lot worse shape than Fielder, but he did pretty well up into his late 40's.

Picking a minor nit, but the Babe's career ended abruptly at 40.

[DrungoHazewood]

Why do you continually do this to yourself?

He's the board's self-appointed martyr. There's a special place in the next life for those who demand the impossible and defend the indefensible.

[Sports Guy]

I can understand the O's electing not to pursue Fielder. I can understand the unlikely odds of Fielder signing here even if the O's did. I'm surprised that 17.5% of the board thinks 6 $140M would be a bad deal. I'd pay that and the 'O's tax' for him.

Well, if the Orioles don't really up the payroll in the next few years, it is a bad deal.

If they don't make other moves to make this team a contender, it is a bad deal.

So, I can understand it...This isn't a slam dunk, no doubt it, great deal for the Orioles...its a tolerable deal.

[section18]

I doubt many on here would sign a contract for Fielder if you owned the team. No way you pay a guy who is out of shape that kind of money for 6 years. He will see more changeups, curveballs and down in the dirt pitches than he has ever seen before and the AL East pitchers will chew him up. Do you want to boo a guy making over $22 million dollars a year and is overweight? 5' 11" and listed at 275 lbs and probably more. If you don't go to the games it won't be so bad from parts unknown sitting at home watching it unfold on TV. It's not happening.

Fielder hit; AVG .299 HR 38 RBI 120 RUNS 95 and will be 28 in May

Reynolds hit; AVG .221 HR 37 RBI 86 RUNS 84 $5.3 million and is 28 yrs old

Why would you pay $17 - $18 million more a year for a guy that hit 1 more HR than Reynolds and knocked in 34 more runs than he did?

Spend the money on pitching and a couple of productive hitters and you will easily get a better return on your investment.

[JTrea81]

I doubt many on here would sign a contract for Fielder if you owned the team. No way you pay a guy who is out of shape that kind of money for 6 years. He will see more changeups, curveballs and down in the dirt pitches than he has ever seen before and the AL East pitchers will chew him up. Do you want to boo a guy making over $22 million dollars a year and is overweight? 5' 11" and listed at 275 lbs and probably more. If you don't go to the games it won't be so bad from parts unknown sitting at home watching it unfold on TV. It's not happening.

Fielder hit; AVG .299 HR 38 RBI 120 RUNS 95 and will be 28 in May

Reynolds hit; AVG .221 HR 37 RBI 86 RUNS 84 $5.3 million and is 28 yrs old

Why would you pay $17 - $18 million more a year for a guy that hit 1 more HR than Reynolds and knocked in 34 more runs than he did?

Spend the money on pitching and a couple of productive hitters and you will easily get a better return on your investment.

Mark Reynolds - 0.3 fWAR

Prince Fielder - 5.5 fWAR

I know who I'd pay the money to.

We've constanly tried spreading the money out and every time we've done it the premium player we could have got outperforms the combination of the players we got instead.

It's time to start spending on and acquiring premium talent.

And BTW, Fielder's line in interleague play - .269/.353/.560/.913 with 26 HR in 96 games.