FWIW: Fielder Rumblings...

[Lester Freamon]

Even if we are not contenders having weiters and fielder actually make us have a couple of star players at their positions.

Yeah, I would love it if they signed Fielder. I don't expect it to happen, however, and I do worry about Fielder being a complete drain at the end of the contract. I dunno.

[atomic]

It is possible that we are in aperiodic discussions with Boras about one or more of his clients not named Fielder (e.g. Damon), but a blogger fom San Diego knows best. Carry on with the same talking points that have been made 1,000X or more in the past couple months. *yawn*

It is also possible that they have already agreed to a contract and are going to announce it on Saturday at fan fest. Not likely but possible.

[Camden_yardbird]

So with all the additions of Chen, Wada, Antonelli, Flaherty, O'Day, Miller, Chavez, Fielder and Jackson and the subtraction of Pie, Reyes, Berken, Tillman, Matusz, Bell etc., you think we'll only gain 12 wins at best from the W-L record?

The W-L record was not a measure of true talent of this team. They were brought down by a lot of sub-replacement talent.

Was unaware Tillman and Matusz were gone? And who was the sub-replacement talent, Reynolds? Not criticism, more just interest in where you think this team is.

[weams]

When Dan Duquette says on Saturday, that he really doesn't know much about Cecil's son. Then we can post here again.

[MikeAD]

First of all, let me be clear in that I DO NOT think we will be signing Prince Fielder. I also agree that Fielder added to the 2012 team does not make us contenders, not by a long shot. However, if in some way Fielder is signed by the Orioles, I do think he could be part of a contending Oriole team in the near future if DD continue to build during the season and next offseason. Prince Fielder is only 27 and still has some good years left, IMO. Will he be productive for the length of a contract he signs with Baltimore? Highly doubtful despite the fact that he could DH before it runs out. I do worry about his body holding up.

Right, but we won't have the resources to do what we need in the meantime. DD is laying out a good program, we will bring in talent to fill that program. If we get Fielder it is because his price drops, but even then I am not sure its the right move.

[JohnD]

Threads like this happen with this sort of reliable, rock solid, can't miss, fully vetted, "I vouch for the guy!" info every few months. And some people never learn.

[ChaosLex]

Fielder's jersey would probably be the only one on the team that would fit me.

Hah! You and me both.

[Nigel Tufnel]

This is something I could agree with.

Yeah, I doubt they can get him at a price that makes sense, but, hey, why not kick the tires?

[weams]

Prince Fielder is going to have a hard time getting the Teixeira-worthy contract he's looking for. The Rangers, one of the two teams that seemed likely to sign him, just spent $111.7 million on Yu Darvish. Texas's front office is now saying that they'd need a "creative" deal to bring Fielder to Arlington. Fielder's other probably suitor, the Nationals, now have the option of waiting until around spring training to make a move. By then, Fielder will presumably get desperate and accept a lesser deal. Poor guy.

[ESPN Insider]

[Lester Freamon]

Right, but we won't have the resources to do what we need in the meantime. DD is laying out a good program, we will bring in talent to fill that program. If we get Fielder it is because his price drops, but even then I am not sure its the right move.

Yep, I agree, and it sucks doesn't it? Although, we don't really know what potential budget the O's could work with if the team was contending and drawing lots of fans again.

[atomic]

Threads like this happen with this sort of reliable, rock solid, can't miss, fully vetted, "I vouch for the guy!" info every few months. And some people never learn.

Well I am sure Dan and Boras have discussed Fielder at least once or twice.

[weams]

Threads like this happen with this sort of reliable, rock solid, can't miss, fully vetted, "I vouch for the guy!" info every few months. And some people never learn.

Yeah, they do. They come back with a different handle. Until they get close to 500 posts.

[BilboBaggins]

So... why isn't this person reporting the "news"?

I'm not sure why. I can't answer that because this came to me third-hand.

Perhaps it was office scuttlebutt that got pushed up to rumor through some substantiation.

I don't know anything for sure... hence the disclaimer in the OP.

[atomic]

Weren't the Nationals supposed to have been the favorites for Texeira as well? Anyway I don't know why some people are so happy to squash other people's dreams.

[JTrea81]

Was unaware Tillman and Matusz were gone? And who was the sub-replacement talent, Reynolds? Not criticism, more just interest in where you think this team is.

Tillman and Matusz are now longshots to make the rotation out of ST given the depth we have, especially if Jackson was signed.

Pie, Matusz and Bell combined for -3.7 fWAR.

Take those guys away and we have a 73 win team with still a normal amount of sub-replacement talent.

With what we've added I think this is a 77-78 win team right now with little improvement from our roster.

Fielder has a chance to put us over that .500 mark and then depending on internal improvement we could be a 85 win team.

EJax would get us to that 85 win mark for sure and then with some improvement, now you are looking at a playoff contender.

But at the very least, we have a nice building block to build on next offseason for playoffs in 2013.