FWIW: Fielder Rumblings...

[MrOrange82]

You can't have Pirate without an equal amount of Ninja to maintain equilibrium. All they had to do was strap a Ninja-to to his back and they would have been gtg.

This might be the best I (the internet) can manage, but I think it's a bit off-message...

[TheBee]

I guess you have to understand some of the skepticism. It's like... why does a WC reporter know stuff about the O's that the O's beat guys don't know, for one? And why would your reporter friend tell you this stuff before reporting it themselves? I hope you understand I'm not being a jerk about it, just trying to have a healthy dose of skepticism.

I've been burned on this site believing things "insiders" have said which proved false, but I've also seen "insiders" directly contradict people like Ken Rosenthal and break big moves. It seems like some of the people who made comments on this thread claiming to know something about these rumblings have proven themselves in the past, so who knows. Both the "insiders" and the pros are hit and miss as far as I'm concerned. Skepticism is a good thing to have an O's fan - that's for sure. I also have an aquaintance who holds an editorial position with a huge national sports website. Most of the time (she's west coast based) she doesn't know anything we aren't hearing (like you said), but because she knows I'm an O's fan, she will think of me if she hears something (Vlad Guerrero signing here was the last example of a time she contacted me). I got in touch with her yesterday, and she was basically just hearing the same Nats as the leader rumors...nothing we hadn't heard for weeks.

[atomic]

I don't see the Nationals or the Rangers getting Fielder. People keep saying that the Nationals are getting more tv revenue. I don't see it happening. If anything I see less money. No one watches the Nationals on TV. 29,000 fans a game?? That is pathetic. I am sure when they originally came up with 29 million for them they figured a lot more fans. Compare them to the wizards and caps for viewership and amount of cash for their contract. Plus the Nationals payed a ton of money for the team. And they have a first baseman they are paying 9 million next season.

The Rangers are already way over budget and they spent their tv contract advance on darvish. Their new tv contract starts in 3 years. I don't see it happening.

I am sure the Orioles have real competition for Fielder but I expect it is from other teams we dont' hear rumors about. Boras is probably starting the Nationals and Texans rumors to get other teams to raise their offers. Ones that actually exist.

[murph]

Not sure if this has been posted already, but an update from Rotoworld is saying the Rangers would prefer Hamilton over Fielder and they are most likely out on Fielder:

Rangers co-owner Bob Simpson would rather re-sign Josh Hamilton than sign Prince Fielder, according to the Dallas Morning News.

"Right now I think he's priced himself out of what we could do,'' said Simpson. ''We've got guys, frankly, like Josh Hamilton that I would love to see re-signed, and my personal preference at this moment would be to re-sign him instead of helping Fielder." Earlier this week GM Jon Daniels said that Fielder's asking price and the Rangers' estimated $125 million payroll makes a deal ''highly unlikely.'' However, neither Simpson nor Daniels would completely rule out the possibility of signing Fielder. Jan 21 - 9:20 AM

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/3829/prince-fielder

[SoBo]

It really is shocking that the Nats haven't done the deal yet given how quickly they paid for Werth last off season. Maybe Lerner is now leery of dealing with Boras? Just doesn't seem right given all that you read about him. In that he's the wealthiest owner in the sport and money is no real problem. Which leads me to believe that maybe they simply aren't all that interested in Fielder.

[waroriole]

It could be that the team really interested is BAL, but Boras is stalling to get someone else involved b/c Fielder doesn't want to come here.

[TheBee]

Not sure if this has been posted already, but an update from Rotoworld is saying the Rangers would prefer Hamilton over Fielder and they are most likely out on Fielder:

Rangers co-owner Bob Simpson would rather re-sign Josh Hamilton than sign Prince Fielder, according to the Dallas Morning News.

"Right now I think he's priced himself out of what we could do,'' said Simpson. ''We've got guys, frankly, like Josh Hamilton that I would love to see re-signed, and my personal preference at this moment would be to re-sign him instead of helping Fielder." Earlier this week GM Jon Daniels said that Fielder's asking price and the Rangers' estimated $125 million payroll makes a deal ''highly unlikely.'' However, neither Simpson nor Daniels would completely rule out the possibility of signing Fielder. Jan 21 - 9:20 AM

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/3829/prince-fielder

That is interesting and probably true, but even these kinds of statements need to be looked at skeptically since owners and GMs use the media to negotiate just like agents do. See - Billy Beane misleading Gammons and the jousting done by MacPhail and Bavasi before the Bedard deal.

[MrOrange82]

Not sure if this has been posted already, but an update from Rotoworld is saying the Rangers would prefer Hamilton over Fielder and they are most likely out on Fielder:

Rangers co-owner Bob Simpson would rather re-sign Josh Hamilton than sign Prince Fielder, according to the Dallas Morning News.

"Right now I think he's priced himself out of what we could do,'' said Simpson. ''We've got guys, frankly, like Josh Hamilton that I would love to see re-signed, and my personal preference at this moment would be to re-sign him instead of helping Fielder." Earlier this week GM Jon Daniels said that Fielder's asking price and the Rangers' estimated $125 million payroll makes a deal ''highly unlikely.'' However, neither Simpson nor Daniels would completely rule out the possibility of signing Fielder. Jan 21 - 9:20 AM

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/3829/prince-fielder

Hmm...pretty strong words. "nstead of helping Fielder" really jumped out at me.

I guess that leaves the Nats, along with the surprise (non-Orioles) team that'll eventually sign him.

[Can_of_corn]

That is interesting and probably true, but even these kinds of statements need to be looked at skeptically since owners and GMs use the media to negotiate just like agents do. See - Billy Beane misleading Gammons and the jousting done by MacPhail and Bavasi before the Bedard deal.

Exactly, there is also nothing to be gained by alienating Hamilton.

[MrOrange82]

It could be that the team really interested is BAL, but Boras is stalling to get someone else involved b/c Fielder doesn't want to come here.

Fielder taking his long-overdue revenge on Baltimore for the super-cute, skinny Towson girl that turned him down for Homecoming?

[TheBee]

Exactly, there is also nothing to be gained by alienating Hamilton.

Yeah - a good gm isn't a certified psychiatrist, but they sleep at Holiday Inns and play them on tv. They would also do well in the advertising world.

[nate22]

Imo, I think DD is still keeping a spot open in the off chance that we can sign Fielder. I'm not saying that we'll sign Fielder, but the number of bats on the market are slowly disappearing and we really haven't done much to address a replacement for Scott other then kick a few tires.

[waroriole]

Fielder taking his long-overdue revenge on Baltimore for the super-cute, skinny Towson girl that turned him down for Homecoming?

Or, not interested in playing for a team that hasn't had a winning record since Clinton was president.

[Bluerocksfan]

Boras's "magic" may be coming to a halt this year. First he makes a mistake on alienating the Phillies when they are close to a deal with Ryan Madson costing his client millions, and now he seems to not get the biggest star on the free agent market a job.

[BrunoCherrytown]

All the stars are perfectly aligning for game-changing talents like Johnny Damon and Luis Ayala to end up in Baltimore.