MLB rumours: Prince Fielder on the trade block?
Talk of Prince Fielder being traded at the trade deadline has intensified in recent weeks because the general consensus around the league is that the Milwaukee Brewers won’t be able to afford him come free agency.
And if you look at how his agent Scott Boras is portraying his client in the media there’s no way the Brewers will be able to afford him.
“When you have a player that performs like Mark Teixeira, you have to look at Prince Fielder's performance in comparison. You want to know the value of a player? Take a look at it.
"Prince is a home-run hitter. He's 70 home runs ahead of Teixeira at that point [of his career]. Prince has much more power. This is how you [gauge] performance and age and production. You have to ask in the marketplace how many players can do this?” Boras said.
Boras is clearly looking for more than the $180million Teixeira got from the Yankees and the Brewers won’t get more value for him next summer, so the time to trade is now.
If general manager Doug Melvin wants to get high-end prospects in return for his All-Star first baseman he might need to get a bidding war started. The Chicago White Sox are reportedly interested in Fielder and could be prepared to part with Gordon Beckham, but they would need to add some talented young pitching in the deal if the Brewers were to accept.
Tampa Bay could also be interested in the first baseman and could offer their top pitching prospect Wade Davis in a package.
Fielder’s ability to affect two pennant races this year puts the Brewers in a good position to get max value in a trade but there will be some teams unwilling to give up big value given the contract Fielder will want in the future.
Elsewhere, Matt Kemp could be traded but Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti is unwilling to trade him unless they get big value prospects for him. Kemp is having a down year following his breakout year last season and his value wouldn’t be as high. However, if a team were to offer the Dodgers a package filled with young pitching it might be too good to refuse.
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