New Developments May Push Cardinals Towards Prince Fielder

The Cardinals knew, with the differentiation between their interests and future Hall of Fame first baseman Albert Pujols‘ contract demands, that his return wasn't likely.  So, during the season, they re-signed the resurgent Lance Berkman to another one-year contract to ensure somebody would be at first for 2012; planning for Allen Craig to play in right field, where Berkman mostly played this season.  

The Cardinals had their plan for the future, or at least for 2012.  Berkman would play first and Craig right field.  Questions about possibly adding Prince Fielder, for now Pujols’ statistical clone who also plays first base, were quickly shot down.  The plan was in place.  If they were not willing to give a team icon a ten-year deal, there was no way they would give that kind of money and years to an outsider.  A 275-plus-pound outsider at that.

Fast forward a month.  The winter meetings were hectic.  The Cardinals brass were correct in assuming Pujols would leave and for planning accordingly since he did in fact leave for the Angels, shortly after being joined by C.J. Wilson.  Jose Reyes, Heath Bell and Mark Buehrle went to the Marlins.  All the best players that were available before were gone after the GMs, managers, executives and agents convened in a Dallas hotel in early December.  By far the best free agent remaining was and still is Fielder, but he saw the meetings come and go and is yet to find a job or even have a serious offer because of a market inconvenient for him and agent, Scott Boras.

The New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Angels and Chicago White Sox, who were the five highest spending teams in 2011, all have first base occupied with an all-star.

Then there are the Cubs, who, depending on who you believe, have Fielder locked up or haven’t even talked to him yet.  If you ask me, it wouldn’t make any sense for the Cubs’ new GM Theo Epstein to add another bad contract on top of the several the team is already lugging around from the last regime.  Not to mention the Cubs are years from contention, and it would make more sense to spend that money on an available free agent at that time instead of now, when the team is coming off a 71-91 season (worse than Pittsburgh) and there are likely going to be three very good teams on top of the National League Central division in 2012.

The Mets are tangled in financial issues to the point where they can’t even retain the stars they do have.  The Giants are quietly dismantling their team, the Twins have Justin Morneau at first, the Tigers Miguel Cabrera, and then there’s the Cardinals in the eleventh spot on the list of team payrolls.  More on them in a minute.

In the meantime, the list continues.  The Dodgers, like the Mets, are also lost at sea financially amid an ownership transition.  The Rangers have adamantly denied any interest in Fielder, seeing as their lineup is stacked enough.  The list trails into the sub-$90 millions after that.  Among them, the Marlins, Blue Jays, Nationals, Orioles and Mariners have all at least shown moderate interest.  But the Marlins added Buehrle after failing to nab Pujols and have said they are not interested in Fielder.  The Blue Jays are currently negotiating with Japanese ace Yu Darvish, and one has to wonder if their secret stash of cash could sustain both he and Fielder, who would be earning more than the team’s current power star, Jose Bautista.  The Nationals are after pitching and were never interested in Pujols or Fielder.  The Orioles were rumored to be interested, but GM Dan Duquette quickly stomped out the rumors.  Finally, Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik has similarly downplayed his team’s interest.

All of this figures poorly for Fielder, who Joe Strauss‘s “well-placed source” says may take a shorter-term deal in lieu of available offers.  (Something he wouldn’t do if the Cubs and their pocketbooks were actually interested, leading us to believe that Dale Sveum is the one to believe when he says, “We haven’t had any talks with Prince”.)

Now the Cards might be listening.  They weren’t going to give a Pujolsian contract to someone not named Pujols, but now, they may not have to, and Strauss also hints that St. Louis GM John Mozeliak’s interest may have been piqued by the new developments in Fielder’s contract search.

Such a move would be a massive accomplishment by the front office who, at least partially, just lost the best player in team history to free agency.  Their team will be very good in 2012 even without Pujols, since all of the other main characters are returning, they will come out of the gate with a good bullpen instead of building one in July, and ace Adam Wainwright will start on Opening Day after missing all of 2011 post-Tommy John surgery.  But there is a big hole in the lineup that wasn’t there when they won the World Series two months ago–a hole that would easily be filled by Fielder, maybe Pujols’ only equal as of right now.

Also consider that, for the same reason, the Rangers may get in on Fielder.  Owner Nolan Ryan said that his team didn’t want to commit to a seven- or eight-year deal.  But if Fielder and Boras are in fact willing to settle for less, they too could get in on the action.  In the very same offseason in which they lost the great Albert Pujols, the Cards could get an opportunity to be in another bidding war for one of the two best first baseman on the planet; and this time, it is not inconceivable to believe, that they could come out on top.


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