Prince Fielder hit 38 homers with 120 RBI last season with the Brewers. (By Jeff Curry, US Presswire)
DETROIT (AP) — Free agent first baseman Prince Fielder and the Detroit Tigers agreed Tuesday on a nine-year, $214 million contract that fills the AL Central champions’ need for a power hitter, a person familiar with the deal said.
CBS first reported the agreement.
The person told the Associated Press that the deal was subject to a physical. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the contract was not yet complete.
Detroit boldly stepped up in the Fielder sweepstakes after the recent knee injury to star Victor Martinez. A week ago, the Tigers announced that the productive designated hitter could miss the entire season after tearing his left ACL.
The Tigers won their division by 15 games before losing in the AL championship series to Texas. Adding Fielder gives the Tigers two of the game’s premier sluggers, pairing him with Miguel Cabrera.
The move also keeps Fielder’s name in the Tigers’ family. His father, Cecil, became a big league star when he returned to the majors from Japan and hit 51 home runs with Detroit in 1990. Cecil played with the Tigers into the 1996 season.
Several teams had shown interest this winter in the 27-year-old Fielder, who had spent his entire career with Milwaukee. He visited Texas, and the Washington Nationals also got involved in the discussions.
The beefy slugger hit .299 with 38 home runs and 120 RBIs last season. He is a three-time All-Star and was the MVP of last year’s event in Phoenix.
Fielder has averaged 40 homers and 113 RBIs over the past five years. He’s also been among the most durable players in the majors, appearing in at least 157 games in each of the last six seasons.
The deal is only the fourth $200 million contract in baseball history, following Alex Rodriguez’s $275 million, 10-year contract with the New York Yankees, A-Rod’s $252 million, 10-year deal with Texas and Albert Pujols’ $240 million, 10-year contract last month with the Los Angeles Angels.
Among current players, his $23.78 million average salary is behind only A-Rod ($27.5 million), Ryan Howard ($25 million), and Cliff Lee and Pujols ($24 million each).
Detroit general manager Dave Dombrowski said last week he felt finding a replacement for Martinez was a short-term problem, but he left himself some wriggle room, saying it depended who the player was.
Acquiring Fielder opens all sorts of possibilities, such as moving Cabrera to third base or having one of the two sluggers be the designated hitter.
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 Justin Verlander is the first pitcher to win the MVP award since 1986 Detroit Tigers ace right-handed starter Justin Verlander has become the first starting pitcher in a quarter-century to win a Most Valuable Player award, adding it to his Cy Young Award last week. Verlander earned the American League MVP honor Monday, receiving 13 of 28 first-place votes and 280 points in voting announced by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Verlander spoke on ESPN “SportsCenter” interview minutes after the announcement.
Verlander went 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts to take the AL pitching triple crown. He is the first pitcher to win MVP since Oakland’s Dennis Eckerlsley in 1992 and the first starter since Boston’s Roger Clemens in 1986. I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to John Smoltz during the Tigers-Yankees ALDS. Last night was no exception, especially with A.J. Burnett on the mound trying to extend the Yankees season. Last night during the telecast, Smoltz’s analysis of A.J. Burnett was right “on point”. (pun intended)  Yankees ALDS Game 4 starter A.J. Burnett gets well-earned congratulations in the dugout No pitcher has been analyzed, dissected, sliced and diced more than A.J. Burnett. There was no shortage of analysts almost everyone, took their crack at figuring out what was wrong with the Yankees right-handed enigma. Tuesday night was no different. The Yankees had no choice to give Burnett the ball game away from elimination in Game 4 of the AL division series, Burnett was the major hook for TBS. Early on Ron Darling and John Smoltz checked in on the pitcher. Smoltz did most of the talking. He was heavy into emphasizing how Burnett’s arm and “release point” were not very well connected. This all sounded very technical, but Smoltz repeated the line a few times. He must believe in repetition. He said when you lose your release point “you lose your confidence.” Wow, that sounds logical. But when Burnett loaded the bases in the first, Smoltz went in a different direction. You could almost see him ripping up the piece of paper his analysis was written on. It was like he was saying the heck with this. After Victor Martinez walked (the third walk of the inning) to load the bases with two outs, Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild went to the mound to talk with Burnett. Activity was already beginning in the Yankees bullpen. Smoltz, sensing impending doom, speculated how “talk radio” in New York would be buzzing Wednesday. As Don Kelly stepped in, Smoltz offered Burnett an escape from the mess he was in.
Almost on cue, Burnett got that “atom ball.” He grooved a pitch. Kelly lined a wicked shot to center that Curtis Granderson, after taking a step in, retreated in time to make a leaping catch to end the inning. After that, Burnett settled in, giving up just one run, until Joe Girardi came to get him in the sixth. Credit Smoltz with some simple but brilliant analysis.  Justin Verlander is on some kind of streak! Since the Detroit Tigers right handed flame thrower has been on such a roll this season, the question is: Is Verlander good enough to win the American League Cy Young award and the Most Valuable Player?A pitcher winning the MVP and the Cy Young award is a rare feat in baseball, but Verlander may have a shot at it this season. The last time a pitcher won the Most Valuable Player award in the MLB American League,Verlander was nine years ago! Oakland A’s relief pitcher Dennis Eckersly pulled off the feat back in the 1992 season when he was practically untouchable. The last starting pitcher to win the MVP and the Cy Young was Roger Clemens back in 1986. Is the 2011 Justin Verlander better than the ’92 Eckersly and the ’86 Clemens historic seasons? The numbers don’t lie! In June, Verlander went 6-0 with an ERA of 0.92, and that was just the beginning! JV has won his last eight games in a row and nine of his last 10. With 20 wins under his belt and 2 weeks left in the season, he may be looking at final numbers better than Pedro Martinez’s 1999 season with the Boston Red Sox (23-4, 2.07 ERA) and Randy Johnson’s incredible 2004 season with the Arizona Diamondbacks (24-5, 2.32). When looking at the MVP award, Verlander should get a lot of consideration. In a day and age of most starting pitchers going 5-6 innings, Justin is a throwback to 30 years ago. A pitcher who never wants to come out of the game, and actually seems to get stronger as the game goes on. Do you think Justin Verlander can win the Cy Young and MVP awards in 2011?
Justin Verlander threw his second career no-hitter and the second in the big leagues this week, leading the Detroit Tigers to a 9-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday. Verlander barely missed a perfect game. The only runner he allowed came with one out in the eighth inning when J.P. Arencibia walked on a full count, with Verlander’s 12th pitch to the rookie just an inch or two outside. Minnesota’s Francisco Liriano pitched a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night. It was the 17th time there have been two major league no-hitters within a five-day span and the first since Al Leiter for Florida against Colorado on May 11, 1996, and Dwight Gooden for the New York Yankees against Seattle on May 14, according to STATS LLC. Prior to Verlander, the last Detroit pitcher to throw a no-hitter was Jack Morris, who did it at Comiskey Park against the Chicago White Sox on April 7, 1984.
Beautiful 80 degree weather was the backdrop for the Baltimore Orioles home opener against the Detroit Tigers at Oriole Park @ Camden Yards. As for the game itself, the Orioles stayed true to form over the first three games of the season continuing with strong starting pitching and outstanding timely hitting in route to a 5-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers. The win improved the Orioles early season record to 4-0 and dropped the Tigers to a disappointing 1-4.
 This was the scene at Pickles Pub right now around 11 a.m. in Baltimore. Thanks to my good friend Jennifer Maddison for sending in the photo  View from cenerfield (thanks to Kelly Boring for sending in this photo)
 AP photo Yesterday was Opening Day for Major League Baseball and we were treated to six games on day one. The other teams get the call Opening Day today. One of the best things about the season being underway is that all of the predictions and projections—we can finally get some real numbers to chew on. All teams have their aces on the mound and every team has a new beginning For me, there’s really no better feeling than Opening Day. I’m not sure how you all feel about Opening Day occuring in March, but New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixierra loves it. “I’ve been petitioning the league to start in March for years now, finally they let us start in March because everyone knows about my Aprils.” - Mark Teixeira Something else that stuck out to me on a positive note, the Cincinnati Reds. The walk off win to be exact. I mean, is it just me, or do the Reds always seem to come back in games? This could be the toughest team in all of baseball. Down 6-3, the Reds loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth. At the time, they were 0-for-8 with RISP and had stranded 10 men on base. John Axford was in to close it out for the Brewers, but it was not to be. Jay Bruce struck out, and Jonny Gomes hit a sac fly to bring the Reds closer. Still down 6-4, Ramon Hernandez strolled to the plate. Already 3-for-4 on the day, Hernandez clubbed a walk-off, three-run home run to right field to give the Reds the 7-6 win on Opening Day. Could this be a Red October, anyone? Not so good was the Detroit Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson struck out 170 times, the most in the AL. While he did finish second in AL Rookie of the Year voting, batting .293 with 27 stolen bases and 103 runs scored as Detroit’s leadoff man, it would be nice to see him improve his .345 OBP by cutting down on the strikeouts. He didn’t look very good today against the Yankees’ CC Sabathia. Jackson went 1-for-4 with a run scored and three strikeouts in the Tigers’ 6-3 loss. It’s still early, of course—very early, in fact—but it’s not good to see Jackson striking out three times, especially not when facing a lefty like Sabathia. In St. Louis, it was not a good start for the hometown Cardinals. More importantly, the bullpen for the Cards was dreadful. Ryan Franklin only had a one-run lead to protect, but he couldn’t get the job done. After Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday hit a go-ahead solo homer to right-center, Franklin gave up a two-out, game-tying home run to Cameron Maybin. With the loss of Adam Wainwright, the Cardinals are going to have to score runs and make sure those runs stand up in the late innings. That means Franklin needs to have a good season. Unfortunately, he’s not off to a good start. The boo birds were out in force in St. Louis. It wasn’t all due to the bullpen woes though. The boo birds were out for the Cardinals soon-to-be free agent slugger Albert Puljols who had a day to forget by going 0-4 and grounding into three double plays. If Pujols has a rough start to the season, fans will be quick to point to his contract situation as the cause. The only question will be if they’ll blame the Cardinals front office or Pujols himself. Those were some notable happenings from Opening Day. Now, we have another Opening Day to sit back and enjoy and I’m ok with that. Spring is in the air. What better way than to take a look at the happenings around Spring Training? Pitchers and catchers reported earlier this week and position players are soon to follow. Follow me, as I take a look around at the early story lines as camp gets going.
I know the Joba Chamberlain starter-vs-reliever debate has gotten old, but I also know plenty of people still have questions about the decision, and both Brian Cashman and Chamberlain talked about it today.
For more on the Joba debate, head over to the LoHud Yankees Blog. Chad and the rest of the gang do a great job.  By his own count, Harwell called more than 8,300 major league games, starting with the Dodgers and continuing with the Giants and Baltimore Orioles before joining the Tigers Longtime Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell, beloved by generations of fans who grew up listening to his rich voice, Southern cadence and quirky phrases on the radio, has died after a months-long battle with cancer. He was 92. Tigers spokesman Brian Britten said the Tigers learned of Harwell’s death from his agent. Harwell, who called Tigers games for four-plus decades and was acquired by the Brooklyn Dodgers for a catcher, announced in September that he had been diagnosed with inoperable cancer of the bile duct. Then 91, he took the news with characteristic poise, saying he planned to continue working on a book and other projects.
As a tremendous baseball fan and a geek for the history of the game, I am deeply saddened by Mr. Harwell’s death. Baseball has lost of of it’s legends. A few links to get you by on an otherwise uneventful Sunday… • The Johnny Damon saga is over. The Tigers are on the verge of officially signing him pending the completion of a physical today. • Nice job over at NoMaas, landing an interview with Brian Cashman. Nice answer by Cashman, explaining the decision to sign Randy Winn (and Marcus Thames) instead of Reed Johnson. • Speaking of Brian Cashman, in a recent interview on 105.7 in Baltimore, the Yankees GM called the Orioles a “sleeping giant”. • Count LeBron James among those expecting championship No. 28. • The World Series trophy made it’s way up to Connecticut recently. • Finally, a link that was emailed to me by a Red Sox fan: Rumor has it that Ben Affleck — yes, that Ben Affleck, the one from Boston – might be making a movie about one of the more bizarre stories in Yankees history. |
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