Bless You Boys Podcast 28: Prince Fielder and Nattering Nabobs of Negativity

the press conference is?

I really appreciate the work that you guys do.

BigAl, Kurt I enjoy listening to your thoughts each Podcast.

That being said, there was a large amount of “I don’t know” and rhetorical answers from a member of the Podcast. I actually kind of missed Tokarz this time…

Overall, really liked it and look forward to spending too much time on this site while I am supposed to be working. :)

I’m a Brewers fan, so I’ve never really ventured in here before, but from what I’ve seen the last couple days, you guys run a pretty good shop. I may adopt the Tigers as my AL team. Prince was my favorite Brewer since Yount and he will quickly become a fan favorite.

Regarding your question about who bats 4th: I mentioned it in the other thread, but it warrants mentioning here as well. In 2010, Ken Macha (and I believe Ned Yost tried it in 2008 as well) switched Braun and Fielder so Braun could bat 4th and use his speed to steal more bases without risking an out in front of Prince. Prince was very vocal that he didn’t like the move (and Braun’s numbers slipped) so he requested that he bat 4th. I think if he has his way he’ll be the cleanup hitter and Cabrera’s numbers may jump (if that’s possible),

is what my simulation showed the Tigers gaining with the addition of Prince Fielder. I haven’t quite nailed down the defensive liability part of moving Cabrera to 3B for X number of games if that indeed is the case, but I think since you all are subject matters on the gloves of Inge and Cabrera you can probably come up with a range on that. My sim said 8 more runs would be given up but error bar is pretty large.

My thoughts:

Yeah, that was my reaction too. I was at work, got a text and thought for sure the guy read the rumor incorrectly. Then when I realized it was real, my fingers actually went speechless for a while. (Bet you guys have never seen Tigerdog go speechless before) Stunned!

Looks that way. I believe that Boras went over DD’s head with a few of these deals, including Magglio. Looks like Ilitch, and not DD, was the driving force here.

Appears Victor’s injury was the trigger. If not for that, this deal probably doesn’t happen.

Yes, but there’s no such thing as a lock. Remember 2008.

Yup. Dude is 82 yrs old. Ya can’t take it with you!

I would hope so, and expect that to be the case. Probably a power bat in the 2 slot as well, like Boesch.

Honestly, first base with Fielder as DH. Appears that Fielder was given the 1B job as part of the deal. I’d put Cabrera at 3B, move Delmon to DH, and Raburn to LF, and I think they’ll give Miggy every shot at 3B, and he’ll be better than Betemit.

If Cabrera moves to 3rd base, what happens to Brandon Inge and Don Kelly?
Who cares?

Fielder 1B because they promised him. Cabrera 3B. Victor DH, and ideally backup catcher. Getting the surgery and rehab that he needs might make him healthier than he was going into the season before he got hurt.
Of course we could see a trade.

Delmon should be the DH.

I think the lessons of 2008 were learned the hard way, and won’t be repeated.

The biggest factor here is that Cecil’s kid (I promise not to call Prince that regularly) grew up in Detroit, so there is a home town factor. It will play well with the African American community in Detroit, which is a good thing.

Forbes has Ilitch’s worth at $ 1.6 Billion, with a B. You do the math.

Not too early, but I’d be looking at extending Cabrera. You can’t tell me that he doesn’t even notice that Fielder will be making more than he does. (23.5 M vs 22 M). You always look ahead and plan accordingly.

Let’s not forget the Tigers still need a starting pitcher, and possibly a DH.
The Tigers conclusively do NOT need a DH. They didn’t need a DH before this trade and they need on even less now. Starting pitcher, yes, but if Oswalt is out, we should be looking at a trade, or just go with the kids and see what becomes available.

Sure, why not? If Mr I wants to write a check. But here’s what I think was happening. The Tigers saw Miami going past the point of stupid for Cespedes and they had all their eggs in his basket. Then, Victor goes down and they were looking at a do nothing off season. That’s not sitting well with Ilitch, so he goes for the only guy left on the market that could really help, even if there are long term questions. I mean, he’d be 91 by the time this contract expires, so what does he care?

Yes, they have a point about the length of the contract, but you can’t tell me that getting Marco Scutaro would have been better than Fielder! Okay, Boras is evil, but he’s OUR evil. We don’t know how Fielder will age, and we are over loaded with 1B/ DH types, but I’d rather have a .900 plus OPS guy at third base than Brandon freaking Inge! Boesch can set the table, and AJax can be traded for a lead off guy once they give up on him. Hope they don’t wait too long.

Very impressed with your ability to not come across as a reactionary lunatic like a lot of the Tigers’ fans these days. I very much enjoyed this podcast and I hope for more of the same in the future.